The children’s story Cinderella is the English language version of an ancient myth about reversal of fortune. The orphan Cinderella was badly mistreated by her relatives and, consequently, attracted the attention of a mysterious benefactor who rescued her from her distress and gave her recompense for her suffering.
The many versions of this story communicate folk wisdom about those who are to be judged worthy of blessing and favor. Recently, there has been some revisionist criticism leveled at the protagonist in the Cinderella myth; the revisionists blame young Cinderella for internalizing the abusive attitudes of her step-family. According to this point of view, Cinderella’s failure to resist the demeaning attitudes and behavior of her step-family equates to tacit participation in her own mistreatment.
I’ve never been impressed by the story’s questionable logic of gourd-based transportation and rodent propulsion, but to blame Cinderella for the shabby behavior of her relatives seems cruel or, at least, excessive. Although it appears that Cinderella internalized the abusive behavior of her step-family, there’s nothing unusual about that. Everyone internalizes, at least to some degree, the behavior of others.
For example, if you’re a Tampa Bay Rays fan, you’re probably very quick to boast of the team’s performance thus far this year but reluctant to mention the pennant race at the end of the season. You’ve internalized the Rays’ past behavior of playing well up to, but not including, the point when it matters for the world championships.
Not everyone is familiar with the term “internalize,” but everyone is familiar with what it means. To internalize means to appropriate someone else’s values, beliefs, or emotional experiences, accepting them as one’s own values, beliefs, or emotional experiences. Everyone internalizes but unfortunately, not everyone is sufficiently discerning about their internalizations.
Although it is beneficial to internalize the societal norms that support stable relationships, it can be very harmful to oneself and others to internalize the dissatisfactions and dysfunctions that interfere with healthy relationships. I’d like to propose the universal human experience of internalizing as a way to understand the nature of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of the Solemnity of Pentecost.
The Catholic Church teaches that the Holy Spirit is God’s gift of God’s self to the righteous. The conferral of this divine gift is described as “indwelling.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 683-686) The Spirit dwells in the faithful, but not as one dwells in one’s home; the Holy Spirit is not a second consciousness or a second identity given to a person at Baptism. Rather, the Holy Spirit is God’s life and love bestowed on the baptized; it is bestowed freely and can only be appropriated in freedom. The Spirit is Divine power that allows the faithful to internalize God’s mercy and fidelity. (*)
As everyone internalizes, to some degree, what they experience from others, it makes sense that God relates to us in this way. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, God makes it possible for us to internalize God’s own life. In the Gospel reading for the Vigil Mass, Jesus described this gift of God’s life with a memorable metaphor in John’s Gospel; he said, “rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me.” (Jn 7:38) This Divine gift is given for our own benefit as well as for the salvation of the world.
The Acts of the Apostles describes the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost in terms that accurately describe the process of internalization. The disciples were filled with zeal to preach about Jesus’ resurrection. The crowds were so impressed by the disciples’ fervor that many of them converted to faith in Jesus. That experience of conversion required that the people in the crowd to reject their previously held ideas and commitments and adopt a new commitment to faith in God; they internalized what the disciples had internalized from Jesus.
If nothing else, the experience of the crowd in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost is clear evidence that everyone has a choice about how they are influenced by others’ behavior.
Hateful speech and violent action are so common in our society as to be considered normal. Unless one is careful about the influence that other people’s behavior can have, one is likely either to internalize the hatred and violence or to live in fear about those who do internalize that anti-social behavior.
There are many alternatives to the common narrative of prejudice, privilege, and violence. While some of those alternatives are clearly more benign than immoral behavior, none appear to have much impact on society. Based on anecdotal evidence, it seems that our society continues to devolve toward something primitive, vulgar, and self-destructive. For this reason, I propose that a living faith in God provides an alternative that guarantees lasting, positive change in oneself and the world.
God relates to the world as generous Creator, unselfish Redeemer, and gracious Sanctifier. One ought to interpret God’s mercy and fidelity toward the world as revelatory of God’s nature; to revise the conventional wisdom of Forrest Gump: God is as God does. God’s great providence allows the faithful not only to receive God’s mercy and fidelity but to internalize them and expand their reach by ministering them to others.
What attitudes filled your thoughts and actions today before you arrived for Mass? From what sources did you absorb those thoughts and attitudes? If reflection upon the sources of influence over your life makes you even the least bit uncomfortable or remorseful, there is a life-giving option. The Holy Spirit of God, that is, God’s life and attitude toward the world, is offered here as an influence that will elevate your life and the lives of all whom you meet.
“Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes” in the One who gives the Spirit of God. (Jn 7:38)
(*) In the Scriptures, the term “Holy Spirit” means “the life of God.” Lacking any scientific medical knowledge, ancient people made judgments based on their observations. An animal or human who was breathing, even if badly injured, was judged to retain life within their body because of the act of breathing. Breath, then, became a signifier of, and metaphor for, life itself. The Scriptural term “Holy Spirit” means “Divine Breath” or “the life of God.”
Fr. Alan's Homilies 