Iraq and the Tower of Babel: The Feast of Pentecost
Second Draft
[Thanks for the input, folks. Further comments and suggestions are welcome. Post them below or e-mail me at jms48@fuse.net. Happy Pentecost!]
One of the amazing events that took place
on the Day of Pentecost,
was that fact that, no matter what country you hailed from,
you would have been able to understand
the proclamation of the wonderful works of God
as shouted by the apostles on the streets of Jerusalem.
When St. Luke writes about this amazing occurrence,
he presents it as the happy ending
to a story of division
begun centuries before as recorded in the Book of Genesis.
I’m speaking here of what happened at the Tower of Babel
on that day when all the workers and foremen,
all the supervisors, building inspectors and architects
suddenly and inexplicably began speaking different languages.
No longer able to understand each other,
they had to abandon the project of building a tower
so tall that it might have reached into heaven itself.
And so, God put a stop to the enterprise.
It was the Bible’s way of explaining
the onset of the many languages of humankind
as well as the division and confusion that results
from a lack of communication and understanding.
Well, did you know that the site of the biblical city of Babel
is located in present-day Iraq?
I’m not sure if the site of Babel is currently located
in a Sunni area of Iraq or a Shi’ite area.
All I know is that the present-day setting
of that ancient story
--a place where soldiers and insurgents
fight with guns and bombs
and people now live in fear as opposed to hope--
this modern-day setting makes the Tower of Babel
a powerful symbol
of the pain of division
that continues to mar the face of humankind.
If God’s gift of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost
is meant to bring peace and unity
to the people of the world,
well, you might conclude, it’s "not workin' too good."
In commenting on the world situation
in the light of today’s feast,
Fr John Kavanaugh, a priest at St. Louis University writes:
“…we are still the pre-Pentecost church, huddled in fear of each other as well as of the world at large. How true it is that we long once again [for the arrival of the Holy Spirit] ‘lover of the poor…the gracious visitor who eases our toils…healer of our wounds, the gift of joy and absolver of sins.’”
It's a depressing statement,
but accurate.
Both in the world at large
and the world at home.
For some of us,
the remnants of the Tower of Babel
aren’t found in some dusty town in Iraq,
rather, the stones of that ancient tower
lie scattered in our family rooms
and kitchen and our bedrooms
were words, both spoke and shouted,
have grown too sharp to understand.
And, while we're at it,
let's not overlook the situation in the Church.
Tottering walls of the Tower of Babel
are found among the very people
Christ redeemed with his blood.
High walls continue their work of separation
whenever labels like conservative and liberal,
progressive and traditionalist,
fundamentalist Christian and marginal Christian
supercede the use of words “brother” and “sister.”
So, Fr. Kavanaugh's words make a lot of sense.
And today, on this Feast of Pentecost,
we can't help but pray that the Holy Spirit will again
come upon us "to renew the face of the earth,"
troubled in countless ways, in countless places.
So, how will the living Spirit of the living God
go about doing this?
Well, don't forget that the Feast of Pentecost
is nothing if not the template for the way things work
and are meant to work within the Church.
This is good news for us because it means that
what began in a huddle of fear and confusion
in the Upper Room in Jerusalem
resulted in an amazing faith in the hearts of the disciples
and a strong witness on their part in the world around them.
What began with worrisome wringing of hands
ends up in wondrous praise of the works of God!
Joy, praise, energy and strength
are the hallmarks of the Holy Spirit.
Impossible, you say, in today's world racked with war?
In a church divided?
Or in a family filled with tension?
Or in a heart that is crushed?
Not so!
Let me tell you a story.
Not long ago, CNN aired a video of a young soldier
who used his free time while on duty in Iraq
to volunteer at an orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity.
One day a four-year-old boy named Allah, who can’t walk,
crawled his way across the floor
and that soldier ended up buying him an airplane ticket
and he’s adopted that boy.
(Did any of you see the video?)
That soldier’s back in civilian life.
He’s a single guy, living on his own…except now
he has a young son to care for.
Every morning he brushes Allah’s teeth
and feeds him breakfast
and, I’m here to tell you,
the love radiating between that former soldier
and that disabled boy
was so obvious, so apparent,
it made you sit back and truly wonder
what the world would be like
if everyone could love like that.
It's an excellent story to share
on this Feast of of Pentecost.
Stories like that convince me that
the unity, peace, joy and love of the Holy Spirit
are gifts worth praying for!
“Come, Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of the faithful.
Enkindle in them the fire of your love.
And you shall renew the face of the earth.”
It’s a powerful prayer
offered to a powerful God.
A God who longs and yearns to renew the face of the earth
and does so through the fire of love…one heart at a time.
__________
The Tower of Babel fell to the ground
a long time ago and, sadly, we live among its ruins.
Amid the jagged stones of history,
the people of God huddle in small groups,
sometimes worried, often distressed.
But the fires around which they gather
are fires of love in which faith burns bright and warm
despite the dark and chill of the night.
And in the glow of our campfires
we do a very human thing, a very Christian thing:
we share stories of faith
and hold our hope on high.
Stories of faith.
Stories of love.
Stories of "the wonderful works of God."
A man drops his rifle to pick up a boy.
An addict drops her needle and picks up the Bible.
Sometimes the work of the Spirit is dramatic.
Sometimes it’s subtle.
A bully at school takes back his words and, later on, shares his lunch.
A father turns off the TV and takes a walk with the kids.
The sister you argued with last week calls you on your birthday.
A friend at work accepts your invitation to join you at Mass.
You squeeze some dollars from the budget to send to the poor.
It’s the work of God.
It’s the work of God’s Spirit within you.
And it’s the reason we pray and continue to pray:
“Come, Holy Spirit,
warm our hearts with the the fire of your love.
And you shall renew the face of the earth!”
_______________________________________________________
Homily for Pentecost
(First Draft)
One of the amazing events that took place
on the Day of Pentecost,
was that fact that, no matter what country you hailed from,
you would have been able to understand
the proclamation of the wonderful works of God
as shouted by the apostles on the streets of Jerusalem.
When St. Luke writes about this amazing occurrence,
he presents it as the happy ending
to the story of a very ancient story as recorded centuries earlier
in the Book of Genesis.
I’m speaking here of what happened at the Tower of Babel
where, all the workers and foremen,
all the supervisors, building inspectors, architects
and everyone else involved in that building project…
suddenly and inexplicably began speaking different languages.
No longer able to understand each other,
they had to abandon the project of building a tower
so tall that it might have reached into heaven itself.
And so, God put a stop to the enterprise.
It was the Bible’s way of explaining the onset of the many languages
of humankind while, at the same time,
conveying a lesson about the sin of pride, that is,
replacing honor of God with honor of oneself.
Did you know that the site of the biblical city of Babel
is located in present-day Iraq?
I’m not sure if Babel is located in a predominately Sunni area of Iraq
or a Shi’ite area.
All I know is that the present-day setting of that ancient story
--a place where
soldiers and insurgents fight with guns and bombs
and people now live in fear as opposed to hope--
makes the Tower of Babel a powerful symbol
of the pain of division and separation
that continues to mar the face of humankind.
If God’s gift of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost
is meant to bring peace and unity
to the people of the world,
well, it’s not working.
In commenting on the uncertain situation in today’s world
in the light of today’s feast,
Fr John Kavanaugh, a priest at St. Louis University writes:
“…we are still the pre-Pentecost church, huddled in fear of each other as well as of the world at large. How true it is that we long once again for the [the Holy Spirit] "lover of the poor…the gracious visitor who eases our toils…healer of our wounds, the gift of joy and absolver of sins."
For some of us,
the Tower of Babel isn’t traced to some town in Iraq,
rather, its foundation stones lie scattered in our family rooms
and kitchen and our bedrooms
were words grow too sharp to understand
and expressions of love and fidelity
become as meaningless as a foreign tongue.
Tottering walls of that ancient tower
are found even with the Holy Church of God,
among the very people Christ redeemed with his blood.
The dividing walls continue their work of separation
whenever labels like conservative and liberal,
progressive and traditionalist,
fundamentalist Christian and marginal Christian
supercede the use of such archaic terminology
as represented in the words “brother” and “sister.”
Today, we pray that the Holy Spirit will again
come upon us to renew the face of the earth,
troubled in countless ways, in countless places.
[Thanks for the input, folks. Further comments and suggestions are welcome. Post them below or e-mail me at jms48@fuse.net. Happy Pentecost!]
One of the amazing events that took place
on the Day of Pentecost,
was that fact that, no matter what country you hailed from,
you would have been able to understand
the proclamation of the wonderful works of God
as shouted by the apostles on the streets of Jerusalem.
When St. Luke writes about this amazing occurrence,
he presents it as the happy ending
to a story of division
begun centuries before as recorded in the Book of Genesis.
I’m speaking here of what happened at the Tower of Babel
on that day when all the workers and foremen,
all the supervisors, building inspectors and architects
suddenly and inexplicably began speaking different languages.
No longer able to understand each other,
they had to abandon the project of building a tower
so tall that it might have reached into heaven itself.
And so, God put a stop to the enterprise.
It was the Bible’s way of explaining
the onset of the many languages of humankind
as well as the division and confusion that results
from a lack of communication and understanding.
Well, did you know that the site of the biblical city of Babel
is located in present-day Iraq?
I’m not sure if the site of Babel is currently located
in a Sunni area of Iraq or a Shi’ite area.
All I know is that the present-day setting
of that ancient story
--a place where soldiers and insurgents
fight with guns and bombs
and people now live in fear as opposed to hope--
this modern-day setting makes the Tower of Babel
a powerful symbol
of the pain of division
that continues to mar the face of humankind.
If God’s gift of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost
is meant to bring peace and unity
to the people of the world,
well, you might conclude, it’s "not workin' too good."
In commenting on the world situation
in the light of today’s feast,
Fr John Kavanaugh, a priest at St. Louis University writes:
“…we are still the pre-Pentecost church, huddled in fear of each other as well as of the world at large. How true it is that we long once again [for the arrival of the Holy Spirit] ‘lover of the poor…the gracious visitor who eases our toils…healer of our wounds, the gift of joy and absolver of sins.’”
It's a depressing statement,
but accurate.
Both in the world at large
and the world at home.
For some of us,
the remnants of the Tower of Babel
aren’t found in some dusty town in Iraq,
rather, the stones of that ancient tower
lie scattered in our family rooms
and kitchen and our bedrooms
were words, both spoke and shouted,
have grown too sharp to understand.
And, while we're at it,
let's not overlook the situation in the Church.
Tottering walls of the Tower of Babel
are found among the very people
Christ redeemed with his blood.
High walls continue their work of separation
whenever labels like conservative and liberal,
progressive and traditionalist,
fundamentalist Christian and marginal Christian
supercede the use of words “brother” and “sister.”
So, Fr. Kavanaugh's words make a lot of sense.
And today, on this Feast of Pentecost,
we can't help but pray that the Holy Spirit will again
come upon us "to renew the face of the earth,"
troubled in countless ways, in countless places.
So, how will the living Spirit of the living God
go about doing this?
Well, don't forget that the Feast of Pentecost
is nothing if not the template for the way things work
and are meant to work within the Church.
This is good news for us because it means that
what began in a huddle of fear and confusion
in the Upper Room in Jerusalem
resulted in an amazing faith in the hearts of the disciples
and a strong witness on their part in the world around them.
What began with worrisome wringing of hands
ends up in wondrous praise of the works of God!
Joy, praise, energy and strength
are the hallmarks of the Holy Spirit.
Impossible, you say, in today's world racked with war?
In a church divided?
Or in a family filled with tension?
Or in a heart that is crushed?
Not so!
Let me tell you a story.
Not long ago, CNN aired a video of a young soldier
who used his free time while on duty in Iraq
to volunteer at an orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity.
One day a four-year-old boy named Allah, who can’t walk,
crawled his way across the floor
and that soldier ended up buying him an airplane ticket
and he’s adopted that boy.
(Did any of you see the video?)
That soldier’s back in civilian life.
He’s a single guy, living on his own…except now
he has a young son to care for.
Every morning he brushes Allah’s teeth
and feeds him breakfast
and, I’m here to tell you,
the love radiating between that former soldier
and that disabled boy
was so obvious, so apparent,
it made you sit back and truly wonder
what the world would be like
if everyone could love like that.
It's an excellent story to share
on this Feast of of Pentecost.
Stories like that convince me that
the unity, peace, joy and love of the Holy Spirit
are gifts worth praying for!
“Come, Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of the faithful.
Enkindle in them the fire of your love.
And you shall renew the face of the earth.”
It’s a powerful prayer
offered to a powerful God.
A God who longs and yearns to renew the face of the earth
and does so through the fire of love…one heart at a time.
__________
The Tower of Babel fell to the ground
a long time ago and, sadly, we live among its ruins.
Amid the jagged stones of history,
the people of God huddle in small groups,
sometimes worried, often distressed.
But the fires around which they gather
are fires of love in which faith burns bright and warm
despite the dark and chill of the night.
And in the glow of our campfires
we do a very human thing, a very Christian thing:
we share stories of faith
and hold our hope on high.
Stories of faith.
Stories of love.
Stories of "the wonderful works of God."
A man drops his rifle to pick up a boy.
An addict drops her needle and picks up the Bible.
Sometimes the work of the Spirit is dramatic.
Sometimes it’s subtle.
A bully at school takes back his words and, later on, shares his lunch.
A father turns off the TV and takes a walk with the kids.
The sister you argued with last week calls you on your birthday.
A friend at work accepts your invitation to join you at Mass.
You squeeze some dollars from the budget to send to the poor.
It’s the work of God.
It’s the work of God’s Spirit within you.
And it’s the reason we pray and continue to pray:
“Come, Holy Spirit,
warm our hearts with the the fire of your love.
And you shall renew the face of the earth!”
_______________________________________________________
Homily for Pentecost
(First Draft)
One of the amazing events that took place
on the Day of Pentecost,
was that fact that, no matter what country you hailed from,
you would have been able to understand
the proclamation of the wonderful works of God
as shouted by the apostles on the streets of Jerusalem.
When St. Luke writes about this amazing occurrence,
he presents it as the happy ending
to the story of a very ancient story as recorded centuries earlier
in the Book of Genesis.
I’m speaking here of what happened at the Tower of Babel
where, all the workers and foremen,
all the supervisors, building inspectors, architects
and everyone else involved in that building project…
suddenly and inexplicably began speaking different languages.
No longer able to understand each other,
they had to abandon the project of building a tower
so tall that it might have reached into heaven itself.
And so, God put a stop to the enterprise.
It was the Bible’s way of explaining the onset of the many languages
of humankind while, at the same time,
conveying a lesson about the sin of pride, that is,
replacing honor of God with honor of oneself.
Did you know that the site of the biblical city of Babel
is located in present-day Iraq?
I’m not sure if Babel is located in a predominately Sunni area of Iraq
or a Shi’ite area.
All I know is that the present-day setting of that ancient story
--a place where
soldiers and insurgents fight with guns and bombs
and people now live in fear as opposed to hope--
makes the Tower of Babel a powerful symbol
of the pain of division and separation
that continues to mar the face of humankind.
If God’s gift of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost
is meant to bring peace and unity
to the people of the world,
well, it’s not working.
In commenting on the uncertain situation in today’s world
in the light of today’s feast,
Fr John Kavanaugh, a priest at St. Louis University writes:
“…we are still the pre-Pentecost church, huddled in fear of each other as well as of the world at large. How true it is that we long once again for the [the Holy Spirit] "lover of the poor…the gracious visitor who eases our toils…healer of our wounds, the gift of joy and absolver of sins."
For some of us,
the Tower of Babel isn’t traced to some town in Iraq,
rather, its foundation stones lie scattered in our family rooms
and kitchen and our bedrooms
were words grow too sharp to understand
and expressions of love and fidelity
become as meaningless as a foreign tongue.
Tottering walls of that ancient tower
are found even with the Holy Church of God,
among the very people Christ redeemed with his blood.
The dividing walls continue their work of separation
whenever labels like conservative and liberal,
progressive and traditionalist,
fundamentalist Christian and marginal Christian
supercede the use of such archaic terminology
as represented in the words “brother” and “sister.”
Today, we pray that the Holy Spirit will again
come upon us to renew the face of the earth,
troubled in countless ways, in countless places.
posted by BlueCollarPreacher at 9:09 PM
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