(Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.)
It is Pentecost. Pentecost is the glorification of Jesus. It is through the Holy Spirit that we can call Jesus, “Lord”. No one can call Jesus Lord without the Holy Spirit.
There is only one Holy Spirit, but there are many differing gifts. In our body, likewise, there are many different gifts, or parts, but there is only one breath that nourishes all these parts.
It is the same thing with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes us members of the body of Christ, many members of the one and only body of Christ. None of us exists only for oneself, but rather for the community of the body of Christ.
All of us, Spanish or English speakers, citizens or not, with green cards or without, Democrat or Republican, man or woman, priest or layperson, are essentially all the same in the one and only Holy Spirit.
People, whose parents do not love them or care for them, often grow up to become mass murders. The good spirit in our family allows us to do good for our community, not evil.
Our God, whom we call Father, and all his family, always loves us and cares for us. We do not have to become mass sinners in the Church. This is the Good News of Christ.
The gift of the Holy Spirit makes us members of the body of Christ, important members of Christ. It does not matter which part we are, but it is very important that we are parts of Christ’s body since Christ is the most important of all. The little toe is very important for the body’s balance. The smallest part of Christ is very important for the usefulness of the whole body of Christ.
It is Pentecost. We have received the gift of the Holy Spirit and are members of the body of Christ. Our God, the Father, with Christ and the Holy Spirit, loves us and cares for us so that we can live and grow in holiness in whatever place God has put us. It is Pentecost, and we are children of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit.