It made very little news – only a few Catholic publications picked-up the story, as did the local media in Lafayette, Louisiana: A teen gunman walked into a Catholic church in the suburbs of this southern city halfway between Baton Rouge and Beaumont, Texas, as Mass was being celebrated last Saturday.
And not just any Mass: it was First Holy Communion Day at St. Mary Magdalen in Abbeville, La.
Immediately, parishioners sprang into action, ushering the troubled teen outside while the priest offering the Liturgy calmly told everyone to sit and pray the Hail Mary until the police arrived.
Then, when the danger passed, the priest came out of the sanctuary and stood before the First Communicants and their parents: “Do you want to wait until next weekend and celebrate your First Communion when we all aren’t so shaken and emotional?”
Every child and parent said: No.
No: we won’t let fear win.
No: evil will not have the final word.
No. We will not walk away from Jesus.
If I were there that day in St. Mary Magdalen Church, I don’t know what I would have done as the pastor. If I were a parent sitting in those very pews, would I have wanted to continue to celebrate First Eucharist? Would I want my child’s most sacred day to be colored by what could have been?
Powerfully, whether they realized it or not, this little parish in Louisiana’s Cajun Country reminds us of what the great and awesome feast of Pentecost is all about: living Shalom as Church.
When the Risen Christ appeared to his frightened and confused and ready-to-walk-away-from-it-all disciples, He came to them not as Divine Scolder (“How could you abandon me?”) or as Disappointed Savior (“You should have known better.”). Rather, He came into a locked room filled with closed hearts and offered His Peace.
Not peace as the world gives. Not even the peace that we kindly offer each other at Mass before Communion.
Instead, he offered the “Shalom” of God – the wholeness and completeness of the Father’s Love.
It is the shalom that breaks down walls of fear. The shalom that heals shame and sin. The shalom that changes everything.
Those first disciples – locked away for fear of what their own religious leaders might do to them for associating themselves with the Christ – had two choices that first Easter evening when the Lord came in their midst: stay afraid forever or unlock the doors and chains that evil wanted to keep shut forever.
The Church that day chose Shalom.
And when they did, such incredible gifts were poured forth – the Holy Spirit of God filled that space; the Spirit filled those lives of once-scared disciples.
That same Spirit – that Breath of God – continues to be offered to us as well. The Breath that first animated Adam … the Breath of God that made dead bones come to life during the prophetic wanderings of Ezekiel … is the same Breath that comes to us as Church and reminds us all: Live Shalom.
Go with the gifts you have been given and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ: we are set-free from sin.
Go with your different forms of service and talents, as St. Paul tells the Corinthian Church, and benefit the world around you.
Go drink the Shalom (Wholeness) of the Spirit and offer it to the each other and the world.
For much too long, we have bottled up this gift as the Catholic Church, the very Spouse of the Savior who died for her (for us) on Calvary.
God did not endure the Cross so that we could stay safe and boring. I’ll say it again for the Church to hear: God does not want a dull, lifeless Church. I am afraid we have often taken that road …
Pentecost is the call to be a Church – His Church – of bold witnesses to the Truth. A call to be a Church where mercy is offered to all, and a Church whose mission is to heal, invite back, and reach out to the least. A Church who offers a home for the weary and the seeker; a Church who says I will walk with you as God does His work in your life.
A Church that isn’t afraid to leave this building.
When all is said and done, that’s the Spirit-driven challenge of Pentecost: live the Word and Eucharist beyond these doors.
“Church” isn’t just for Sunday morning. What happens around this table (altar) should affect every conversation made around your kitchen table and the corporate meeting room table; the Life we feed on here should drive us to feed others wherever we find them – physically, emotionally and spiritually.
We will never be the Church Christ gave His life for if we keep playing it safe and boring. What is the Spirit shouting to us as a parish community? What is the Spirit crying out to us as a universal Church? Seriously pray with that question in the days ahead.
How do we let the Spirit of God unlock our minds, our hearts in order to live a faith where fear is not in the driver seat? How do we let the Holy Spirit send us as the Father sent His only-begotten Son? Where must we go now? Where is the world (and our own part of it) crying out for Christ’s Shalom – the Wholeness of God?
Have no doubt: if we go forth, emboldened by the Breath of God, we will be persecuted. We will have to die to self. We will be mocked and scorned; ignored and hated. There is no other way. It is the Way of the Cross of Christ – and His Bride must follow.
And yet, no matter what: choose the Shalom of Christ. Just as those First Communicants of St. Mary Magdalen Parish did last weekend in Lafayette, La.: tell the world that Christ always wins; evil does not triumph. We will move forward boldly.
We refuse to be a boring, lifeless Church. Come Holy Spirit!