Sister Cristina has boundless joy,
incredible energy and a beautiful voice.
She lives a simple life as an Ursaline Sister of the Holy Family in
Milan, Italy, where she teaches in a Catholic school and sings to children in
church. She also has tens of millions of
television and YouTube fans, and she just won the Italian version of the TV
singing contest, The Voice. Dressed in the traditional habit of the
Ursaline Sisters, with a cross around her neck and sensible black shoes on her
feet, Sister Cristina uses her gifts to deliver a spiritual message through secular
music. She attributes her sudden rise to
fame to a thirst for joy among her fans.
If you listen to her music, I’m sure you’ll agree that Sister Cristina
has quenched her thirst for joy in the living water of Jesus Christ. Today’s Gospel invites us to do the same.
In our Gospel passage, Jesus tells us
that he is the living water that will
quench our thirst for joy through the gift of his Spirit – the Spirit of life –
the Holy Spirit. It’s amazing what an
integral part the Spirit plays in just about every aspect of our lives, and we
hardly notice it. In fact, the thirst
for joy that Sister Cristina spoke of comes from the Holy Spirit. You see, the Spirit “engenders within
believers a certain ‘restlessness’ with their lot at the present time when the new
age overlaps with the old.”[1]
For all of the wonders of God’s
creation, the things of this world can never fulfill us. This world can’t give us perfect love, perfect
justice, perfect joy or even the perfect martini (Deacon Michael,
notwithstanding). Perfection rests in
God alone. As Saint Augustine said, “our
hearts are restless until they rest in [God].”[2]
So our joy can only be complete – in
God, who is perfect joy. The Spirit
initiates our thirst for perfect joy, and quenches it through Jesus Christ.
The Spirit is working in and around us all the time to
quench our thirst for joy. In fact, “[a]lmost
every human flourishing is prompted and produced by the Spirit.”[3]
-
The urge to pray
or go to Church – that’s the Spirit;
-
The inspiration
to use our talents to help others – the Spirit;
-
That small voice
in our conscience telling us right from wrong – again, that’s the Spirit.
Last
night at 11:00, I got stuck right here in this homily. Writer’s block. At 5:00 this morning, the Spirit woke me with
the words of this paragraph. I wouldn't have minded waiting until 7 or so, and you might be wishing that the Spirit had
just let me sleep, but the Spirit works as the Spirit works. And the Spirit works.
The challenge for us, and there’s
always a challenge for us, is to listen to that voice, to follow that lead, to respond
to that nudge. Like everything with God,
it’s our choice. God gives us free will
because love must be freely given and freely accepted. God will never stop nudging, pulling,
prodding, poking, guiding and leading us to him – to the only water that will
quench our thirst for joy. But as the
saying goes, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” It’s up to us to believe, to trust, to follow the
Spirit and to receive the gift of
living water.
It’s our choice. Choices aren't always easy. We don’t always hear the call; we don’t always
understand what’s asked of us; we don’t always know what to do; we don’t always
follow the lead. But the Spirit also
gives us everything we need to make the right choices. You remember the gifts of the Holy Spirit – or
at least I hope you do since they’re displayed on the banners on the walls all
around me (we’re not a subtle religion).[4]
I note, for the record, that the Holy Spirit
inspired someone to hang the banner for “knowledge” in front of me. Just sayin’.
“Like a great and holy enabler, it is the Spirit who aids us in
interpreting who Jesus is and who empowers us to follow in Jesus’ ways.”[5] The Spirit energizes us; it empowers us; it
transforms us. The Spirit transformed
boys into heroes, giving the young men who climbed the cliffs of Normandy the strength
and courage to rescue humanity from the grip of tyranny; the Spirit empowered an
unknown Argentine Cardinal to become the firecracker Pope that we are blessed
to have today; the Spirit energized the youth of our parish who received the Sacrament
of Confirmation this weekend, enabling them to accept and carry out their Christian
mission; the Spirit inspired a simple Italian nun to bring the joy of the Gospel
to the world through her beautiful voice.
Readings: Joel 3:1-5; Psalm 104; Romans 8:22-27; John 7: 37-39
[1]
Brendan Byrne, Romans, Sacra Pagina, vol. 6, Daniel Harrington, ed. (Collegeville,
Liturgical Press, 2007) at 263.
[2]
Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions,
Book I, Chapter 1 (New York, Random House, 1997) at 3.
[3]
John Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels
for Christian Preachers and Teachers:
Following Love into Mystery, Feasts, Funerals, Weddings (Collegeville,
Liturgical Press, 2010) at 195.
[4]
Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, Piety and Fear of the Lord.
[5]
Patricia Datchuk Sánchez, “The Spirit as Midwife,” National Catholic Reporter,
vol. 50, no. 16 (May 23- June 5, 2014) at 25.
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