Here is my homily for Sunday May 31, 2009 – The Feast of Pentecost. Thanks for reading!
Fr. Jim Chern
HOMILY:
There is a story about a mother who bought a ticket to a concert that was being given by the great Polish pianist named Ignace Paderewski. She took her five year old son with her, hoping the experience would encourage him in his own young efforts at music. When they arrived at the concert hall, she was delighted to see how close to the stage their seats were. Well, as they were waiting for the concert to begin, she bumped into an old friend and got so involved talking with her friend, that she didn’t notice that her son had slipped away to do some exploring. When eight o’clock arrived, the lights dimmed, the audience hushed to a whisper, and the spotlight came on. Only then did the woman see her five year old son on the stage, sitting on the piano bench, innocently plunking out the tune “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” on the grand piano.
She gasped in total disbelief. But before she could retrieve her son. Paderewski walked onto the stage, walked over to the piano, and whispered to the boy, “Don’t stop! Keep playing!” Then leaning over the boy, Paderewski reached out his left hand and began to fill in the bass. A few seconds later he reached around the other side of the boy, encircling him, and added some harmony. Together, the great maestro and the tiny five-year-old mesmerized the audience with their playing. When they finished the audience broke into thunderous applause. Years later almost all those in attendance forgot all the musical selections that Paderewski played that night, but no one forgot “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
In a lot of ways the image of the great maestro and the tiny five year old at the piano is a beautiful illustration of the Holy Spirit and the Church. Of how the Holy Spirit unites with the Church to make beautiful music.The boy resembles the disciples. When Jesus departed from their midst, they were like spiritual children. Their knowledge of God and how to spread God’s kingdom was deficient. The great Polish pianist resembles the Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples encircling them with love, whispering encouragement to them and transforming their feeble human efforts into something dramatically, beautiful – even unimaginable.
This is the good news contained in today’s scripture readings. This is the good news that we celebrate on this feast of Pentecost. It is the good news that Jesus has sent upon his Church, the promised Holy Spirit. We are not alone; the Holy Spirit is leaning over us, taking our small contribution, and transforming it into something we never dreamed possible.
So often we think our contributions are too small, our faith is too weak – there are holier more devout people out there in the world… and because of that, when our Gospel values are mocked or attacked, we can hold back from that challenge thinking that “There’s holier people out there who can defend our beliefs.” Or when someone is struggling to understand what is really missing in their lives, why they are struggling to find happiness, fulfillment and true peace – and we know it is because they don’t have a relationship with God, a lot of times we doubt our ability to witness to Christ to them. The Holy Spirit is surrounding us in all of those moments though, listening to our simple tunes of sincere faith and saying “DON’T STOP – KEEP PLAYING.” This Pentecost, will we go out into the world and with the help of the Holy Spirit, make beautiful music?
