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Gospel: John 20: 19-23
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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When you think of the Holy Spirit, what image comes to mind?
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Perhaps you imagine that peaceful dove hovering over the Lord after he was baptized by John in the Jordan River.
Or maybe you imagine something different: the tongues of fire that came rushing upon the Apostles in our first reading.
These are two very different images of the Holy Spirit: a docile bird versus blazing fire.
The Irish wisely merge the two together, often depicting the Holy Spirit as a goose, a wild bird with fire in its belly.
If you try boxing a goose in, it will bite! Your only warning before a painful pinch is that loud, jarring HONK!
Loosely translated, it means something like, “Outta my way!”
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The Holy Spirit is like a fiery goose, because it moves wherever it wills. And when it bites, you know it!
You become like the God you represent – peaceful as a dove, yet as noisy, protective, and passionate as a goose. There’s fire in your belly!
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Consider the difference in Saint Peter before and after he receives the Holy Spirit.
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Today’s Gospel begins with Peter hiding somewhere in Jerusalem. The grim reality of Good Friday is still fresh in his mind. Understandably, he and the others are terrified that the Lord’s fate might become their own.
So, they hide.
On a deeper level, they’re also afraid of change.
Ask any one of the Apostles – it would’ve been much easier if they could’ve tethered Jesus to their waist, stopping him from going to Calvary that fateful Friday afternoon.
But they cannot turn back the clock; the Lord was crucified.
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Suddenly, Jesus appears in their midst and says to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Then he breathes on Peter and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
This gesture of breathing on Peter is evocative of the Book of Genesis, when God first gave Adam life by breathing into his nostrils, making him a new creation.
Similarly, Peter is now made new.
Like a wild goose, he bursts out of that locked inner room in Jerusalem, rushing to preach to the crowds who wanted the Lord dead.
In his first public sermon, Peter proclaims:
“Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God… This man you killed, using lawless men to crucify him… God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. Now, repent and be baptized, every one of you!”
I can imagine Peter’s face fire red, his finger pointed outward, his voice full of passion and conviction.
There’s no other logical explanation for this dramatic change in his behavior – from cowardice to courage – unless he has seen the Risen Lord and received the Holy Spirit.
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Like Peter, who once hid in that locked inner room, how many of us are afraid of change?
Or how many of us yearn for the fire of the Holy Spirit – a fire that burns away fear, cleanses sin, and empowers us to do God’s will?
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Anyone who’s filled with the Holy Spirit has an easily identifiable trait: enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm comes from the Greek – en theos – meaning, “God within.”
In Peter’s case, his enthusiasm comes out in his preaching. The Gospel is like a fire in his bones; he cannot help but preach it!
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So, what might this enthusiasm – this force of “God within” – look like in our own lives?
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Perhaps it’s that remarkable energy that pushes you to do a thousand little things to serve your family, keeping your household together.
Maybe it’s the zeal you’ve found for ministry. You want to do more and more.
Maybe it’s what inspires you to speak up, inviting a friend or co-worker to, “Come and see.”
God’s fiery Spirit is revealed in a multitude of ways.
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On this Feast of Pentecost, may the Holy Spirit – the “wild goose” – make us a new creation, smitten by grace with fire in our bones, ready to do whatever the Lord may ask.
Come, Holy Spirit!
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Image credits: (1) Psephizo (2) (3) Tekton Ministries