Pascha VIII Pentecost

Pascha VIII: Pentecost Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104; Corinthians 12: 3-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23

“Jesus breathed on the disciples…”

I suddenly thought of the breath of the ox and donkey we place in our stable scenes at Christmas. The two animals hovering over the infant Jesus breathing on him; breathing on him with breath that is warm; breath that is moist and life-giving. It is the breath of a father or mother over their child closely held against their chest. It is the breath of lovers, bodies entwined in each other’s arms. To experience another’s breath people need to be physically close.

Our antiseptic, individualistic American culture is more concerned about keeping our distance and preserving our “personal space”. The unease about the smell of our breath has spawned a whole industry of mouthwashes, gums, and breath mints. To experience another’s breath people need to be physically close. People need to care about each other.

“Jesus breathed on the disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”” [John 20:22]

We usually don’t equate “breath” with the Holy Spirit. We prefer fire. That is why on Pentecost the Church decks herself out in orangey-reds, the colour of fire. – What is the colour of breath?

Out of breath emerges life.

“In the beginning…the breath of God was hovering over the waters of choas…” [See Genesis 1:2]. There is here a sense of mingling protection and anticipation of something new about to come forth. Like a bird broods over the eggs in her nest to protect them; like the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary in anticipation of the Incarnation at the Annunciation [See Luke 1: 35].  Breath looks toward the future.

Genesis later records: “the Lord God formed a creature out of the clay of the earth and blew into its nostrils the breath of life, and so the creature become a living human being.” [Genesis 2:7] Breath is life.

The prophet Ezekiel in his vision of the valley of dry bones is commanded by God to call on the spirit to breathe into the slain that they may come to life “and the spirit came into them; they came alive and stood up.” [See Ezekiel 37:9-10] Breath returns the dead to life.

To breathe on another person is to convey life; to convey the divine. And the seal of the divine is the healing of the ruptures in life, the forgiveness of sin. And each one of us has been given the authority to forgive sin. “Jesus breathed on the disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” [John 20:22-23].

To forgive another person is to allow that person to look toward a new future. To forgive another person is to reclaim them from the death of sin and breathe new life into them. To forgive another person their sins is to free ourselves from death; the death of ill will and resentment.

You see forgiveness is a two-way street. Forgiveness heals both the sinner and the wound within the person forgiving. The person who forgives is not in a superior position. We are all sinners. We are all wounded. We have all hurt other people and offended God. We are all in need of forgiveness.

Pope Francis reminds us that “if we allow ill will, stubbornness, hard feelings to take root in our heats, it leads to deep resentment….and we keep looking for more and more faults, imagining greater evils, presuming all kinds of bad intentions, and so resentment grows and deepens. The opposite of resentment is forgiveness, which…seeks to understand other people’s weaknesses and to excuse them. In some past parishes I have come across some of the most miserable, hateful human beings I have ever encountered. It dawned on me one day that we are not born this way. As children we are open, inquisitive, filled with wonder and playfulness. I had to ask myself, why these people either chose to be hateful, judgmental and attacking or what happened to them in life that drove them into such a corner to live life in this manner. Even posing the question made all the difference in how I saw them. “Forgiveness…seeks to understand other people’s weaknesses and to excuse them. As Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they do know what they are doing.”” [Luke 23:34]

The person who forgives is not in a superior position. As Christians, to forgive, to understand people’s weaknesses, to make excuses is to do what Jesus is doing for you and me. “We need to recognize that being able to forgive others implies the liberating experience of understanding and forgiving ourselves. We need to learn to pray over our past history, to accept ourselves, to learn how to live with our limitations, and even to forgive ourselves, in order to have this same attitude toward others.”

This does not imply there are not consequences for the actions of a sinner. My experience is that our sin is usually our punishment. And surely no one can say that forgiving another person is easy.   But breath – warm, moist and life-giving has been breathed on us. “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them…”

What is the colour of breath?

[Quotes from Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, See #105 – #107]