Acts 2:1-21
Ps.l04:25-35, 37b
Rom.8:14-17
John 14;8-17, 25-27

Pentecost C RCL
HE 2A/Ser. 10:00

FISHERS OF PEOPLE

Credit: The Living Church 5/25/80,pp.2,8,11
Previous: 80,92,98,04

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In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The New Testament has in it a lot of references to fish and fishing. This is only natural, for in the Holy Land in the days of Jesus and still today, fishing was and is a way of life for a good many people. And a number of parables and teachings of Jesus have to do with fish. For instance, He compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a fish-net which gathers in all kinds of fish. And that means that you and I become the fish in the story, you and I gathered by the fish net which is compared to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Then when Jesus called the first disciples, to follow Him, they were working at their trade of fishing. And His call to them was this: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." This puts a different light on how Jesus calls you and me: not only are we the fish - gathered by the net - but we are to be fishers - managing the net of the Kingdom so that others may be gathered in. That suggests an inner power, a skill that Jesus gives us, such that we are able to assume that new role to which He calls us. And that inner power is part of what Pentecost is about.

Easter gives the message: the Resurrection of Christ. Ascension means that the message is available at all times and in all places. And Pentecost means that you and I are the messengers: we have the power to carry the message to others, rather than just being acted on by it, or just keeping it to ourselves. That is something of what Jesus meant when He said that He would make us to become fishers of men.

The story of Pentecost which we heard in the first reading stresses that part of this new power is a power of communication: "we heard them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." Pentecost summons the whole human race to find its unity in Jesus Christ - a unity which goes beyond the barriers of language and culture and race and whatever else drives us apart.

We share not just our physical nature which we have in common with animals. But we share what is distinctively human, and one of the things which makes us human is language. I do not mean that animals have no language, for we all know that animals do communicate, and that you can teach an animal to recognize and understand certain human words, and to express their needs to us. Everyone who has a dog knows this, as the dog expresses a wish to go outside. But no animals can discuss the power of speech, as we are now thinking about it.

The human need to communicate and express thought and feeling has led to all the different languages of the world, with their own special literatures and thought and poetry and so forth. When people prefer particular languages, that is the frequent cause of suspicions and even of war. We know this today when we complain or we hear others complain, about this or that group who insist on maintaining their own languages and customs, which are important to them as our language and customs are important to us: Hispanics, Polish, French-Canadians, and so forth. And even though wars have been fought over the use of certain languages, it is still true that humans are united to one another, and marked off from all other living things, by their practice of speech.

Speech not only makes it possible to refer to different things, but to express the meaning and value and purpose of the universe, and the meaning and value and purpose of our lives and ourselves. So it is that from the most ancient times of which we have any record, human beings have been led to religious reflection and thought. Speech led our ancestors to quarrel with each other in remote history, and often to quarrel with each other today: - look at the long process of working out the language of a treaty, or the language of a labor contract. But speech can also be used by the Holy Spirit as a means for bringing the human race back together again; we can think of great speeches that have moved people even across barriers of language.

The early Church learned that the barriers between Jew and Gentile, and every other kind of barrier, can in fact be overcome. God did make us to be one. As the Holy Spirit hovered over the waters of the first creation, so the same Spirit is at work in the new creation, when human barriers are broken down within or outside of the Church.

Now the Lord has by our Baptisms called us to be fishers of men and women and has given us the Holy Spirit of love and power, so that we may do this work. And part of being a fisher is that we shall be looking for words and ways, in which the message of God's love in Christ may be shared. There is no stronger challenge to the Church today, than for us to learn the tongues in which the Gospel may continue to be shared. And since you and I are the Church, the challenge is yours and mine.

Whitsunday, or Pentecost, is a high point in the Christian year. As Epiphany concluded the Christmas season by celebrating the wider proclamation of its message, so Pentecost points to the explosion of the Good News of Easter into a universal message for the whole human race. You and I have to begin where we are, of course; and where we are is at the beginning of summer, when people travel to different places and do different things from their usual patterns. So those places and activities are where the Good News will explode with us. And even if we go nowhere, the Good News must explode in us in our parish and family and relationships at home. Either way, the summer ought to be an especially effective time for Christian witness and evangelism - a specially good time to be fishers of men, and of women.

One thing is certain: the flames of Pentecost should not be put on ice until after Labor Day! We are to take Pentecost seriously. We probably shall learn from others who are also fishers of people. But so are we, and others should be learning from us. And as every fisherman knows, the patient waiting for the catch is well worth the time and effort.

Next week we shall take up some of the techniques of being a good fisher for the people. But for the moment, think about Pentecost, the Feast of Power. the Lord has given us the power to be fisher for people – men, women, children, and not just to be fish in the sea. That's a lot of power to have, and an enormous privilege and responsibility. Pray for the grace to use it wisely.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.