The Language of the Holy Spirit

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Pentecost Sunday

Faith is the language of the Holy Spirit

Love is the language of the Holy Spirit

Silence is the the language of the Holy Spirit

So today, we are thinking particularly the power of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit speaks but we have to understand them clearly. So the fruits of the Holy Spirit or the images of the Holy Spirit can be reflected according to the First Reading into two forms.

First is wind.



Second is Fire.

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So wind, in the Book of Genesis reminds us accordinng to the Hebrew word "ru'ach"and the English word is "wind." So ru'ach, wind, we consider as the power of life; and the character with our soul. So wind, is a very powerful expression. Without wind we can not survive. And the power of the wind sometimes makes us smile and sometimes makes us devastations like hurricane. If it is an hurricane, we can not stand before the hurricane.

That is why wind, is one of the Goddesses of Hindu Religion. They worship wind. The name of the Goddess is  Bomondevata; Bomon air and Devata is God. So that is the expression, And actually they worship and the feast comes in the middle of the month of February. And this in particular is called to worship because they were taught it is their beginning of their lives.

So we come to another expression, fire. Fire also "sunog" is a powerful expression and a powerful feature of God. We can think of fire positively and negatively. Fire in the positive expression, we are happy. But if it is in the negative, destroys some of the areas, and we are not happy with the expression, of God.

So fire also, is also one of the Goddesses in Hindu. They worship fire. Some of the benefits also take place before the fire. The brightness will go to the places and they make fire.  And given to fire, they will be given to one another. That is their heart in Christ.

So fire also, has an adaptive expression according to our belief: renewal. According to Madeiline of Calcutta, in shorts I read are stories in Bangladesh.

So what we do the fire is used in the penetential service. In a gospel community, the priest blessed the fire and they dance and proceed one by one, do it this way ...

Before we recite the prayer " I confess to our Almighty God" the lines "thoughts, words and works" have also fire in there. Thoughts to bring something considerable according to the will power, so that is why we dont do fire on somebody else. So that is our thoughts, so we should be renewed one.

The mouth and the tongue lives together can destroy our relations with one another even with our relation with God. So that is why, we confess also. Words should be commutable. That is the purpose and this is very meaningful. So fire is meaningful not meaningless for the purpose of our given lives.

So even in the first reading, we are also given the images of fire. First is the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus. We have to receive Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit and if you are a new one or changed one so the power of the Holy Spirit breaks those in the midst of us, even in our personal ability, So this is another way of reflecting the power of the Holy Spirit.

And the second, is the Tower of Babel. They want to reach the heaven the sky. They made and used a big tower. And what happened?

Pentecost has actually called us to serenity and purity. So pentecost, actually symbolizes purity. Different nationalities accept different religions. But with the Spirit you can communicate with anybody and appreciate. The History of the Pentecost, have the harvesting feast. That is why they come from other countries and the Jewish people dont have many temples. Only one temple in Jerusalem. So if they want to pray they have to go to the temple in Jerusalem,

So that is why many people are there gathered. So this is an opportunity to stand before the communities. If  I count down for a year but if it is count down by the Holy Spirit.

So second reading reminds us unity in diversities. And we are encouraged through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit could be a person, with ears, eyes, nose, lips, hands, legs, body, so it could be also us. We do not feel contradictory. All are working. All meeting, one custom. One body. We dont only think of our hands, arms working according to the need of the person.

So we stand in the midst of diversity so that is the focus of the Universal Church. and the feast took place before two cardinals. One is Joseph Ratzinger our present Pope Benedict and another Cardinal Pasparus both from the Germany and their conclusion was there is no conflict with Universal and Local they complement one another.

So belong to the Parish as well as the Diocese of Cubao. The Bishop is the standard like landmark. So our faith and our reconciliation with one another and that is the building of unity in the midst of diversity. 

That is why peace - is one of the message of Jesus: Peace be with You. So if you follow the power of the Holy Spirit

Look at the Philippines, I dont know I maybe wrong I read from the Internet but your language is four hundred: dialects. But you express in Filipino especially in families. So language some of the rituals ... so when you reflect the power of the Holy Spirit is supreme. If you remain in the Holy Spirit you will be at peace. And that is salvation for you and me. So if we come together, I know we can have a meaningful Easter celebration.

For tommorrow, we will begin ordinary day.

So Easter celebration is a very big celebration. Why? Why it is longer? Because to understand Christ's Resurrection is not easy. It takes time. That is why our faith by listening and looking back our faith is out from our personal experience. If dont have big experience we will not remain as Catholics. We could be dishearten, broken, we could be sharing the biblical text of Eli Soriano.

He understands the bible but he does not understand Catholic Church. Catholic Church depends on bible and tradition. That is why we respect to one another. Other churches stick to the messages of Martin Luther sola scriptura.

So the bible also has different weight and level of understanding. Language has limitations. This not human language. That is why also different theological.

So you need to study and deepen your understanding and go to your religion with God and one another.

Homily of:

Rev. Fr. Joseph Dofadar

Landmark Chapel

GF Landmark, Quezon City

6:00 PM Mass