I’ve always been somewhat of a
language buff, so I was quite intrigued, but a little concerned, when one of
our eighth-grade religious education students loudly declared, “Deacon Mike is
lit!” At the time, I only knew two definitions
for the word “lit”: 1) illuminated; and 2)
drunk. Now, the lighting in the room
seemed pretty normal to me, and my halo was under control, so that eliminated
the first definition. As for the second,
while it was 5 o’clock somewhere, and
teaching eighth-graders does have its trying moments, I’m generally not one to
turn to that type of spirit for
comfort and support. So I quickly
deduced that there must be a new, hip definition of “lit” that I was much too old
to know. Well, it turns out that in teen-speak,
“lit” means “exciting” and “awesome.” How
fitting for the Feast of Pentecost, when we’re all called to be “lit.”
Saint Luke’s account of that first Pentecost is filled
with energy and excitement. You might
even say it’s “lit.” When the Spirit descended
upon the disciples, they were suddenly on fire with the Gospel message; they were
able, even compelled, to proclaim to all who would listen “that Jesus was the
good news, God’s most explicit, most insistent, word of love and hope for the
world.”[1]
The Holy Spirit did for the disciples exactly
what Jesus tells us he would do in our Gospel:
the Spirit told the disciples what to say and how to say it; the Spirit guided
them to all truth. Lit by the Spirit, “[t]hey
found themselves united in a communion of hope and dreams, of faith and
commitment, with people who literally did not speak their language.”[2] On that first Pentecost, the Lord sent forth
his Spirit and renewed the face of the earth.
There’s no greater, more profound or
more important influence in our lives than the Holy Spirit. The Spirit makes God present to us in all that
we do and guides and inspires us to live as Jesus taught us to live. “The work of the Holy Spirit enlightens the
mind to penetrate the teachings of Christ and gives us strength and the will to
live by those teachings.”[3] Our readings leave no doubt that the Holy
Spirit lit a flame in the hearts of the disciples that gave them the courage
and wisdom to carry the awesome and exciting Good News of Christ crucified to the
ends of the earth. Well guess what? The Holy Spirit is calling each one of us to
do the same – we’re all called to be lit!
God gave every one of us special and
unique gifts. And as Saint Paul tells us
in our second reading, this “manifestation of the Spirit is given for some
benefit.” (1 Cor. 12:7) “[G]ifts are given for the common
service. They are not for our own
profit. Each person in the community has
been given special gifts that complement the gifts given to others.”[4] When we share our gifts in loving cooperation
with others, we allow God’s work to be accomplished through us, and we function
beautifully as the body of Christ here on earth. Whether our gifts are expressed through a
caring nature or expert craftsmanship, in critical thinking or good old common
sense, in musicality or . . . eloquent preaching, when we use our gifts for the
benefit of others, we’re exciting, we’re awesome, we’re lit; and we renew the
face of the earth.
The
question for us, then, is whether we’ll allow ourselves to be lit by the Spirit. God gave us gifts, but he also gave us the
free will to choose whether and how we’re going to use them. Will we use our hands to serve others, or to
change the channel on the remote? We will
use our voice to cry out for justice, or to berate or tear down our neighbor? Will we use our minds to advance human life
and achievement, or to create instruments of destruction, torture or murder? It’s our choice. Every moment of our lives offers us the
choice to use our God-given gifts for good, for evil, or not at all.
It’s in those
moments of choice that we have to pay attention to the workings of the Spirit
in our lives. “God’s Spirit flows
through every heart; and . . . God stirs the Spirit in each person to advance
the mission of the Son.”[5] The Holy Spirit always leads us to use our
gifts for good, and when we heed the urgings of the Spirit, we do great things.
· It was the Holy Spirit that inspired Mother Teresa to
serve the poorest of the poor;
· It was the Holy Spirit that moved Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. to tell us about his Dream;
· It was the Holy Spirit that gave Saint Maximilian
Kolbe the courage to shelter Jews during World War II and offer his own life to
save a father condemned to death.
I don’t think anyone would
deny that Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Maximilian Kolbe each
changed the world for the better in their own, unique ways. I don’t think anyone would deny that they
were lit!
You know, the eighth graders in that religious
education class were lit, too – and I don’t mean illuminated or drunk! I was there for a talk on Saint John Paul II’s
Theology of the Body, knowing full well that it isn’t a topic that teens love
to hear about from an adult. Though I
was prepared for giggles and rowdiness, our young adults were polite,
respectful and good-humored the whole time.
But it was when we opened the floor for questions that I saw the Holy
Spirit at work in them. Their thoughtful
questions reflected not only a desire to understand our faith, but also profound
compassion and empathy for those who struggle with these teachings. I left
that talk with great hope for our future because I knew in my heart that our next
generation is awesome and exciting. They’re
lit! I have no doubt that they’ll use their
gifts for the good of others, and, lit by the Spirit they will renew the face
of the earth.
[1]
Mary M. McGlone, “God’s Goad,” National Catholic
Reporter, vol.54. no. 15 (May 4-17, 2018), p. 19.
[2]
Id.
[3]
The Didache Bible (San Francisco,
Ignatius Press, 2014), John 15: 26, note, p. 1443.
[4]
Jude Winkler, New St. Joseph Handbook for
Proclaimers of the Word, Liturgical Year B, 2018 (New Jersey, Catholic Book
Publishing Corp. 2017) p. 251.
[5]
Michael Simone, “Spirit of Christ,” America,
vol. 218, no. 11 (May 14, 2018) p. 58.
