ARE WE LIVING IN PENTECOST TIMES?

By Sr. Brenda Walsh, Racine Dominican

This seems like a bold statement to make at a time when we are dealing with overwhelming problems at almost every level of society, including the church. There is rampant violence in homes, communities, nation and world. There is also an emerging sense of hopelessness among many including young people. How do we respond?

In the media daily, we hear very little good news. In Pentecost times, we must ask ourselves "What are we looking for?’ Charles Dickens in "A Tale of Two Cities," referring to his time said: "It is the worst of times and the best of times." We are asked to look deep beneath the surface. It depends a lot on what we are looking for. We look with the eyes of the Spirit and whenever we see death and destruction, we remind ourselves that for us as a believing Spirit-led people we need to affirm that these developments need ever have the last word. We are grateful that this is a time of new insights, new beginning and new calls for the common good. More people are looking deep within for hope and meaning in their lives. We see new growth in environmental justice, people reaching out and empowering the poor and faceless of our time, and Women’s issues and coming to the fore, ensuring them a voice in both church and society. People are looking at more just ways of living and relating.

This is a time to clear away the distractions and anxieties and fears from our minds and hearts and allow the Spirit to transform us, clear up our vision and restore our energy to bring about God’s design for our world. Then we can join with others to change the constant turmoil and energize us for action to bring about needed change. Christopher Fry in "A Sleep of Prisoners" once said "Thank God our time is now, when wrongs come upl to meet us everywhere, then we can take the longest stride of soul we ever took. The enterprise is exploration into God." I believe we are in such a time.

What are we called to do and be?

1. Be present where ever people are searching and exploring and support them in their search for hope and meaning. Ordinary people like you and me, empowered by the Spirit can stand firmly against such negative trends and thinking.

2. Look at the idols we have created over the centuries - wealth, power, sex, domination and war and more. Bring forth the power of the Spirit to address them and replace them with other values. Bring Spirit power into our board rooms and class rooms, into halls of government and church gatherings, and challenge the destructive myths of our day. Work together for the common good according to God’s design.

3. Learn to collaborate and cooperate with people of other cultures and discover God We no longer bring God to the pagans as we thought we were doing in the past. We discover God in their midst and learn from them. Together we can be messengers of hope in these dark times.

4. Teach children values that reflect these beliefs. Lead them by the example of our lives.

5. Empower people to discover their own power and ability to create communities of peace, compassion and love.

We all need to relearn some things from the inside out, how to educate our children, how to debate issues in a civilized manner and to reclaim the power we have to change directions in life. Look within ourselves and see if there are traces of greed, violence and prejudice and allow the brokenness to be healed. We are the Body of Christ called to be ministers of the Gospel and messengers of peace.

Anthony Padavano reminds us that the Spirit never intended our faith to be a tranquilizer. Let us hasten into the future with courage, conviction and hope, knowing that God never lets us walk alone.