In today’s feast of Pentecost, the focus is none other than on the Holy Spirit.
As we heard in the 1st reading, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles like a powerful wind from heaven and in tongues of fire.
That day was a great happening for the Church and they began to speak in foreign languages as the Holy Spirit gave them the gift of speech. It was a dramatic day.
Another occasion that we hear about the Holy Spirit is during the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation for the teenagers.
The bishop will be there, relatives and friends will be there, the teenagers are all dressed up, many photographs will be taken.
But after that, something strange happens. The teenagers seem to go into secret service or they go undercover. Because they don’t seem to be seen around anymore.
It’s like the story about the two Christian pastors and a Catholic priest having a discussion about the problem of birds in their churches.
The first pastor said that he covered up all the holes in the roof of the church but the birds still managed to come in. The second pastor said that he called the pest control company but the problem persisted.
Then they asked the Catholic priest how he handled the problem, and he said, “Oh I just confirm them, and they never come back.”
So, the Sacrament of Confirmation seemed to have a strange effect on Catholic teenagers; they seem to have “gone off” after that.
Maybe the name of the Sacrament can be changed to something like “Sacrament of Confirmation and Last Rites”.
But what Jesus said in the gospel will make us think again about this feast of Pentecost, about the Sacrament of Confirmation, and maybe even about “Last Rites” (which is also called “Extreme Unction” or “Anointing of the sick”.
Before He breathed on His disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit, He said to them: As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.
And in the 1st reading, we hear what they were sent to do – they went out of that room and they began to proclaim the marvels of God, and those who heard them were amazed and astonished.
That’s the power of the Spirit working in the disciples. And if we were there witnessing it, we would say it in our own language – That’s the Spirit!
But that was then. What about now? Do we still see the Spirit working marvels in our day and age, and will we say: That’s the Spirit!
There is one prominent member of our community who would really want to be with us in this celebration of Pentecost, but he can’t.
I am talking about Fr. Paul Tong who is in hospital and recovering from an open surgery to remove his gall bladder.
Last Sunday evening, I went to the hospital to give him the “Anointing of the sick” to prepare him for the surgery the next day. It was a rather urgent surgery.
After the anointing, he said, “I’ll be ok, I’ll be ok”. At 9pm he waved his hand to tell us to go back, and when we still hung around he waved his hand again to tell us to go home, and he said this, “I want to sleep.” I was amazed by his calmness, and a few moments after that he snuggled himself to sleep. He was such a peaceful sight. Amazing.
The operation was successful but at 89 years-old Fr. Tong was worn down by it, and he slept through Monday and Tuesday.
On Wednesday I managed to catch him on one of his lucid moments and he asked me what day it was. When I told him it was Wednesday, he raised his hand and counted, “Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Can, can, I can come back on Sunday to do Mass!”
And before I could say anything, he dozed off. I was amazed by his spirit. Even though he was lying flat on the hospital bed, with tubes running here and there, he was already thinking of coming back to serve the community. What a spirit! But, that’s the Spirit.
Then on Thursday evening, the Archbishop informed me that he was coming to see Fr. Tong at 8.45pm. As the time was approaching, I could see that Fr. Tong was sound asleep and I just couldn’t bring myself to wake him up.
So I said a short prayer and then whispered into his ear that the Archbishop was coming to see him. But he was in deep sleep, and so I went down to meet the Archbishop.
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| Archbishop William Goh praying over Fr Paul Tong |
When I met him, I tried to explain that Fr. Tong was resting, he was tired, he may not be awake to acknowledge the Archbishop and I hoped that the Archbishop won’t be disappointed that he couldn’t talk to him.
But when we went into the room, there was Fr. Tong, sitting up and wide awake and having his cup of Milo and biscuits. The Archbishop glanced at me and he probably wondered what I was talking about earlier. I could only say that the Spirit woke him up to meet the Archbishop.
We may think that Fr. Tong’s hospitalization and surgery was unfortunate, but God turned suffering into blessing and the Holy Spirit showed the mighty power of healing.
On Friday, after lying in bed for five days, Fr. Tong got up from bed and walked under the guidance of two physiotherapists. He did very well and won the praise of the physiotherapists.
The doctor said that Fr. Tong’s recovery was remarkable and he could be back in the parish by Monday. Certainly, it was the Holy Spirit gathering up our prayers for Fr. Tong that such a marvelous recovery and healing had happened.
The Holy Spirit was like a mighty wind moving our hearts to pray for Fr. Tong and moving the hearts of many members of our parish community to roster themselves to keep 24-hour vigil over Fr. Tong, so that someone will be around as and when he needed assistance.
So even though Fr. Tong could not be with us in this celebration of Pentecost, yet in his hospital bed, he already bore witness to the power and presence of the Holy Spirit working marvelously in his healing and recovery.
And it is also a testimony of how the Holy Spirit moved people to pray and to offer their service to those in need.
What the Holy Spirit did for Fr. Tong and through Fr. Tong, the Holy Spirit will also do for us and work marvels through us.
We only need to heed what the letter to the Galatians tells us (Gal 5:16, 22, 25): Learn to live and move in the Spirit. Then there is no danger of your giving way to the impulses of corrupt nature. The Spirit yields a harvest of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, forbearance, gentleness, faith, courtesy, temperateness and purity. Since we live by the Spirit, let the Spirit be our rule of life.