Welcoming the Spirit
Welcoming the Spirit
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Fr John McLoughlin (left) writes about some memorable Easter Vigils |
A New Christian Community
Some years ago I remember celebrating the Vigil of Pentecost in Las Palmas, or Placeres, one of the famous hills of Valparaiso. On that occasion it seemed like a good idea to take a brief look at other young Christian communities in the early history of the Church. So we looked at Antioch with its strong missionary community - the place where the followers of Christ were first called Christians. Then we looked at Corinth, a port town like Valparaiso, with many of the same distractions and temptations; and after that at Jerusalem and Ephesus. We asked where we might be going as a Christian community, what gifts did we have to share with the world around us? We had our map of the Middle East and we searched the Acts of the Apostles and Paul's letters to the Corinthians for clues about our own path. As members of the Holy Family Community we searched prayerfully to see where the Holy Spirit might be leading us. I still have vivid memories of that night.
Memories of Other Vigils
There have been many other vigils since. One rather lost its way, in my absence, and became a kind of 'cafe concert', with the youth group of the time letting themselves be swept away by the charismatic elements of that community. Another had dramatised presentations of the seven gifts and a real sense of working in teams, where each had to do its part. The Diocesan or National coordination each year offers a scheme for a two to three-hour vigil. Among the themes were: 'called to be saints in a deep relationship with God and commitment to his way of justice'; 'witnesses facing up to our mediocrity, our cowardice'; 'announcing the Gospel in a way that makes sense of our existence'; 'living an option for the poor without pomp and in a spirit of service'; and 'to be Church in fraternity and shared love'. Generally directed by the Youth Pastoral Groups the accent will be on our vocation to witness and serve as apostles. Last year in my new parish situation in Santiago, an all-night Pentecost vigil included periods of reflection and silence interlaced with action songs and dramas. This was a real challenge to the concentration of the young people who had committed themselves to participate.
During The Period of Military Dictatorship
Some years back, during the period of military dictatorship, there was an awareness of the need for strong social commitment. On the occasion of the celebration of Confirmation, it was impressive to hear the representatives of the youth expressing their three-fold commitment to personal faith, to their own communities, and to faith and justice in their own localities. Some of the young people that I accompanied in those days paid dearly for their commitment to justice: they had to confront authoritarian professors in institutes and universities, and demand more transparency and equity in their work places where the Pinochet dictatorship had set a national model. Many have carried those convictions with them ever since. In the poorer areas where we Columbans work, it requires great strength of character to steer clear of drugs and organise their communities so that local power-groups are kept in check.
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The Cross Always Present
The cross was never left in the shadow during these Vigil of Pentecost celebrations. The role-plays highlight family relationships; violence at the domestic and local level; problems of pornography, and the consumption of alcohol and drugs. These are huge challenges in each of our communities. Giving leadership in the process of trying to solve these issues really does demand a heroic level of commitment. I remember sitting through a discussion of verses from the Acts of the Apostles on the sharing of goods (2, 42-47; 4, 32). It seemed to demand just too much for many of those present. Then as the discussion progressed it became clear that some of those present really lived an extraordinary level of goodness and generosity in their willingness to help with the children and with those who had been laid off from work.
From Images to Action
So, back to that memorable celebration in June 2004, in the Tenants' Association building in Valparaiso. Through the moulding of images in clay, we had everybody involved in a practical and personal way in the process of deciding how our young Christian Community would find its expression and its mission. Newspapers on the floor, hands brown with clay, suggestions came from both young and old. Ideas were proposed as to where those 'Fruits of the Spirit' might already be blossoming in our community - perseverance, gentleness, meekness, peace, joy and the willingness to serve. There had been a moment of looking at the 'Lights and Shadows' in our neighbourhood. We gathered around a small bonfire in front of the building and spoke aloud our written statements of 'anti-values'. Then we fed them to the flames in the silence of the night. The clay images naturally concentrated on the longed-for chapel which would become a reality a year later. But there was a clear conviction that they themselves were the Church, and the image of a pair of hands joined signified the harmony and unity that only the Spirit brings.
Fr Pio Seo Geounsoo, a Korean priest-assoicate presides
at a Paschal Vigil in Valparaiso.
Blessing and Sending in the Spirit
We had begun by acknowledging that only those who dream are in a position to celebrate the coming of the Spirit. I remember clearly how we ended that memorable vigil with its sharing of prayer and vision and images. Each one laid hands on the shoulders of a neighbour in that fireside circle, and invoked a Spanish version of the Celtic Blessing on each other:
"May the grace of God rest on you;
may the grace of love rest on you;
may the Three be on your head,
the Three over your heart,
the Three cover your body;
may you pass each night and each day
in the embrace of the Three,
every day of your life and always.
Amen"
[Far East Magazine]