By Sister Patty Harvat, OP

Pentecost is a Jewish feast that comes 50 days after the celebration of Passover, the holiday season in which Jesus was crucified. On the feast of Pentecost, the disciples of Jesus were gathered together in a room sometimes known as the “upper room.”

Doors were locked for fear of the Jews, and hearts were locked in grief.

“There are some griefs so loud 
They could bring down the sky 
And there are griefs so still 
None knows how deep they lie...” - May Sarton

What are the emotions filling this room?

• Fear is named (Jesus was crucified, what will happen to us?)
• Bewilderment (What is this resurrection all about?)
• Confusion (What kind of group is this – what did I get myself into?)
• Amazement and excitement (What lies ahead?)

In the midst of this Jesus appears and says, “Peace be with you.”

What is this upper room? Your upper room?

• Is it that uncertain feeling of having no idea what God is asking of you? 
• Is it bewilderment of what is truth in a given situation?
• Is it disappointment in yourself?
• Is it coping with broken and hurt relationships among family and friends and not understanding how this happened?

Is our upper room being in solidarity with people who lost everything through fire, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, who say, “This is all we have known our whole life. What do we do now?” Or sitting quietly in front of the TV, watching the slow death of our Earth as climate change stills the heartbeat of Mother Earth’s life?

Think about your upper room, whatever is going on … it impacts me … because we are community … we are together in that locked room. 

And it’s in that locked room that Jesus appears and says, “Peace,” breathes on us, and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit comes to us in a small flame. Whatever gift we receive is what we need to take with us as we leave our upper room. What gift of the Spirit, what Pentecost Fire, did you pray for?

By Sister Patty Harvat, OP

Have you ever had the experience of unexpectedly meeting someone that you hadn’t seen in years? They say, “I think I know you!” and you say, “Really?”

During this season of Lent, God says to us, “I think I know you.” and “Return to me with all your heart.” (Joel 2:12)

Jesus looks at us deeply and with such longing and says, “I’d love to catch up with you. Got some time?”

This is the acceptable time; the acceptable time to deepen our experience of God and of our inmost selves. It is the time to allow God to help us to come to Easter in even deeper relationship than when Lent started. All of us enter into Lent acknowledging and accepting who we are while preparing to become more, because that is what God empowers us to be: MORE.

To become more. Was that what the Father was asking of his son in the Garden of Gethsemane? “My soul is sorrowful unto death.” God, it’s been a lonely year: transition, health problems, friends and family members dying, lack of civility in our society, family issues. What is the MORE God asks of us?

Listen to Jesus say to you each day, “I think I know you.” In his January 10, 2018, general audience, Pope Francis said, “Silence is not confined to the absence of words, but rather to preparing oneself to listen to other voices: the one in our heart and, above all, the voice of the Holy Spirit.”

A variety of prayer experiences will provide us with different ways to respond to Jesus: the silent contemplative prayer, the Stations of the Cross, the various liturgies and expressions of spirituality. Journal and observe how you were with God or how you weren’t. Record what you notice.

This is the acceptable time to return to God with all your heart. And to say to God, “Yes, you do know me and I have come to know you in a new and deeper way.”