Gospel & Reflection for the Feast of Pentecost.
Reflection
When Spanish ships first started sailing to the Americas, there were many new challenges associated with the long voyage. One challenging navigational ordeal was an area known as the doldrums. This section of sea, close to the equator, is one of the most stagnant areas in the Atlantic Ocean. A ship could hit this spot and go days, even weeks, without a breeze! Ships that did were in real danger of exhausting their food and water supply. There is a record of one such ship caught for a month in the doldrums. Day after day the ship lay there in still waters with not a hint of a breeze to fill its sails and carry it onwards. The captain was desperate; his crew was dying of thirst.
After four long weeks, a gentle breeze blew again, but the crew were too weak to operate the ship. A Peruvian ship then appeared, headed towards them. As it drew near, the captain called out to it, “We need water! Give us water!” The Peruvian Captain replied, “Lower your buckets where you are.” The Spanish Captain was furious at this cavalier response, and called out again in despair, “Please, give us water.” But the same reply came back, “Lower your buckets where you are!” and with that, the Peruvians continued their course. The Spanish Captain was beside himself with anger and despair, and he went below deck fearing all was at an end.
But a little later, a yeoman lowered a bucket into the sea and then tasted what he brought up. It was perfectly sweet, fresh water! Unknowingly, the Spaniards, while out of sight of land, were floating where the Amazon River emptied itself into the ocean. It is such a massive river that even a hundred miles from land there is still fresh water. So, for all those days, the Spanish ship and its crew had been sitting right on top of all the fresh water they needed!
How often in life does it happen that which we really need, what we search so longingly for, has been present to us all along, been right in front of us, unnoticed. It is an old story. People realising that all they ever needed or wanted was already there, in plain sight.
As in life, so also in faith.
People seek God in so many ways and in so many places. But always, whom they seek, is very near. God is already there, inside them, just waiting to be discovered. Through the Holy Spirit, God Himself, has been living within us from the moment of our Baptism, and He is constantly waiting to be embraced. Yet, we seem to neglect this third nature of God. He seems to go unnoticed. That’s curious because ‘Spirit’ especially is recognised as something very important and necessary in life.
We use the term ‘spirit’ in all sorts of ways:
We talk about human spirit, national spirit, county spirit. We encourage school spirit and community spirit. We often describe people as being in good spirits, as having the right spirit, or maybe that their spirit is low. We sometimes get told to “lift our spirits”. In sport, we refer to spirited performances and we encourage players and teams of all ages to “show some spirit”. We talk of fighting spirit and generous spirit. We describe being with people ‘in spirit’, while remembering lovingly those who have been a ‘guiding spirit’ to us.
We speak of ‘Spirit’ quite a lot, even those who claim not to believe in it! In some way, it is a fleeting recognition that as human beings we are more than just skin and bone. There is much more going on inside of us than just biology. This mysterious inner yearning is the Holy Spirit.
We are challenged this weekend to never underestimate this Spirit. It is strong and powerful, ferocious and beautiful. It moves where it wills and works wherever it is embraced. St. Paul reminds us that ‘The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose.’
Friends, let us never neglect or forget the Holy Spirit within and around us. The Spirit will do great things for us and through us, if we just allow it to. The Spirit is constantly present to us, saying from deep in our heart, “Lower your buckets where you are. Taste and see!” If we do just that, then our sails, our lives, will be filled with the strong wind of the Spirit, and it will carry us safely to where God wants us to be.
Fr. Richard
