Last Sunday, May 24th, was Pentecost Sunday. There was a Mass at The Father of Mercy Chapel, which is located at Our Lady of Sorrows Monastery in Toronto, OH. Celebrating Mass with the Franciscan Sisters, TOR is always a special event.
If I am being honest, Mass in general has been quite a challenge for me lately. I mean, I haven’t been getting a whole lot out of it. I am distracted, distant, and most of the time, annoyed – annoyed that another person has decided to sit next to me when there are plenty of open pews with no other attendees in any of those pews, annoyed by the families who allow their children to run through the church like it’s a playground, annoyed by the couple talking too loudly throughout the entire service, annoyed that the homily has gone in so many directions that I am now lost and have completely lost focus. To sum it up, I am simply annoyed when it comes to Sunday Mass. And that is not a good thing, but it is a human thing.
That annoyance has caused some serious introspection, particularly after the homily on Pentecost Sunday. While the homily did run the gamut for themes, ideas, and synopsis, I admittedly did get lost and irritated. But there was a profound statement that the homilist made about “pouring out”.
Pentecost is a time of “pouring out”, a pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost commemorates the day the Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers in a powerful, visible way, as tongues of fire. As described in Acts 2:1–4: a sound like a mighty wind filled the house, tongues of fire rested on each disciple, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in other tongues. And while the homily focused (at least initially) on this pouring out of the Holy Spirit, I was focused on a different pouring out, which has nothing to do with beer or bourbon.
The pouring out I visualized had to do with an emptying of self, pouring out all that is negative, destructive, cruel, manipulative, deceptive…fill in the blank with anything that is basically harmful. I felt like I was being told to pour out all the things that were weighing me down. Things like guilt, worry, resentment, bitterness, anger, and fear. This was a pouring out that I think I needed, to pour out those damaging thoughts and feelings that I think most of us tend to hold onto, that conversation that didn’t go as planned, that friend who turned out not to really be your friend, that job you wanted, that reaction you were expecting that didn’t come, etc. I felt like God was telling me that I needed to empty myself first, by pouring out those detrimental things to make room for all that He had in store for me. I had to be “empty” to make space for what God wants to pour out into me, which includes those fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I had to get rid of the bad to make room for the good.
I have realized that emptying negativity is a daily practice. You have to make space for joy. You have to make space for God. So what are you going to pour out today? Are you willing to make room for something better?
So today, let go of the negativity, make room for joy, and let the Holy Spirit pour out upon you. And today, please pray for me, and I will continue to pray for you.
Tattoos, Motorcycles, Beer, Bourbon and Faith 