Today we are celebrating a birth – the birth of the church. Pentecost marks the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. For that reason, it is often called the “the birthday of the Church.”
During the past six months of the church year, we have been on a journey – a journey of the events in the life of Jesus. It’s the story of the central mystery of our faith – the story of the incarnation where God became human, though still remaining God. When we think of the incarnation, most of us think of it this way: God physically walked on this earth, he died, he rose, and then he returned to heaven. When he left, he sent the Holy Spirit to be present among us – but the actual physical body of Jesus was gone forever. And yet, we often find ourselves wishing that Jesus were still here – right now – in the flesh, so that we could touch him, hear his voice and see the compassion in his eyes.
There’s a story of a child who woke up one night after a frightening nightmare. She was convinced that there were all kinds of monsters lurking under her bed and in the corners of her room. She ran to her parents’ bedroom and after her mother had calmed her down, she took the child back to her own room and said, “You don’t need to be afraid, you aren’t alone here. God is right here with you in your room.” The little girl said, “I know that God is here, but I need someone in my room that has some skin on!”
We all need a God who has some skin on. We need God to be present here and now, in the flesh – someone we can hear and touch and smell and see. Most of us don’t have the opportunity to find God in some remote setting – like a mountain monastery or desert retreat. Most of us need to find God in the kitchen, and in the backyard, and in the parking lot, and on the phone. We need a God to hold us when we are discouraged. We need a God to give us a gentle kick in the butt when we ignore someone in need. We need a God with some skin.
Fr. Ronald Rolheiser in his book The Holy Longing suggests that our limited understanding of the incarnation is what makes it so hard for us to find that real, live, physically present God in our lives today. He says that our short-sighted perspective gives the impression that the incarnation was a thirty-three year experiment; a one-shot excursion by God into human history…and now, it’s over. Well, guess what? The incarnation didn’t just suddenly come to an end when Jesus ascended to heaven. The incarnation is still going on!
Photo Credit: catholicchapterhouse.com
When the Holy Spirit came down upon those believers on that very first Pentecost – after Jesus had gone back to heaven – God once again took on flesh. God got some skin. Oh not in the way it happened when Jesus was born, but in another way…through the Holy Spirit; and ever since, God has been sending us the Holy Spirit. By giving us the Holy Spirit, God awakens in each of us the gifts that God needs to continue to be present in our world. On that first Pentecost, God became dependent upon human beings in a whole new way, and God has been dependent on us ever since.
Would you like to see and feel Christ in your life? Then, examine the unique gifts that God has given to you. And then find a way to personally share that gift with someone else. If you can share your talent with someone who is in need – specifically a person who could truly benefit from the gift God had bestowed upon you – then you will meet and see Christ. In that charitable and loving action, Christ will be present!
It doesn’t matter how much you have, what you think you have or don’t have to offer. There is always someone who has less! Mother Teresa once said: “None of you can do what I am doing, but I can’t do what you can do!” Meaning that God has a unique plan for each one of us and has created us with unique gifts, and God will put those people in our lives who he wants those gifts to be shared with.
Are we sharing our gifts with others? And I don’t just mean possessions… Do we share ourselves with others? St. Teresa of Avila said it so well when she wrote:
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion must look out on the world.
Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good.
Yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.
Pentecost is when God once again fills us up with the Holy Spirit so that we can be renewed in the Body of Christ and continue to make sure that God has skin. It’s a time when we are called to use those God-given gifts so that those who need God in their lives will be able to find that God…
– A God who will hold us when we need to be held, who will comfort and reassure us when we are afraid;
– A God who will laugh with us when we are delighted, who will mourn with us when we grieve;
– A God who will house us when we are homeless, feed us when we are hungry, who will run an errand for us when we are homebound, who will sit silently with us when we simply need a quiet companion by our side.
It’s time to give God some skin. What are your gifts from the Spirit? Are you ready to allow God to use them? Remember, God is depending on us.
