Re-creating Our World.

There was a parish Bible study group that was studying personalities of the Bible. In the study guide they were asked to tell who they would like to be.

 

One woman said, “Ruth.” Another, “Mary.” An older man said, “King Solomon.” A young man replied, “Paul.” A young woman chimed in, saying, “I would like to be Lo.”

 

Everyone was puzzled, not recalling anyone named Lo in the Bible. They quizzed her on the passage. She said, “Lo, I am with you always.”

 

This story actually puts us into the heart of the Bible. For example, when the Hebrew people had escaped from slavery in Egypt, while they were making their way through the desert, they started to run out of food. In their anguish, they asked, “Is the Lord with us or not?”

 

During difficult historical moments for the nation of Israel, and in the desperate moments faced by individuals who were suffering greatly, that question was raised, time and time again: Is the Lord with us, or not?

 

There is an interesting fact relating to the original languages of the Bible. In the story of creation found at the beginning of Genesis, of course, we find that the language in which it was written is Hebrew.

 

Today, of course, we are celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the blessed Trinity, upon those gathered in prayer. In the original Hebrew, the word Ruah can be rendered either spirit or breath or wind. In the opening lines of the Bible we read, “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters” (Gen 1:1-2). God’s creative Spirit was at work creating the universe.

 

In the story of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles we read, “Suddenly from up in the sky there came a noise like a strong, driving wind which was heard all through the house” (Acts 2:2). God’s Spirit was at work once again, creating anew, re-creating the community for its mission of changing the world.

 

This Solemnity of Pentecost brings the fifty days of the Easter Season to completion. The gospel reading thus takes us back to Easter, with the risen Jesus appearing to the disciples in the locked room, showing them the wounds of his crucifixion, and declaring, “Peace be with you.”

 

And then, he says it again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” The text then explains, “And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.’”

 

So, we find all these images for the powerful, explosive creative energy of God: Spirit, wind, and breath. God wants to be the wind beneath our wings, as close to us as every breath we take, the Holy Spirit that motivates, inspires, helps us to forgive, and teaches us how to love.

 

Let us complete this Easter season in a personal way by asking the Holy Spirit to come upon as anew, setting lukewarm souls on fire, so that we might re-create our world to become more welcoming and forgiving, filled with justice, and working for peace. Otherwise, the promise of Easter is only a memory.

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Homily for the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time November 16, 2025

By Charlene Currie • November 28, 2025
Too Stubborn to Quit. Homily for the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time November 16, 2025 The California coast was blanketed in fog July 4, 1952. Twenty-one miles to the west, on Catalina Island, Florence Chadwick, a 34-year-old-long-distance-swimmer, waded in to the water and began swimming toward the California coast. She had already conquered the English Channel, swimming in both directions. Now she was determined to be the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel. As the hours ticked off, Chadwick fought bone-chilling cold, dense fog, and sharks. Several times, sharks had to be driven off by rifles. Fatigue never set in, but the icy water numbed her to the point of exhaustion. Straining to make out the shore through her swimmer’s goggles, she could see only a dense fog. She knew she could not go any farther. Although not a quitter, Chadwick shouted to her trainer and her mother in the boat and asked to be taken out of the water. They urged her not to give up, but when she looked toward the California coast, all she could see was thick fog. So after fifteen hours and fifty-five minutes of fighting the elements, she was hauled from the channel into the boat. Frozen to the bone and her spirit defeated, Chadwick was devastated when she discovered she was only a half-mile from the coast! She felt the shock of failure…. Two months later, Chadwick swam that same channel, and again fog clouded her vision, but this time she swam with her faith intact—that somewhere behind that fog was land. This time she succeeded. Not only was she the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel, but she beat the men’s record by two hours. A line from this story that struck me was: “this time she swam with her faith intact.” Florence Chadwick was able to persevere to her goal because she believed she could do it. In today’s gospel passage, Jesus speaks about the challenges and threats that will be faced by the first disciples when they go out into the world and start proclaiming the message. He doesn’t mince words or paint a rosy picture. Tough times of suffering will come. But then he adds, “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” In reflecting on this teaching, I was reminded of another Bible story. The disciples are in a boat crossing a lake. Jesus had stayed behind to spend some time in prayer. Then, late at night, he comes toward them, walking on the water. The disciples are frightened, thinking they’re seeing a ghost. Jesus tries to reassure them, when Simon Peter yells, “Lord, if it is really you, command that I walk on the water toward you.” Jesus invites him to do so, and Peter steps out of the boat and actually walks on the water toward Jesus. But then, he looks down and notices the threatening situation he is in. And he begins to sink. Jesus has to fish him out of the water and get him back into the boat (Cf. Matthew 14:22-33). What makes the difference? As long as Peter keeps his eyes on Jesus, he can do the seemingly impossible. When he focuses on the threat, he sinks. We find something similar in the writings of St. Paul. In his first letter to the Corinthians, he writes, “You know that while all the runners in the stadium take part in the race, the award goes to one man. In that case, run so as to win! Athletes deny themselves all sorts of things. They do this to win a crown of leaves that withers, but we a crown that is imperishable. I do not run like a man who loses sight of the finish line…” (1 Cor 9:24-26). So, when we have to face difficulties, when we live in hard times, when we feel left out or let down, how are we supposed to keep going? Florence Chadwick failed when she couldn’t see the finish line. When she found faith withing herself again, she was able to go back and reach her goal. Peter was even able to walk on water, but only as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. And Paul writes that he has been able to keep going, even while facing all sorts of hardships, because he has never lost sight of the goal. When facing challenges, a stubborn faith is required; perseverance is needed. It’s very easy to give up, to call it quits, to feel that there’s no way to face all the problems that pile up. We don’t have to face life’s challenges alone. Jesus is with us. And he asks us to be there for each other. He asks us to persevere, to have faith, to be too stubborn to quit.