Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

FR MICHAEL BOAKYE YEBOAH

CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF KUMASI, GHANA.

SOMETHING LEFT BEHIND

Once I was driving from Accra (the capital of Ghana) to my home city of Kumasi. While making that long journey, the audio player randomly selected various types of music to keep me entertained.

We were left with a week to celebrate Pentecost Sunday and I had been reflecting on what to write to my readers. Accidentally, the audio player picked Sean Rowe’s song “To Leave Something Behind.” This music has gained worldwide popularity because of the movie “The Accountant.” I love country music but the lyrics in the song did not interest me more than the title. Divine inspiration led me to connect the title with the coming feast of Pentecost. I immediately asked myself, “What did Jesus left behind for his disciples?”

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, there are very difficult moments of separation in life that create a feeling of helplessness. Almost all of us have experienced or are experiencing a life of total dependency – whether dependent on parents, siblings, friends or loved ones. When our lives are dependent on these people, they offer us our daily bread, shelter, clothing, medical care and most importantly offer us emotional dependency. And these were the things that Jesus offered his disciples. When Jesus told them that he was about to leave, I can sense the sorrow and pain that eclipsed their lives.

I don’t know if you have sat at the bedside of a departing sick relative on whom you had depended on. One question that children pose to their departing parent is: “In whose care are you leaving us?” And when the parent mentions the name of a guardian, a concern child will pose another question: “How sure are you that (s)he will take care of us as you did?”

The story wasn’t that different with Jesus and his disciples. When he started his “end-time” discourse with his disciples, some of them started the discussion on inheritance. We are told that for James and John, it was their mother who came to Jesus asking for the right and left seats for her sons in the yet to be established kingdom.

In chapter 18 of the Matthean account of the Gospel of Christ, Jesus confirmed Peter as his successor. What about an inheritance? – from an ordinary fisherman to the Vicar of Christ, wow! You may jump to the conclusion that what was left behind for Peter may had satisfied him but the inspired writer seems to tell us that Peter was not happy with that inheritance. And so, in Chapter 19 verse 27, Matthew tells us that Peter came to Jesus with a request of what he really believed should be left behind for him. The inspired writer may have been graphic and precise when he quoted Peter. He wrote the words of Peter’s request as: “…we have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” Really Peter? The other day he had given you the seat which James and John were dying for and when it was given to you, you do not seem satisfied? But will you fault Peter, when one is not filled with the Holy Spirit, his/her desires are earthly and mundane. Wait and see the desires of Peter after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost day. 

On this Pentecost Sunday, I would like us to reflect on what Jesus really left behind for his disciples as an inheritance. In one of his final statements to his disciples, he told them: “I do not leave you as orphans but I will send you the Holy Spirit.” This is the greatest inheritance. Without the Holy Spirit, I don’t know how the Church could have survived the 21 centuries of her existence. The Holy Spirit continues to be a blessing to the Church.

There are three reasons why I believe that the Holy Spirit is the best inheritance to the Church and to you. Firstly, the Lord has given to us an inheritance of an eternal teacher. Inspiration comes to us through the power of the Holy Spirit for Jesus told his disciples: “When the Spirit comes upon you, he will lead you to all truth” (John 16:13). St. Peter is a living testimony of this statement from Jesus. It is well known fact that Peter did not receive any formal education but after Pentecost, Peter demonstrated how the Holy Spirit can teach an uneducated person to become a Rabbi. Luke tell us in Acts 4:13 that once Peter and John were arrested and were arranged before the Sanhedrin but when Peter was told to give his defense, he surprised the erudite men. They said: “…observing the boldness of Peter and John and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men, they were amazed, and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus.” If you are in the Church of Christ and Jesus blesses you with the gift of the Holy Spirit, you will be recognized among the “elite” of God. I personally know some people who the Holy Spirit has taught and transformed their educated lives from academic strugglers into erudite university professors. Jesus is absolutely right that if the Holy Spirit comes upon you, he will lead you to all truth. Please beg God to bless you with the Holy Spirit and you will bear testimony.

It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are taught the ways of God. The second reason why I believe that the Holy Spirit is a precious inheritance, is its transformative powers. When the Spirit comes on a person, it transforms him/her whole and entire. The transformation I speak of here is not the material transformation but the spiritual one. It is the Holy Spirit that helps us to be transformed to bear the likeness of Christ our Lord. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us into a life in Christ and of this St. Paul will say: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new” (2 Cor 5:14ff). At times in life when we are going through spiritual dryness, it is the Holy Spirit that keeps us afloat in the Lord. This is why Paul will tell the Romans: “…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Rom. 8:26).

The third reason flows from the first and the second and this is bearing witness. If one has been taught by the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of God acquired leads to one’s transformation then what remains is for him/her to go forth and bear witness. When one is filled with the Holy Spirit, he cannot do any other thing but to speak of Christ to others. Bearing witness is not a personal decision alone but rather something that happens under the influence of the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Holy Spirit means you are continually surrendering your will, mind, body, time, and talents to God. This is what the Vatican household preacher, Cardinal Cantalamessa calls “Sober Intoxication of the Spirit.” Spiritual intoxication is when a person is out of his mind, not because he is bereft of reason, as is the case with wine or drugs, but because he passes beyond reason into the light of God. And when one reaches this point in life, (s)he bears witness of a life in Christ.

What Christ left behind for us is the gift of the Holy Spirit and the gift of the Holy Spirit comes to teach, transform, and help us to go forth and bear witness. May you be filled with the Holy Spirit today and always. Amen. OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP PRAY FOR US.