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HOMILIES
Deacon Raymond Chan’s Homilies
The Solemnity of Pentecost A – Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
May 28, 2023
The liturgies of the Easter season bring home to us the work of the Holy Spirit in the Saviour’s Paschal Mystery. In this Sunday’s first reading, Luke’s account in the Acts of Apostles of the coming of the Spirit upon the apostles (2:1-11) associates this coming with the ‘day of Pentecost’, a Jewish festival celebrated fifty days after Passover – a harvest festival that later became a celebration of the giving of the Law to Moses. The basis of Luke’s vivid dramatization may well have been the fact that, on this popular festival, the apostles – still uncertain how to undertake the enormous mission they had been given – joined the pilgrims crowding Jerusalem, and for the first time found the courage to proclaim their faith in the Risen Lord. In their joy and success they recognized the ‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’ they had been promised. In the Acts of the Apostles Luke tells the story of the Church of the beginnings dramatizing them in a way that brings out their far-reaching significance. Thus, in Luke’s account, what begins as an event in one room of the city – ‘a noise that filled the whole house’, ‘something that seemed like tongues of fire’, the apostles ‘speaking in foreign languages’ – suddenly involves the whole crowded city, as faith in the Risen Lord is preached ‘to devout men from every nation under heaven’. As Luke’s dramatization continues in the passage that follows our reading, Peter’s preaching leads to the baptizing of three thousand people – a number designed to bring out the momentous nature of what is taking place, and the universal mission that will flow from it. As we know, Luke is writing a sequel to his gospel: the story of the Holy Spirit’s life-giving guidance of the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles. In later ages, we celebrate Pentecost as the birth of the Church. In this Sunday’s gospel reading (20:19-21), John reminds us that the Holy Spirit was given on the evening of Resurrection Day itself. ‘Peace be with you’, Jesus repeats, and ‘breathing on them’ he says, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’. John’s gospel reminds us that if the Spirit is responsible for the great things in which God is present in the life of the Church, the Spirit is also evident in our personal lives, in the true ‘peace’ and contentment that comes to those who give themselves generously to the Lord. In John’s gospel, Jesus, at the Last Supper, associates the gift of the Spirit he promises with a peace that is his special gift: ‘My own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give this is my gift to you’ (Jn 14:27). How varied are the gifts of the Spirit. In this era of change and renewal, let us become more aware of our dependence upon them.
The apostles, Our Lady, and Jesus’ disciples gathered in prayer after Jesus’ ascension, praying for the coming of the Comforter or the Advocate as Jesus called the Holy Spirit (John 14:16.26). The Holy Spirit came and transformed them. After receiving the Holy Spirit, they had the power of Jesus and had the courage to continue Jesus’ ministry. One person who experienced the Holy Spirit coming to her in a profound way that totally changed her life was Sister Emmanuel in Medjugorje, the founder of an organization called Children of Medjugorje (COM). Inspired by Our Lady, COM strives to encourage and maintain Christian formation of conscience everywhere. Sister Emmanuel grew up in a good Catholic family but as a teenager while attending a boarding school in Paris she began mixing with girls who were using spirit boards and Ouija boards. They did it for hours every week. It was a fascination for them. At this time, Emmanuel began losing her sleep. She used the boards with her companions for two years until she left boarding school. Sometime afterwards, she went to India setting up some business between India and Paris. She was asked to go to an astrologer to see if the business plans were good. He interpreted everything in her life as if it were all controlled by the movement of the planets. She said the astrologer sowed seeds of despair in her heart because he implied everything in her life was written in the sky instead of being a gift from God. She said that interpretation of her life cut her off from the love and care and tenderness of God. She couldn’t care less what way the planets moved, and she felt like an orphan. In the months after that, she experienced things she had never experienced: nightmares, words of hatred against her family and friends, she wasn’t attracted by food anymore, and she was tortured more and more by anxiety. She became suicidal. Her sister came to her and said that she had been to a Catholic prayer group in Paris and that everything in the Acts of the Apostles is real: the miracles, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that it happens now also. The next day was Pentecost. Emmanuel went to the prayer group and noticed that the young people there were so full of joy and the Holy Spirit. She said there was something heavenly about them but as she sat beside them, she felt like hell beside heaven; she felt imprisoned. She remembered a prayer she had said a long time ago when she was young: she had prayed that here on earth she would meet people like those in the Acts of the Apostles. If she met people like them, she would go with them and give herself to God 100%. But now that she met them, she felt it was too late. During the prayer meeting, a woman spoke under the influence of the Holy Spirit saying there was a woman present going to death because a long time ago the devil took hold of her when she began to use Ouija boards and divination, and the speaker asked her to go to the leaders and ask for prayer since God has the power to free her from Satan. Emmanuel went to them for prayer and the woman said that Jesus through his cross and resurrection has the power to heal her and make her joyful, happy, and peaceful. It was the first time she had heard someone say that Jesus could touch her heart now. They prayed powerful prayers of liberation over her invoking the name of Jesus and she felt her anxiety and torture and despair going. She felt rivers of cleansing water going through her. In this she experienced her first deep encounter with the living Jesus. She said she had been doing her will instead of God’s will which was why Satan acted with such power in her life. Then she gave her life to God 100% and that was her first commitment to Jesus.
Sister Emmanuel received new life through the Holy Spirit just as the apostles and disciples gathered in prayer received new life at the first Pentecost. She had previously wanted to meet people like those in the Acts of the Apostles and on that Sunday afternoon she met them during the prayer meeting. Her life was changed from hell to heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, we have no life in us; with the Holy Spirit, we have the life of Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit, we become closed in, with the Holy Spirit we reach out in mission to others. Without the Holy Spirit, we return to the Upper Room in fear and anxiety, with the Holy Spirit we leave the Upper Room and witness to Jesus to the ends of the earth. Today we pray for ourselves and the entire Church that we may all be renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the First letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote “Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of services but the same Lord, and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). He wrote about how it’s the Spirit who makes the church work. The starting point for accepting the gift of the Holy Spirit is to increase our prayer life, which helps put us into a loving relationship with God (the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles while they were at prayer). Once we discover our own special talents and the particular role we are called to play in the mission of the church, then there is an obligation on us to use them in the building up of the Body of Christ. That’s why we’ve got folks willing to be lectors, some extraordinary communion ministers, some facilitators and hospitality ministers. Others are willing to teach RCIA class, or Sunday school, some like fixing things or cutting the grass or shovelling snow. Some volunteer in Soup Kitchen or visit people in the hospital. We may think it’s not a big deal just attending the Catholic Women’s League or Knights of Columbus monthly meeting, nor is it a big deal holding a sick child all night long or attending to a parent with Alzheimiers for months and years, nor holding up a sign on the street to spread the pro-life message. But all these, even in the hugs of two toddlers, are necessary in building up the Body of Christ. We are all proclaiming the coming of God’s kingdom in the best way God has suited us to proclaim. The Holy Spirit enriches the faith community to work together. Where there is love, there is the Holy Spirit!
“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord. Holy Spirit, continue your good work in us and help us to be faithful to you in our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen
ARCHIVED HOMILIES
May 2023
- The Solemnity of Pentecost A – Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.http://The Solemnity of Pentecost A – Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
- Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord A – Tell the World that Jesus Lives
- Sixth Sunday of Easter A – “And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
- Fifth Sunday of Easter A – “I go to prepare a place for you. … I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”
April 2023
- Fourth Sunday of Easter – I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture
- Third Sunday of Easter – “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” Pilgrimages
- Second Sunday of Easter – Leaping into the Arms of Divine Mercy
- Easter Sunday for Year ABC – ‘As Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too’ are called ‘to live a new life’
- Palm Sunday A – From Hosanna to the Son of David to Crucify Him, Crucify Him
March 2023
- Fifth Sunday of Lent A – “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
- Fourth Sunday of Lent A- “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life
- Third Sunday of Lent A – I am thirsty
- Second Sunday of Lent Year A – This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased_ listen to him
February 2023
- First Sunday of Lent A – And lead us not into Temptation, but deliver us from Evil, Amen
- Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time – “And Jesus said ‘Love Thy enemies’”
- Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time A – _I came not to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them
- Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time A – Be the salt of the earth and light of the world, the keys to the Kingdom
January 2023
- Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time A – Let us contemplate the humility of the Son of God born into poverty
- Third Sunday in Ordinary Time A – _The Kingdom of God is at hand
- Second Sunday in Ordinary Time A – Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the World
- The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord – All people would be co-heirs of the Grace of Christ.
- Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God – Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.
December 2022
- The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas – Joy to the World the Lord has come
- Fourth Sunday of Advent A – The Call to Be a Christian
- Third Sunday of Advent A – The Church Is the Evidence for Joyful Hope
- Second Sunday of Advent Repent, Live into God’s Dream with Hope
November 2022
- First Sunday of Advent A – Remembering God’s Time During Our Time
- Thirty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time C – The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – The Paradox of Christ’s Kingship
- Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time C – He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end
- Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time C – All souls go to Heaven
- Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time C – He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end
October 2022
- Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time C – Christ’s Mission and also Church Mission, Seeking and Saving What Was Lost
- Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time C – Jesus, I believe in your love for me. Have mercy on me, a sinner.
- Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time C – Pray always without becoming weary
- Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time C – Gratitude is the best Attitude and the Virtue of Joy
- Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time C – The Power of Faith
September 2022
- Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time C – The Church’s Mission, the Poor
- Twenty- Fifth Sunday in Ordination Time C – For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.
- Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time C – God’s True Opinion of Sinners
- Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time C – “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, … and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple”.
August 2022
- Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time C – Conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved… Humble yourself… and you will find favour with God.
- Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time C – We Must STRIVE to enter by the narrow gate for Salvation
- Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time C – I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing
- Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time C – Be prepared to serve for the return of our Master
July 2022
- Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time C – Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!
- 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time – July 23/24 – Year C – The Lord’s Prayer in Luke
- 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time – July 9/10 – Year C – The Story of the Good Samaritan
- 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time – July 2/3 – Year C – We’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy Down in our heart
June 2022
- 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 25/26 – Year C – The Cost of Discipleship
- The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord – June 19/20 – Year C – Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb
- The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity – June 11/12 – Year C – In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen
- Pentecost Sunday – June 4/5 – Year C – The Inauguration of Church’s Universal Mission
May 2022
- Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord – May 28/29 – Year C – Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?
- 6th Sunday of Easter – May 21/22 – Year C – Every Christian soul is a Temple where God truly dwells
- 5th Sunday of Easter – May 14/15 – Year C – I give you a new commandment, that you love one another
- 4th Sunday of Easter – May 7/8 – Year C – Hearing the Voice of the Good Shepherd
April 2022
- 3rd Sunday of Easter – April 30/May 1 – Year C – Do you love me? If you do, then Feed my sheep!
- 2nd Sunday of Easter – April 23/24 – Year C – Feast of Divine Mercy – My Lord and my God
- Easter Sunday the Resurrection of the Lord – April 17 – Year C – Be Easter People, Practice Resurrection
- 2nd Sunday of Easter – April 23/24 – Year C – Feast of Divine Mercy – My Lord and my God
- 5th Sunday of Lent – April 2/3 – Year C – God always Gives Us Another Chance
March 2022
- 4th Sunday of Lent – March 26/27 – Year C – Rejoice and be Christ’s Ambassadors
- 3rd Sunday of Lent – March 19/20 – Year C – Making the Best Use of His Time
- 2nd Sunday of Lent – March 12/13 – Year C – God’s Hidden Work in the World to fulfill His promise
- 1st Sunday of Lent – March 5/6 – Year C – Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
February 2022
- 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time – February 26/27 – Year C – Our Lord, through his grace, works that brokenness into something that gradually takes shape from here to eternity
- 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time – February 19/20 – Year C – “Do to others as you would have them do to you”
- 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time – February 12/13 – Year C – Sermon on the Plain: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, hungry, weep; and when people hate you, exclude you, revile you, and defame you.”
- 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time – February 5/6 – Year C – The Kind of Fishers God Calls Us to Be
January 2022
- 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time – January 29/30 – Year C – We were created to be loved, and to love
- 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – January 22/23 – Year C – Mission Statement, Jesus’ and ours
- 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – January 15/16 – Year C – Celebrating Marriage at Cana
- Feast of the Baptism of the Lord – January 8/9 – Year C – Baptism makes us a New Creation
- Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord – January 2 – Year C – The Wise are Still Seeking Him
- Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God – January 1 – Year C – The Baker Woman, with Jesus and Mary
December 2021
- Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph – December 26 – Year C
- Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord – December 25 – Year C – Pax Christi!
- 4th Sunday in Advent – December 18/19 – Year C – The Winter Visitation of Elizabeth, the Magnificat
- 3rd Sunday in Advent – December 11/12 – Year C – We are called to be joyful as we await the coming of the Lord
- 2nd Sunday in Advent – December 4/5 – Year C – A Good Work is Underway, “the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.“
- 1st Sunday of Advent – November 27/28 – Year C – Advent Means Getting Ready with Hope, not Just Waiting Around
St. Paul Roman Catholic Church 