Pentecost, 2012

PENTECOST SUNDAY, 2012

JOHN 15:26-27; 16:12-15

SOMETHING MOMENTOUS HAPPENED THIS LAST WEEK, AT LEAST, MOMENTOUS TO MY EXTENDED FAMILY. MY UNCLE PAUL KLEFFNER PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 95. HE'D BEEN ONE OF TWELVE CHILDREN, TWO OF WHOM DIED IN INFANCY. HE WAS THE LAST OF HIS GENERATION TO GO.

HE AND HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS HAD A STRONG SENSE OF FAMILY. THEY LOOKED OUT FOR EACH OTHER. ANOTHER UNCLE OF MINE HAD LEFT THE CHURCH MANY YEARS AGO; HAD BEEN MARRIED AND DIVORCED SEVERAL TIMES. WHEN HE WAS DYING, MY UNCLE PAUL TRAVELED FROM MONTANA TO CALIFORNIA TO SIT WITH HIM AND ULTIMATELY PERSUADE HIM TO RECEIVE THE LAST SACRAMENTS. ALTHOUGH HE HAD EIGHT CHILDREN OF HIS OWN, HE WAS ALWAYS WILLING TO LISTEN TO MY PROBLEMS AND GIVE ME GOOD ADVICE WHEN I WAS GROWING UP – AND I WAS ONLY ONE OF HIS NIECES AND NEPHEWS WHO HAD THAT EXPERIENCE.

AND NOW HE'S GONE. BUT HIS FAMILY LIVES ON. WHEN WE OLDER COUSINS GET TOGETHER, ONE OF US WILL SAY SOMETHING OR DO SOMETHING, AND THE OTHERS WILL OFFER THE OPINION THAT THAT IS A TYPICAL KLEFFNER THING TO SAY OR DO. WHEN I WAS ABOUT 30 YEARS OLD, SOMEONE TOLD ME I HAD THE KLEFFNER SENSE OF HUMOR – AND I WAS GLAD TO HEAR IT, BECAUSE I REALLY ADMIRED THAT SENSE OF HUMOR IN MY MOTHER, MY UNCLES AND MY AUNTS. AND MANY OF MY COUSINS AND THEIR CHILDREN HAVE “GREEN THUMBS” AND SPEND A LOT OF TIME WITH GROWING PLANTS. ONE OF MY NON-KLEFFNER AUNTS ONCE OBSERVED THAT KLEFFNERS WERE HAPPIEST WHEN THEIR HANDS WERE DEEP IN THE DIRT.

MORE THAN 100 YEARS AGO JOSEPH KLEFFNER AND CLARA BOGNER, FIRST GENERATION AMERICANS OF GERMAN STOCK, GOT MARRIED AND BEGAN TO FORM A FAMILY. BUT EVEN THERE, THEY WERE PART OF THEIR OWN FAMILIES. IN A SENSE, THE KLEFFNER FAMILY GOES WAY BACK, AND GOES FORWARD. IT WON'T ALWAYS LOOK THE SAME, OR HAVE THE SAME NAME, BUT THERE IS SOMETHING REAL HERE, EVEN THOUGH WE CAN'T PUT OUR FINGER ON IT.

THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHOM WE CELEBRATE TODAY, IS SOMETHING LIKE THE ESSENCE OF A FAMILY. IN A HUMAN FAMILY, ALTHOUGH WE ARE ALL INDIVIDUALS, WE SHARE A COMMON STORY; WE HAVE TRAITS THAT IDENTIFY US AS MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY, LIKE A SENSE OF HUMOR OR A LOVE FOR GREEN PLANTS; WE HANG TOGETHER EVEN THOUGH IF WE WEREN'T RELATED, WE PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER; AND WE LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER.

GOD THE FATHER GENERATES THE SON; THE LOVE THEY HAVE FOR EACH OTHER, THEIR RELATIONSHIP, IS THE HOLY SPIRIT, A PERSON EQUAL TO THE FATHER AND THE SON IN ALL WAYS EXCEPT FOR HIS PLACE IN THE TRINITY. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ALWAYS AT WORK BUILDING UP THIS FAMILY. SAINT PAUL CALLS HIM THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION – BECAUSE HE WORKS TO MAKE SONS AND DAUGHTERS FOR THE FATHER OUT OF LOWLY HUMAN BEINGS. ONLY CHRISTIANS REFER TO GOD AS FATHER, AND WE HAVE THAT RIGHT BECAUSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THROUGH WHOM THE FATHER LOOKS UPON EACH OF US AS HIS OWN BELOVED CHILD.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH. HE REMINDS US OF OUR FAMILY HISTORY, OF HOW OUR OLDER BROTHER JESUS DIED FOR US. HE LIVES IN THE CHURCH JESUS FOUNDED SO THAT WE CAN BE SURE ITS TEACHINGS ARE FROM GOD. HE HELPS US DEVELOP THOSE FAMILY TRAITS WHICH MARK US AS CHRISTIANS, AS BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF JESUS. YOU HEARD THOSE FAMILY TRAITS TODAY: LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GENEROSITY, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL.

HE IS THE SPIRIT OF LIFE. SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT THE SAME SPIRIT WHO RAISED UP JESUS FROM THE DEAD, WILL RAISE US UP AS WELL.

AND HE IS THE SPIRIT OF GLORY. GLORY BELONGS TO GOD ALONE; BUT THE SPIRIT WHO LIVES IN US GIVES US A SHARE IN THAT GLORY. AND THERE IS GREAT CONSOLATION FOR A CHRISTIAN IN REMEMBERING THAT THE GREATEST GLORY COMES IN SUFFERING – NOWHERE DID JESUS SHOW GOD'S GLORY MORE PROFOUNDLY THAN ON THE CROSS.

MY UNCLES AND AUNTS ALWAYS ENJOYED GETTING TOGETHER, EVEN INTO THEIR OLD AGES. THEY WOULD GATHER OVER A MEAL, TEASE EACH OTHER, TELL STORIES, MAKE JOKES; THE YEARS WOULD FALL AWAY. THAT IS A TRAIT OF HAPPY FAMILIES. WHEN I VISIT MY COUSINS OR MY SISTERS, ITS THE SAME; AND I SEE MY OWN CHILDREN DOING THIS AS WELL; THEY ARE PART OF THE KLEFFNER FAMILY, BUT A NEW FAMILY AS WELL, ONE JOAN AND I STARTED BACK IN 1966. WE FEEL OUR FAMILY TIES THE STRONGEST WHEN WE GATHER TOGETHER. AND THE HOLY SPIRIT DRAWS US TOGETHER IN HOLY MASS, WHERE WE EAT TOGETHER, WHERE WE PRAISE OUR FATHER, WHERE WE LISTEN TO THE TEACHINGS OF OUR BROTHER JESUS. A PERSON BECOMES MORE THAN HIMSELF IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS FAMILY, AND THAT'S EXACTLY THE REASON THE SPIRIT BRINGS US TOGETHER – TO MAKE US MORE THAN WE COULD EVER BE BY OURSELVES ALONE.

THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE UNIVERSE, THE FATHER WHO CANNOT BE FATHER WITHOUT THE SON, AND THE SON WHO CANNOT BE SON WITHOUT THE FATHER, ARE BOUND IN THE RELATIONSHIP CALLED THE HOLY SPIRIT. AND THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKS TO CALL US INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD, THE TRINITY.

SO ON THIS FEAST OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, LET US ASK HIM THAT THOSE FAMILY TRAITS BELONGING TO THE FATHER AND THE SON WILL BECOME MORE AND MORE RECOGNIZEABLE IN US. LET US ASK THAT OUR SENSE OF FAMILY, OUR SENSE OF KINSHIP WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH JESUS AND MARY AND THE SAINTS, WILL GROW STRONGER, SO THAT WE WILL ALWAYS BE CONSCIOUS OF OUR RELATIONSHIP, SO THAT WE WILL AVOID WORDS OR ACTIONS WHICH REFLECT BADLY ON OUR FAMILY. AND LET US ASK HIM TO SHOW SOME OF GOD'S GLORY TO OTHERS THROUGH US, ESPECIALLY AT THE TIME WE SUFFER, AS WE ALL MUST SUFFER SOONER OR LATER. BECAUSE HE IS THE SPIRIT OF LIFE, AND ETERNAL LIFE IS OUR FAMILY INHERITANCE.

MY UNCLE PAUL HAS PASSED AWAY, THE LAST OF HIS GENERATION; HIS FAMILY LIVES ON, BUT WILL BECOME MORE AND MORE DILUTED AS HIS CHILDREN AND NIECES AND NEPHEWS BUILD THEIR OWN FAMILIES. BUT THE ESSENCE OF GOD'S FAMILY, THE HOLY SPIRIT, MAKES ALL THINGS NEW, AND KNITS ALL OF US INTO THE CHANGELESS FAMILY OF THE TRINITY. COME, HOLY SPIRIT, COME!