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Pentecost Sunday Jn 7 37-39 |
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| Background: John's account of the giving
of the Holy Spirit on Easter differs from the account of the Pentecost event in the Acts
of the Apostles. Still, his short account with its double salutation of 'Peace be with
you" gives that common greeting new significance for the early followers of Jesus and
for us today. Coupled with the commission of being sent forth as Jesus had been sent by
the Father, it sets the stage for their reception of the Holy Spirit with its power and
responsibility of forgiveness. |
read the padre |
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Story: Once upon a time a new
family moved into a neighborhood. It was a nice neighborhood and it was very close to
where the Daddy worked, so close he could walk to work. There was only one thing wrong
with the neighborhood. Most people weren’t Irish! Yes, that’s true there are
such neighborhoods! They were Mexican and Thai, Jewish and Korean, Japanese and Indian,
Polish and Columbian, Lebanese and Chinese and just about every other nationality that you
could imagine. The children in the neighborhood swarmed around the new kids. Are you
really Irish? We don’t have any Irish living in our neighborhood. What’s it like
to be Irish? Can you teach us Irish songs and dances and tell us Irish stories? Our new
family was not dumb at all. They realized that there was some pay-off in being different.
They had to look up Irish songs and stories and learn some Irish dances. They became very
popular. They also learned a lot about all the strange people (i.e. those that were not
Irish in their neighborhood and decided that while they were not Irish it wasn’t
their fault and they were pretty cool kids anyway. They loved the cooking even if some of
it was a little too spicy. Do you want to move back to the old neighborhood, their parents
asked them anxiously. No way, said the kids, God made us all different and we enjoy it!
All Irish neighborhoods are BORING!
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