The Holy Spirit cannot be stopped.

There are times for holy noes. There are times for holy yesses.

And I would guess each of you have experienced both where you knew that waking, taking action, and being present--or not—was absolutely, exactly where you were called.

And you moved into that moment

with this knowing, with this grace,

accompanied by the Holy Spirit.

And entered into a flow

where you felt yourself a vessel

through which the Holy Spirit could move and breathe and live.

Our holy noes , our holy yesses

equate to a life

lived, awoken by the Divine.

In today's Gospel,

when Jesus arrives at the bedside of Simon's mother-in-law

who is severely ill with fever,

one can imagine that in the beginning she has no idea who is there, but when she awakes

and sees Jesus  . . .

Jesus, this human who her son-in-law is following . . . Jesus, this man who her daughter is giving up so much for to allow her spouse to be present with the Lord  . . . for Simon Peter to become the rock upon which we will build our Church.

We don't know what this unnamed mother-in-law said, but in her actions, she shows incredible gratitude, faith, hope, and great love.

She wakes. She serves.

Today we also celebrate two amazing saints, Pope Gregory the Great and St. Phoebe.

There is much to be written and said about

Pope Gregory, the Great, Doctor of the Church.

But when I took a deeper dive into his life,

there was one thing that really resonated with me.

And that was his devotion,

his complete devotion to the poor,

in a way that was a beautiful holy yes.

There are stories that Pope Gregory the Great had twelve seats around which he would invite people to eat with him.

People who had needs . . . people who had wants . . .

And he asked them to arrive to table.

He invited the marginalized.

He invited those needing hope.

And not only did he sit with them, he ate with them.

There are also reports that when he was working to inspire others

to reach out to the poor, to feed them . . .

there are times when he sent people out

with food to bring to the poor--and this is his beautiful holy no—

he himself did not eat

until those people returned and the poor were fed.

I can imagine that in the decision to say these holy yesses and these holy no’s

that Pope Gregory the Great knew in that moment

that he was exactly

where he was called to be.

St. Phoebe, named by Paul and called to serve.

Perhaps we read some of these letters in the New Testament today because of her because of people like her.  

St Paul asks Phoebe

to take epistles

to the Romans and he pleads

with the Romans, receive her in the Lord. Receive her in the Lord in the manner of a Holy One. He names her.

He calls her deacon, minister, benefactress, patron, helper. And he begs of Rome, receive her in the Lord.

Can you imagine Phoebe at that moment, spoken to by Paul and asked to do this amazing work on his behalf. . . . She was SEEN her charisms of courage, her experience of the journey, her knowledge of how to get there. She was seen by Paul. She was asked to do work on behalf of the Church.

We do not know the end of the story, exactly. We do not know exactly how the Romans received Phoebe. But we have the book of Romans which she was asked to carry. We can imagine that she was received; and she was received well in the manner of a Holy One.

There are St. Phoebe’s today...

called to speak

called to walk

called to be present.

St. Phoebes all around us with Charisms.

Charism seen.

Charisms expressed.

Charisms yet to be seen yet to be heard.  

We . . . we are here.

And so we echo the words of St. Paul to Rome.

Receive us in the Lord. Receive us in the Lord in the manner of a Holy One.

The Holy Spirit cannot be stopped.

Grace to you and peace. Let us always give thanks to God.

Amen

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