John 20:19-23; Pentecost Sunday

The Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins once compared the Blessed Virgin to the air we breathe. Today, Pentecost, in celebration of the Holy Spirit coming into our lives, we will compare the Holy Spirit to the air that surrounds and sustains us. 

Like the atmosphere, the Holy Spirit helps us listen, fly, and breathe. Three gifts that are timely for our world today. 

First gift: the Holy Spirit is like the air; it helps us listen.

In a vacuum, sound is not possible. I may not speak in tongues but you hear me because of waves of air that ripple from me to you. Without air, words are muted. The voiceless void unsettles us. Without the Holy Spirit, there is only the silence of disconnection and loneliness.

If we can find our voice, it is because of the Holy Spirit, this all pervading presence in our lives. If we can catch the voice of God in the voices of people, it is because of the atmosphere that is the Holy Spirit. We do not hear harmony without the mediation of the Holy Spirit. We do not hear the cry of the poor and of creation without the Holy Spirit that carries their prayer to us. 

We take for granted the atmosphere. But it is the condition for the possibility of connection. Like air, the Holy Spirit connects us to each other through language. Through words that do not divide and hurt us, the Holy Spirit turns us to each other. Through words we speak to understand and to be understood, the Holy Spirit helps us listen.

Second gift: the Holy Spirit is like the air; it helps us fly. 

We usually think of air as light. Actually, air pressure tells us that air is heavy. About one ton of air is pressing down on each of us right now (1 kg/cm^2). We do not feel it because air presses us on all sides. A low pressure disturbance can spawn typhoons. Kites and sails and birds know all too well the power of the wind.

If we have experienced lift in our lives, it is because of the atmosphere that is the Holy Spirit. If we have found it possible to break free from whatever presses us down, it is not on the strength of our wings alone. A self-driving or self-propelling life can only go so far. The Holy Spirit reminds us that the power that lifts us up and sets us free comes as much from the wind as from our wings.

We take for granted the atmosphere. But it is the condition for the possibility of lift. Like air, the Holy Spirit empowers us to lift not only ourselves but others as well. Through the Holy Spirit, we are able to summon the will to rise whenever we fall. Even if we are dragged down, brought low, we do not stay down because of the Holy Spirit who impresses upon us our dignity as children of God. The courage of the climb comes from within, and from the wind that is the Holy Spirit.

Third gift: the Holy Spirit is like the air; it helps us breathe.

Wondrously, our atmosphere has just about the right amount of oxygen for life. Twenty one percent. A little more of it and we burn spontaneously. A little less and we turn blue. The flame from a candle draws just the right amount of air. Too much (even a gust) can snuff it out. Choke its air supply and it dies.

If we continue to “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), it is because of the breath of God that is the Holy Spirit. Were it not for the atmosphere that is the Holy Spirit, we would have burnt ourselves out from our binges; we would have been winded. If with St Paul we can honestly say that God’s grace is enough for us, it is because of the Holy Spirit’s presence that is just right, neither too much to be smothering nor too little to be suffocating.

We take for granted the atmosphere. But it is the condition for the possibility of life. Like air, the Holy Spirit helps us breathe and breathe life into the many lifeless places in our world today. The Holy Spirit reminds us to breathe deeply when we are anxious or afraid. We may suppose that breathing is automatic like clockwork, but it is not biochemistry or involuntary nerves that keep us alive. Ultimately, life draws its fullness from the volition and attention of love. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to inhale life from such a love that is the very heartbeat of God.

Veni, Sancte Spiritus. Come Holy Spirit. Inspire us to listen, lift up our hearts, and breathe life into our world.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love.