On the last day of the Marian month of May we had the Solemnity of Pentecost bringing to memory the first Pentecost experiences, descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire and gusty winds and the transformation of the Apostles into bold and courageous witnesses of Jesus Christ.
Our celebration of the feast of the Pentecost is an occasion to receive afresh the anointing in the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord and giver of life, and who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Like the Apostles and Apostolic Church we have to live for the Lord Jesus Christ and share in the mission of the Church of proclaiming Jesus Christ and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
Celebrating the Pentecost Sunday is also an occasion to become aware as to how we see today (understand) our discipleship, how we see our mission, and how we see ourselves as members of the Church, the Church we belong to at the parish level, diocese level, and at the universal level! Our understanding determines our attitudes towards the Church, our sense of belonging to the Church, our relationship with other members of the Church, the way we look at and participate in the life and activities of the church, and our expectations from the Church.
- Members Apostolic Church were called the “followers of the way”: Those who believed in Jesus Christ gradually emerged into a vibrant and well-knit community, characterized by bonds of love and sharing; they shared everything they had with others. The entrusted mission of proclaiming the Good News of Salvation commenced immediately and along with that was the formation of the Apostolic Church with more and more Jews coming forward to believe and accept Jesus, the crucified one as “Christ, Lord, and Savior!” Both, Jews and non-Jews in Jerusalem began to identify or call the members of this new community as the “followers of the Way,” a “New Way at that!” The Apostles and Apostolic Church saw all this as the work of God accomplished in the name of Jesus Christ under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There was that urge in them to fulfill the mission that was entrusted to them. They went about with conviction and courage, and with joy they faced the persecution and imprisonments, suffered even physical violence. They had no other thought than living for the Lord and for the mission of proclaiming Lord Jesus: Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the promises about the Messiah and He is Saviour for the whole humanity. They believed that the mission as God-given for the salvation of human beings.
- Church is People of God: ecclesia, assembly of believers: The English word “church” in the common parlance hides the dynamic reality of the Church of Jesus Christ as a people who are believers in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, sent by God for the salvation of the world. Thanks be to God, the Second Vatican Council by describing the Church as “People of God,” has helped to recover what was not so much denied but was not immediately in the focus. Church is constituted of people who are placed in the “here-and-now” reality of daily life, characterized by their faith in Jesus Christ and as people who are “reborn” in the waters of the sacrament of Baptism. Their faith is a response to the truth revealed in Jesus Christ: He is the Incarnate Son of God, born as man in the world for the salvation of man, salvation of the whole world! This faith-response is a commitment to the call to live as disciples of Jesus Christ, as a pilgrim people in this world, journeying towards the attainment of eternal life. While one is on the journey, he or she as Christian is not left to one self, alone and isolated. A baptized person is ipso facto a member of the community of baptized members who are also called to be disciples of Jesus Christ and called to live as pilgrims moving forward with firm faith and hope towards the attainment of “eternal life” assured in and through Jesus Christ. In the community every member has the two-fold relationships: one with the Triune God and the second with the believing community as a whole. These relationships imply both, a privilege and a responsibility; privilege because one is counted as a member in the community, “a living stone in the edifice of the living temple” and it is a responsibility because blessed in the Holy Spirit with particular gifts and charisms, each member has to contribute his/her share for the well being of the whole Community. Not every member is blessed with the same gifts and therefore, there are different responsibilities and duties in the hands of different members but all for the good of the whole community in a given place. Church is a perfect example of “a unity in diversity.”
- Church is sustained and led by Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church: Body and Bride are two images among many others that are used to speak about the Church: the head of this Body is Jesus Christ; He is the Bridegroom and the Church is His Bride. With this intimate and living relationship Jesus Christ sustains the Church, while she exists here on earth and He leads her to her final destiny. The Word of God and the Sacramental life are the two perennial sources of life with which Christ sustains the Church. Jesus Christ is “the Word made flesh” and the source of all the Sacraments, the channels of saving grace of God. In Union with Christ the Church celebrates and ponders over the Word of God to know and live according to the Will of God. In the celebration and reception of the Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, the members in the Community of believers keep receiving the “grace of God.” We cannot think of the Church at any time and in any situation of being left to herself apart from Jesus Christ: she is always in union and communion with Him. Satan and Sin reality can threaten to disturb and destroy this union and communion between Jesus Christ and the members of the Church. For this too, the needed sustenance is provided by the Word of God and the grace of the sacraments. It is no wonder that Catholics always long to frequent for these life-giving and life-sustaining celebrations of the Word and the sacraments. During this Covid-19 pandemic the Community is experiencing the pain of missing this tangible source of sustenance and it eagerly waits for resumption of the community celebrations of the Sacraments and proclamation of the Word of God. Opportunities offered through digital communication for following the liturgy of the Eucharist and preaching of the Word, do not fully satisfy the soul’s hunger for the communion with the Lord through the frequent reception of the sacraments personally!
- Church is hierarchically ordered Community with an institutional structure: Community and institution have different dynamics of existing, functioning and relating. Individual members in a given community or individuals functioning or working in particular position in a given institution have to have a common shared vision and an agreed set of goals and objectives. There is a mission that guides both, the community or institution as a whole and the individual members as well. Church is a Community of believers but it is also a well organized institution. Understanding this truth and accepting this truth about the Church by all the members is very crucial and important too. But, the challenge is to have a proper and healthy combination (balance) of “the sense of a belonging to the community and the sense of being an individual in the community,” with the implicit rights and privileges, duties and obligations, with gifts and talents, etc. If the common vision and mission do not govern and guide both, the Community and the individuals, there will be chances of conflict between the Community and the individual. There has to be a healthy relationship between the two: How does the community listen, understand, and accommodate the individual believers/members? And how do the individuals understand, respect, accept, and abide by the common vision and mission? The question is not about who should or what should prevail. It is about whether or not the common vision and mission is guiding and directing the Community or the individual members in the community. Institutional structures and functions are placed in the hands of the individuals to help the community in living up to the common vision and in the realization of the mission. There has to be a sense of detachment in the individuals and in the community as a whole, if the vision and mission should not suffer neglect.
- Gifts and talents for the “common good”: Each human being is endowed with talents and gifts are not always comparable to those one sees in others. This is what being unique means! As Baptized members in the Church we are not exception to this. Added to the naturally given gifts and talents, we believe that in the Holy Spirit we anointed and each of us are blessed with gifts, charisms. Recognition, acceptance and fostering of these gifts received from the Holy Spirit in the Church and by the Church are necessary. When we say Church, it is all the members of the Church have to recognize, accept and foster the gifts in the members. Having said this, it is also necessary that the gifts/charisms individuals are blessed with are for the “common good,” for the well being of the whole community of believers. We know how repeatedly the image of human body is used in the New Testament to explain to us about the uniqueness of the gifts in each member and the inter-connectedness with other members in the Church. We are not only interconnected but also inter-dependent just as different parts in the body are inter-connected and inter-dependent. In the Church exist with one another united with Jesus Christ, the head of the Church. Another point with regard to gifts/charisms is taught by the Church: there are hierarchical (institutional) gifts and charismatic gifts. Pope and bishops, priests and deacons are by virtue of their ordination share in divine ministries of the Church. Strictly speaking, only Pope and the bishops who are in communion with the Pope are called hierarchy. In any case, all have to understand that the gifts/charisms, including the exercise of authority as pastors of the community, have to be at the service or in the service of the Church, for its up building and for fulfilling her mission of proclaiming Christ and the Good News of the Kingdom of God! This way of understanding alone will ensure good relationships among different members and different sections among us “the People of God.” May the Spirit of God lead us!
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were heathen, you were led astray to mute idols, however you may have been moved. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus be cursed! and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1Cor 12:1-7)”