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Once upon a time a badly deformed little girl was born to a very wealthy family. The parents, who were ashamed and humiliated, wanted no one to know about their child. It so happened that in a nearby village there was a poor couple who very much wanted to have children, but none had been sent their way by God. Thus, the rich family, hearing about the poor family, sent an emissary to ask if they wanted their child, realizing that the little girl was badly deformed. The poor family was overjoyed and said, "The child's condition makes no difference to us. It is still one of God's children and we can love and care for the little girl. We will be happy to take the child." The emissary delivered the message to the rich couple who, in turn, had their little girl delivered to the poor parents who were thrilled to have the child.

The poor family loved and cared for the little girl with extraordinary tenderness and kindness. They taught her to read and to develop her mind. Each day they spent several hours reading to her and teaching her everything they knew. As the child was unable to walk or to use her hands in the normal fashion, she overcame these handicaps through the development of her mind. Her memory was extraordinary; when she learned something she never forgot it. Her ability to understand people and events and her insight into people's lives was uncanny; no one in the village had ever experienced someone like her before. Word of this little girl's ability and her brilliant mind came to the attention of the king, who lived in a great city that was not too far from the village. The king sent messengers to the small village to ask the girl's adopted parents if the child could be brought to the palace so he could meet her. The parents were most happy to oblige and thus they brought their foster-daughter to visit the monarch. When the king met the child he was extremely impressed and asked if she might stay in the palace as a trusted advisor. The parents were concerned about who might look after the child, but the king allayed their fears by inviting them to come and live at the palace as well. All were happy with the king's proposal and readily agreed.

For many years thereafter the young girl, who had grown into a young woman, served as the king's trusted counselor. When the birth parents of the woman heard what had transpired, they were beside themselves with envy and bitterness because their daughter and the poor stepparents were surrounded by honor, while they lived in obscurity. They failed to see the potential in their daughter and lost the opportunity of a lifetime in the process.1

This little story, told by the priest author Joseph Girzone, speaks of how people many times limit the potential of others. In a more generic sense we often, consciously or unconsciously, limit ourselves and even God, and we do so to the detriment of all. Today on this festival day of Pentecost, when the Christian Church throughout the world celebrates its birth through the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and representatives of people throughout the world, we are challenged to see how we can exercise our full potential and that of others. The Church is the people of God and thus finite in its membership, but it is guided by the Spirit of God who is infinite. Thus, we must allow the Spirit to dispel our doubts and to expand our horizons to see the potential that exists in ourselves and others.

Today's familiar reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes what happened that first Pentecost, fifty days after the Lord's Resurrection. The apostles and other disciples of Jesus most assuredly lived in fear after the ascension. Recent events had created a roller coaster of up and down emotions for these first followers of Christ. The people experienced the heights of ecstasy on Palm Sunday and moved to the depths of despair on Good Friday. The pattern was repeated with the great joy of the resurrection that was followed by the reality of Jesus' return to the Father in his ascension. Jesus had promised the apostles that he would send the Spirit, but like many of his words the disciples probably did not fully understand what the Lord meant and what the manifestation and ramifications of his words might be. Thus, the Spirit comes in the form of flaming tongues of fire giving the apostles the ability to speak foreign languages so all assembled might know and experience the amazing power of God. Yes, God allowed poorly-educated Galilean fisherman and Christ's other followers to do what they were not able to do, namely to speak in foreign tongues. God thus demonstrated in a very concrete, audible, and significant way that one should never limit the potential and possibilities that God can provide.

This great lesson is made crystal clear in the person of Peter. We recall how both the Synoptic evangelists and Saint John portray Peter as not only the chosen leader of the apostles but the one apostle during Jesus' earthly life who often does not understand or fails the Lord most grievously. We remember that immediately after Jesus designates Peter as "the rock" upon which the Church will be built, the Lord predicts his own death. The apostle cannot understand Christ's need to die for his people. The events of Good Friday morning are etched in our minds when Peter denied Jesus three times, just as the Lord had predicted. After the descent of the Spirit on Pentecost, however, Peter is a completely new man. He speaks clearly, boldly, and continuously about Jesus, his message, and the need for people to give their lives to the service of the Lord by following the Gospel message as it was then understood in the oral tradition. Peter, a man of faith but one who was weak and broken as well, was transformed by the power of God into a well-versed spokesman for the Lord. As we hear in today's reading, he echoes the words of the Prophet Joel who spoke to the Hebrews in Judah.

On Pentecost the Holy Spirit came to a diverse crowd assembled in Jerusalem. Why did the Spirit manifest himself in this way? Certainly one of the primary answers is that God wished all to know that the salvific message of Jesus is universal. God became incarnate not only to be present to the Jewish people, but also so that all might hear the message and believe. God, the creator of all, sent his Son, to bring salvation to all of God's children, from every people and nation, language and way of life. God is able to see the potential in every one of his creations and thus none are excluded. God manifests his desire to be present to and to assist all people, for no one is a stranger to God. Today we are challenged to seek a similar attitude in our relations with others, ourself, and God.

What lessons can we learn from this great event of Christian history that occurred so long ago? What relevance can we derive from the great Pentecost event? The answers can be succinctly given in not limiting the possibilities that we, our neighbor, and even God can achieve in this life. The Spirit allowed the apostles to do what they and others must have thought impossible. Similarly, God can produce in us and others results that we might think impossible. We only have to believe and allow God to act to experience such outcomes.

Many times we limit the possibilities that a situation can provide. Life at times places us in situations and asks us to do things we would rather not do. We are instantly and almost naturally placed on the defensive when we encounter unpleasant, stressful, or even problematic situations. Most people see unpleasant situations or periods of personal or communal crisis as events or periods of time that we simply "must get through." We sometimes hunker down and accept the difficulty; other times we take the stoic approach and get mentally and physically tough so we can maintain our sanity and composure during this period. These methods of self-preservation can be useful, but all events provide opportunities to grow and learn. It is rather easy for people to encounter events that bring joy and happiness because the challenge is less. When tragedy, problems, unexpected difficulties, and painful situations arise, we are more wary and often place guards in front of us to fend off the blows of various kinds that we know are coming. Yet, the placement of barriers between ourselves and the situation prevents us from gaining any important lessons from the encounter. Thus, we must ask what we can gain from a personal illness or the infirmity or death of a family member or close friend. What lessons can be learned from walking the road of addiction with an important person in our life? How can the loss of our job bring about some good in our life? How in general can we allow the events of life, both those we enjoy and long to experience and those filled with pain which we would rather avoid, to become sources of grace and opportunities for growth?

It is unfortunate but we are far too adept at limiting others. Like the birth parents in the story, we are often too rash in making judgments on the merits and potential of others. Without a full hearing and often without sufficient forethought, we sometimes systematically dismiss others and, thus, limit the potential they can provide for ourselves and others. Because of her physical deformity the parents thought their child had no potential and, thus, to rid themselves of their burden they sought foster parents. The poor family, on the other hand accepted the little girl for who she was and celebrated and promoted what she could do, the exercise of her mind. About fifteen years ago a film titled My Left Foot told the true story of the Irish-born writer, Christy Brown, who because he was born with a severe case of muscular dystrophy was considered a burden by all. Only with time and his own determination did Christy's potential as a writer surface. We are often like the rich parents in the story and like those who refused to see any potential in Christy Brown. We see only what we wish to see and hear only what we want to hear. We are open only to what is obvious to the senses, and make our decisions on a person's potential based on these observations. The miracle of the Pentecost event tells us, however, that such an attitude is not that of the Spirit and must be exorcized from our person. We simply cannot limit the potential of others.

One of the great tragedies, especially of the fast-paced contemporary world in which we live, is the tendency for many people to limit themselves. We often say to ourselves we are not intelligent enough, attractive enough, athletic enough, or even at times religious enough to do a particular task or engage a new job. We limit our own potential to what we have done in the past and, therefore, know is possible, rather than allowing ourselves to move forward, engage new challenges, and grow in unexpected and wonderful ways through the gifts of God's Spirit. It is true that we often hear of egocentric individuals who believe that the whole world revolves about them and that nothing is too good or impossible for them. Yet, the reverse scenario, namely how people denigrate themselves and do not allow their potential to shine, while not generally a public issue, is all too prevalent in our world. We lower ourselves and, thereby, lessen our potential for achievement. Our self-esteem is damaged and we find it difficult to extricate ourselves from the rut in which we live. But we must recall the wonderful expression often seen on car bumpers, "God doesn't make any junk." We must believe in our own potential as assuredly as we believe in the possibilities of situations and people.

Our inability at times to seek and appreciate the potential in situations, others, and ourselves leads us to place limits on God. How many times have we prayed for someone or some thing and the response we receive is not what we expected or obtained in the timely manner we desire? We might think God doesn't care or that the task or need is even too difficult for God to handle. Sometimes we might even tend to believe that God is not present when we observe bad things that happen, seemingly without reason, to good people. There are times in our lives when we don't trust God sufficiently to seek answers from him to our difficulties and problematic situations. Instead of seeking the assistance of God, we look to other things -- people, ideas, the material world -- for the solutions and/or consolation we seek. There are times as well when things are going so well in life that we barely give God a thought. Possibly without knowing it, we place God in a small bottle with a cork in it and set him on a mantle in our homes where the divine presence gets as dusty as books on a shelf. When we need God, then we go, dust off the bottle, and open the cork, with the expectation that God will act precisely as we wish. How would any of us feel if we were so treated by a member of our family or a close friend? God will never treat us like that; the miracle of Pentecost as related in today's reading and our overall knowledge of the gospel message tells us this is true.

On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came to the apostles in a very special way. This event transformed timid and even frightened disciples into men of action. The apostles no longer lived in fear, but rather, buoyed by the power of the Spirit in their lives, were energized to go forward and preach the universal message of salvation which Christ brought to our world. On Pentecost the universal Church was born as people from all nations heard the message and were enlightened by the Spirit. Our listening once more to this great event of Christian history must spur us on to realize that the message of Christ will only be proclaimed fully when we cease to limit situations, others, ourselves, and most especially God. The little girl in Joseph Girzone's story had great potential, but it was masked by a physical deformity. Once the potential was discovered by those with patience and foresight, many people of the land benefited from her wisdom. Let us in a similar way not limit the potential before us. God can and will act. May we, in turn, trust God, demonstrate our faith, and exercise our potential today and each day of our lives.


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1. Joseph Girzone, The Parables of Joshua (New York: Doubleday, 2001), pp. 66-67.