Hydrangeas are one of my favourite flowers. There is something about the intricacy of their individual petals and the impact they have when grouped together. The size of the blooms, the colours – they are truly magnificent. I have a friend, though, who really dislikes them. ‘They are so dramatic’, she will say with an eye roll. And there is an element of drama about them – when they need watering they scream for attention. But this is part of the wonder of them to my eye – a little water and their heads rise again. Even once they are cut a little dip of the head of the flower in water will restore the petals to their glory.
Hydrangeas, in their wonderfully theatrical way, remind me of Pentecost. Could there be a more dramatic feast in the Church’s cycle? We are greeted by a swirl of red vestments. The readings are rich with image: rushing wind, tongues of fire, people speaking in tongues, spiritual gifts, baptism, the earth groaning in birth, the drama of Jesus appearing in a locked room. This is a feast that screams for our attention with all of the images pointing to the deeper message about a new understanding of the presence of the Risen Lord.
Throughout the Easter period we have journeyed with the earliest Christians as they have tried to make sense of their lives in light of the profound experience of Jesus’ life, the loss of him through death and then the experience of him in resurrection. We can see how their lives were defined by these experiences and we can hear how God is calling them to live their post-resurrection lives.
We all have defining moments or experiences in our lives – both joyful and tragic. We can learn many things from these experiences but the hardest lesson, I think, is that we can’t just stay in that experience. Evening falls on even the happiest of days, and a new dawn breaks after even the most heart-breaking of experiences. Then we are left with the memories and the challenge of what this ‘new’ life will be.
I wonder if it is the grief memory of Jesus that holds the disciples in fear in the closed room. When we read the passage from the Gospel of John (20:19-23) we can feel their pain. Those of us for whom grief is familiar territory know what this is like. We try to make ourselves small. We hide away because it is too hard to face the outside. Sometimes we have to stay with the grief of life until the time is ready for us to recognise the presence of hope in our midst.
And it is here that the essence of Pentecost lies, I think. People of faith are not alone. We are shaped by our understanding of the story of Jesus and we know that even in the darkest of moments, there is God. There is a way forward. Life beckons and propels us forward. We are encouraged to live big lives and to believe that peace is possible. We are invited to believe that our daily actions will make a difference and bring hope to the world.
In speaking of Pentecost, Pope Francis called us to: ‘invoke daily the Spirit who gives ‘harmony to the world’ and ‘directs the course of time and renews the face of the earth.’ (Pentecost 2023) Pentecost is a big dramatic feast because the spirit of God is not just for us personally, but it can transform the world.
Perhaps this story might also help:
It happened in Papua New Guinea in the 1980s. Many of the traditional huts of the people had been replaced by European style buildings. The church too was European in style, with a European crucifix on the altar.
Then one day something terrible happened. The termites ate Jesus, and he fell off the cross, splitting in to splinters of word.
A local sculptor called Ketson was invited to carve a new Jesus in native style, but when he finished his carving, he couldn’t bring himself to nail the new Jesus to the cross. He asked other friends around the village, but none of them could bring themselves to put the nails into Jesus.
Eventually they had a different idea. “We will not nail Jesus back on the cross,” they decided. “We will suspend the new Jesus above the cross, and from now on he will speak to us every day of his rising.”
(from 100 More Wisdom Stories by Margaret Silf)
So let us celebrate anew the risen spirit as it breathes new life into our hearts and our world.
Come Lord Jesus, send out your Spirit and renew the face of our earth. Alleluia!
Published: 17 May 2024
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Mary Barbuto says:
Dear Cathy, thank you for your article. It is beautiful, thought provoking and hope filled.