This past week I was in Minneapolis for an intensive workshop on pastoral leadership. I am grateful to you for allowing me to take this time away. These first years are a constant time of learning as I grow into this role. Between the intensive workshops, in the quiet moments of prayer, as I thought of you, I felt renewed, motivated to enter a new phase in my pastoral journey with you, grateful to share in this gift of leadership we call priesthood.  

Today’s Second Letter to Timothy reminds us that this leadership is not a position of power but a gift of the Holy Spirit that is to be stirred into flame. As one of the last letters written, it begins to show a development in institutional structure. What we just heard was this growing sense of how the Holy Spirit will direct the Church through leaders who are discerned by the community and then recognized as representatives of the community by the laying on of hands.

The gesture of the laying on of hands became an essential sign of the conferring of the Holy Spirit, for Holy Orders and for Confirmation. We see it in the Acts of the Apostles. They travel to new Christian communities to ensure that they have received the Spirit through the laying on of hands. So, from the very beginning of the Church, this gesture became the way that everyone who believes in Jesus receives the Holy Spirit and is incorporated into the mission of the Church.

That means the instruction to “stir into flame the gift of God that you have received through the laying on of hands” is applicable to every single one of us, each according to the grace we have received through the sacraments.

That begs the question, how? How do we stir into flame the Holy Spirit in our lives? In the bible we can identify three ways of describing the actions of the Holy Spirit.

1. The Spirit of Truth, who inspires the sacred Scriptures;
2. The Spirit of Unity, who unites the people of God in the covenant; and
3. The Spirit of Mission, who distributes gifts for service among all the members of the people of God.

The New Testament itself describes seven gifts and 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit. Further, the Letter to Timothy says those who have received the Holy Spirit have received “power, love and of self-discipline.” Meaning there are many ways the spirit can stir in us time and time again, but let’s focus on those three, power, love and self-discipline.

First, we have received the Spirit of power. In the bible, one of the ways that power is manifested is through the word of God. God spoke, and things came into being. What God speaks is truth, revealing who God is and who we are in the eyes of God. This is the truth that began to move human culture from one of fear and sacrifice, to the revelation that God is love so yes, there is visible power that we can see has come from the Spirit speaking truth into the world.

Then this power, this truth, this word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus speaks, and seas are calmed. Jesus speaks, and people are freed from illnesses. Jesus speaks, and people are restored to their dignity, revealing that while the world condemned them, God did not, they were God’s children.  

The power of the Spirit stirring in the world is unlike any human power, it is not competitive, it is not violent, but because it is not of this world, the world tends to rejects it, so being willing to speak this truth comes at a cost, those who dare could be hated, even crucified by the powers of the world.

To this, the Letter to Timothy says: “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice… do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.” Where does shame come from? From lies, the opposite of truth. Lies have no power, but they fool you into thinking they do by creating negative emotions like shame, envy, and pride, the emotions that run the powers of the world, leading to constant competition and violence.

To stir into flame power means rejecting the lies of the world and not being afraid to speak the truth and live in conformity to to the truth. Unfortunately, in our world right now “truth” is a word that if filled with divisive political power. Everyone claims to have the truth, to be on the right side of history. But truth in the biblical sense is the person of Christ. To stir into flame power, means: be in relationship with the truth, be in relationship with Christ.

At a time of global and national conflict where the powers of the world are competing with each other… at this time of transition into a new way of being a parish community, take courage and stir into flame power. How can we as a community be more united in Christ? Prayer, not only the Mass, which is the perfect prayer, but how about we consider reclaiming the power of the rosary?

October, the month of the Rosary, comes at a time when we need the courage of prayer. This is a moment of last minute inspiration but how about we come 30 minutes early before Mass to pray the Rosary together. This prayer is not a private devotion, it the prayer of the Church, a gift from God born in times of turmoil. I am going to need some of you to be courageous and lead us in praying the rosary. Not sure how we will organize it but if someone is willing to lead it at 5pm next week, let me know after Mass.

Second, we have received the Spirit of love. Love is not the same as happiness. Happiness is self-serving. I want to do the things that make me happy. I want others to do the things that make me happy. In marriage, as soon as someone is no longer happy, they want out. So happiness is unstable, it does not have the power to unite in a permanent way.

Jesus reveals love as the spirit of self-giving care for another person. That demands sacrifice, and sacrifice does not make us happy, but it does unite. Jesus said “Love one another as I have loved you” because this is the maximum expression of a love, possible even when the world is against you. Jesus was not happy to be crucified on the cross, he agonized the night before, yet he joyfully accepted it because he knew it would bring about a greater good: the unity of all the people of God. Joy comes from knoing the truth, not from feeling happy, that is why the gospels describe people as rejoicing, not being happy, when they saw the risen Lord.

This is the power we need in our lives right now because public acts of violence are seen everywhere, in homes, in our own nation and around the world, making many people unhappy. Just recently, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, dozens of Christians were massacred while gathered in worship. It is a stark reminder that our brothers and sisters in Christ are still giving their lives for the faith. We must not grow numb to violence, here or abroad, but let the Spirit stir us into deeper solidarity and prayer for peace. And more than anything, in love, forgive those who trespass against us, that too takes courage.

Finally, we have received the Spirit of self-control. Self-discipline corresponds to the Spirit of mission; to do not as we want, but as we ought.

Some Bibles translate the Greek word here as “self-control,” “sobriety,” or “soundness of mind.” I like that one… to have soundness of mind. Self- discipline means self-knowledge: understanding what makes me desire what I desire. It is the Spirit of Truth leading me to the truth about myself and others.

When we stir into flame the spirit of self- discipline, we are growing in the capacity to resist being swept up in what others want, because I know what I really need.That means I don’t get angry when someone else gets something I want. I don’t get jealous when someone has something I don’t. To have peace of mind is to have sanity. The violence being perpetrated by many right now is because of insanity. There is a lack of peace, a lack of self-control, that is taking over many all because of the lies being perpetrated. Have courage to gain self-discipline, and by doing so you will realize that you have an important part of God’s mission on earth.

Family, we are a community of faith, a faith so strong that even in its smallest amount, the size of a mustard seed, has the power to continue transforming the world as it has been and will continue to do. We don’t need more faith, we need to trust in the power of the faith we have received. Pray for courage, for we have not received a spirit of cowardice. We have received power, love, and of self- discipline. Do not resist the Spirit, but make the most of this great gift we have received. Come, Holy Spirit. Stir into flame the gift you have placed in us.