by Fr. Rich Andre, C.S.P.
May 23, 2021

Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily on Pentecost Sunday, May 23, 2021, at St. Austin Catholic Parish in Austin, TX. The homily is based on the day’s readings: Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13; and John 20:19-23.

As Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, perhaps this is a good day to reflect back, as we often do on birthdays, on our actions in the previous year. On this day when we hear once again of diverse people with diverse talents being united by the Holy Spirit, we will pray more fervently for the Spirit to infuse us with the gifts necessary to heal our divided world.

Lord Jesus, you placed your Spirit into the Father’s hands. Lord, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you continue to reveal yourself to us today. Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you will continue to send us your Spirit. Lord, have mercy.

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Usually, when I hear Jesus’ instruction to the apostles that “whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained,” I tend to focus on Jesus’ empowerment of us to forgive one another. But today, I feel compelled by the Holy Spirit to preach about how Jesus also gives us the responsibility to hold ourselves – and one another – accountable for sins we have left unacknowledged.

A year ago this week, two events shook me to my core. First, a white woman in New York City’s Central Park falsely claimed to police that Christian Cooper, a black man, was threatening to assault her. Second, the actions of a white Minneapolis police officer led to the murder of the black man George Floyd. Events like this have happened – and continue to happen – in the United States, but these two events captured the world’s attention – and my attention – in a new way.

Before those events, I had assured myself that I wasn’t part of the problem. But those events made me realize that I had a lot of learning to do. Last year, Pentecost fell a few days after Christian Cooper and George Floyd made international headlines, and I preached the following words: “I don’t mean to paint an overly simplistic picture that all white people are racist or that all people of color should be canonized. But this Pentecost, I ask myself: how am I supposed to help to reverse systemic racism in our country? The Holy Spirit compels me to act.”

I haven’t done nearly enough in the past year, but the Spirit has compelled me to facilitate two book discussions,¹ watch a great documentary,² listen to some black preachers,^{3 4} and read about 60% of a “definitive history of racist ideas in America.”⁵ I now recognize that I need to continually educate myself about the financial, political, and cultural obstacles that American society places in front of people of color.

Racism is a spectrum of thoughts, beliefs, and actions by individuals, groups, and systems. The overtly racist policies that we attribute to past eras are gone. Slavery was abolished in 1865; the Ku Klux Klan is no longer the powerful behemoth it once was; most Jim Crow laws have been overturned; the redlining practices that segregated neighborhoods are no longer allowed. But there are countless other policies that affect people of color disproportionately, even if those policies do not explicitly mention race. One example would be the 1986 federal law that treated the possession of crack cocaine, a form of the drug used more by black Americans, much more harshly than the possession of powder cocaine, a form favored by white users.⁶ And let us not forget the recent rise of white nationalism!

I have awoken to how easy it is for me to avoid confronting the effects of racism… while most people of color confront the effects every day of their lives. I am definitely not a segregationist, but I’ve not been nearly as anti-racist as I claim to have been. Often, my views have come from an assimilationist mindset – I have expected people of color to live by norms established by white, Eurocentric culture.⁷ I will share some examples of when I have failed to recognize that the Holy Spirit manifests itself in different people in different ways:

• When I was directing a musical revue in my senior year of college, an actress who was half Hispanic suggested that she play a character with a particular Latin American accent. I refused, arguing that the accent would distract the audience from the story.
• While people speak to me as a priest about their experiences around sexuality, gender, economics, housing, and politics even when it’s clear that I have no direct familiarity, few people of color talk with me about issues of race. I now recall instances when people have shared with me about their experiences of Asian-American discrimination, and I minimized their experiences.

I regret these incidents and countless others when my unconsciously held assimilationist views have caused harm. And as a priest, my words have the ability to hurt people in the Church especially deeply. I’m sorry for those I’ve hurt or alienated. I need to find ways to make amends to them.

[Pray:] I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned through my fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do.

In the past year, perhaps you’ve also realized some sins that you need to repent of. I’ll give you a brief moment to examine your conscience. [Pause.] When we do not acknowledge our sins, they retain their damaging power. It is only in bringing them to the light that we can seek forgiveness.

[Pray:] Thy kingdom come, Father. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The Spirit is in our midst to build the kingdom. The Holy Spirit compels us to act. Now!

Let us pray: Come, Holy Spirit! Bend our stubborn hearts and will; melt the frozen, warm the chill. Continue to work in our hearts. Continue to soften them and make us more compassionate towards others.

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