Maybe it was a result of our traveling or we may have found ourselves in certain parts of the city but we have noticed more and more that there are a number of different languages that are being spoken and heard theses days. We may have wondered to ourselves “Am I the only English speaking person here?” The different languages we hear these days remind us of our differences. Pentecost is a story of differences. There are people from different lands, different religions and different languages. Yet through the presence of God’s Spirit in all the listeners they were able to hear and understand what God was saying to them and calling them to do. The Holy Spirit unites that which separates us.

It often occurs that parents, grandparents aunts or uncles observe the children of the family and marvel at how different each of them is. Children come from the same parents and yet in so many ways they are different. The same is true with those of us who believe in the gospel. We bring our differences and the differences can be dramatic and difficult for us to understand but we are all united in the Holy Spirit who lives in each of us. It is in this one spirit that all of us with our differences have been baptized and live.

We hear again the same gospel we heard the week after Easter. It takes place on the night of Easter. The first word spoken is “Peace”. The Risen Lord brings the gift of the Holy Spirit which brings us peace and forgiveness. That which has separated us from God and one another has been removed. We are forgiven and in the place of our sins there now lives God’s Holy Spirit. That gift impels us to bring that same peace and forgiveness to others. As the Father has glorified us we are to glorify him with our sharing of the gift of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Recently, I was on an airplane. It is my preference to get situated in my seat, secure the seatbelt then bury my head in any reading material that I brought with me. After we had taken off and were on our way to O'Hare I could not help notice that the man seated next to me was watching a television program on this gadget that had an inch and a half screen. On the food tray in front of him was a laptop computer which was on. Curiosity got the best of me and I inquired if the small gadget was an ipod. He said “Yes”. I asked him why he did not watch the program on his lap top. He said that the ipod was low on power and was drawing the power from the laptop. He did not want to use the laptop because that would drain too much power. After we landed He took out a cell phone and made a call. Then he took out of his case another gadget which he used to read text messages. He told me that was a Blackberry. I could not help thinking to myself “Where have I gone wrong. The world is too rapidly passing me by”. I felt like some of the people gathered in Jerusalem on that first Pentecost. Everyone speaking a different language. Everyone with different interests and different connections. There is that old song of Paul Simon. Everybody's talking at me. I don’t hear a word they are saying. It is just the echoes of my mind”.

We all live in a fast paced world with strangers all around us. We can feel insulation that both overwhelms us as well as worries us. In order to get by we build walls around us. Walls that prevent others from getting in and prevents us from reaching out. Some of the ways we protect ourselves is criticizing and faulting the ways and ideas of others. We dismiss those of different races as less than what we are. We disparage those of different backgrounds or different educations. We pass off what others think or say as foolish or nonsense. What we think or say is the latest in enlightenment learning. Rather than connect with others we go about cutting off one another. Just think of the members of our own families that we cut off and have not spoken to for years. The differences have become divisions.

The essence of Pentecost is the gift of peace and forgiveness. We often forget that in all of our lives there have been periods of brokenness that has caused us to be cut out and separated from others. Some of us did not do too well in school or athletics. Yet there was someone who helped us along. Because of them we made it through. As the Father has sent me so I send you. All of us have been new to a job or a neighborhood or new to family. We were outsiders not fitting in. We felt we did not belong. Yet there were those who went out of their way to include us. As the Father has sent me so I send you. Some of us have been mocked because we speak with an impediment or an accent or are at a loss to come up with the right words or carry with us the heavy burden of shyness or bashfulness. Mercifully there was someone who saw our need. They saw that we were lost in the midst of the crowd and they spoke a language of caring of acceptance. That made all the difference. Their breaking down the walls that separated us from others was like the first Pentecost when those who were outsiders experienced and heard about the marvels that God accomplishes.

All of us are one through by the gift of God’s Holy Spirit. We have been forgiven. In place of our brokenness and fears God has planted the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are no longer in any way cut off or alone. We are one with God. And As the Father sent the Son God now is sending us to heal the broken, to include those who are alone and bring together those who are separated. Those are the marvels God continues to accomplish through us today. Peace is the gift we have been given. Peace and forgiveness are the gifts we bring to others.

Homily preached at the 5:00 Saturday and the

8:30 Sunday liturgies May 26/27 2007

Reverend William D. Mannion