“Chocolate Covered Pretzels” by Brian Flanagan

“Chocolate Covered Pretzels” by Brian Flanagan

Pentecost

Well, Pentecost is here; the feast when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles after Jesus ascended into heaven.   For most people, this feast evokes images of fire or a dove, but for me, it brings up memories of chocolate covered pretzels; or rather a chocolate covered cookie sheet…

Have you ever had that light-bulb-over-your-head moment where you realize there was a much better or more efficient way of doing something immediately after you’ve already done it? Once, my sister and I decided we would melt our giant chocolate rabbits from our Easter baskets in the microwave to make chocolate covered pretzels. We had it all planned out. We got out a cookie sheet and neatly spread pretzels out over it.

Then we poured the melted chocolatey goodness over the pretzels. Our mom then walked in and started cracking up. She then made a suggestion that should have been obvious to us all along; why we didn’t just dip the pretzels into the chocolate and then put them on the tray, thus covering both sides of the pretzels and not wasting all the chocolate that was now covering the cookie sheet? Sometimes in life when we get excited about something, we can get a little ahead of ourselves.

That’s what the Apostles were like before Pentecost. They would be on the right track but often missed the point. Peter, for example, on the mount of the Transfiguration offers to make three tents (which signified worship, not camping); one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Jesus responds, “I appreciate the enthusiasm, Pete, but you’re kinda missing the point.”

Then comes the light-bulb moment at Pentecost. Peter (the guy who wanted to go camping) goes from having denied Jesus on Holy Thursday night to making a fired-up speech that converts the hearts of thousands of people at Pentecost. Everything finally clicked for the Apostles when they received the Holy Spirit. All the things that Jesus did and taught finally made sense, and they were able to move from being receivers of the Word to being doers of the Word.

Without the Holy Spirit, their little Christian movement wouldn’t have made it out of the parking lot, but fired up by the Spirit, the Apostles and their successors spread the Church all around the world.

Too often in our own lives of faith, we act like the pre-Pentecost Apostles. We know all about what Jesus did and taught, but sometimes we seem to lack the motivation to do anything about it; to make a response to it with our lives. We forget that we’ve received the Spirit; especially through the Sacrament of Confirmation.

If we took the time to remember that the Holy Spirit, the very power and life of God, is dwelling in us waiting to be unleashed, we’d get a little more excited about going out and sharing the faith like the Apostles did.

Come, Holy Spirit, let us be as fired-up as the Apostles were to proclaim the Gospel and to lead others to experience the joy we have found in Christ. And help us to always know the best way to make chocolate covered pretzels and similar delectable treats. Amen.