Pentecost – The Holy Spirit Breaks Down Barriers
I remember many years ago journeying to Stuttgart to visit the family who had borne the expenses of my seminary formation. I had never met them. They had been recruited by the Congregation to which I belong to help in the formation of candidates for the priesthood and I had been the one assigned to them. They spoke no English; I spoke no German yet during the time I spent with them, we understood each other very well. I remember wondering at the time what had happened and saying to myself that there is a language more profound than either words or the language of the body and it is a language which does not deceive.
I thought of this incident as I began to prepare for the celebration of this Solemnity of Pentecost in which, according to the scriptures, after the descent of the Holy Spirit, on the Apostles, they went out of the room where they had been hiding and began to proclaim in different languages “the mighty acts of God.” Remember that these were all unlettered men from Galilee yet people from the entire known world heard them speaking in their own tongues.
It would be easy to simply describe this event as a miracle and I do not dispute that fact but I do believe that the miracle came on two levels. The first level is the obvious one. Persons accustomed to speak different languages understood each others’ languages. The second level however deals with another type of language, the language of the Spirit, which is meant to reinforce the first and tell us whether or not the spoken word and indeed the language of the body was meant to deceive.
What is the language of the Spirit? The Paul in the letter to the Galatians 5: 22 tells us “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” It is in and through these attributes that the Spirit speaks and either reinforces or gives the lie to what we proclaim.
In the Gospel reading Jesus, we are told, “breathed on the disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” In giving them authority over sin, which is the cause of all the disharmony in the world, Jesus was in fact making the disciples architects of the harmony which was God’s primordial gift to humanity and which is his ongoing desire for us. We may speak a whole lot about harmony but unless the fruits of the Spirit speak louder than our words and validate our words, no one will really accept what we say.
A look at the lives of the saints will show us the language of the Spirit was evident in all that they did. Their lives were characterized by the fruits of the Spirit. We have a potent example in the life of the late Archbishop of Port of Spain, Anthony Pantin. All of us who frequented Archbishop’s House were accustomed to seeing a large part of suffering Port of Spain at Archbishop’s house. The language of the Spirit was evident in his dealings with them. If not they would not have been there at his house.
All of us baptized or baptized and confirmed have received the Spirit, the same Spirit that the Apostles and disciples received at Pentecost. We must be thankful. This means however that all of us have the potentiality to let the Spirit speak through and in us. It is only when we allow this to happen that the effects of Pentecost will be manifest in our world. In the measure that we allow the Spirit to speak in and through us, in that measure will the ongoing work of the conversion of the world be accomplished.
Prayer
All powerful and eternal Father, forever faithful to your promises, You sent your Spirit at Pentecost to be with us. Make our hearts docile receptacles for your Spirit, so that your Spirit may speak in and through us. May the fruits of the Spirit be manifest in our dealing with every one so that we may arrive at the harmony which is your primordial gift and eternal desire for all humanity. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our Mother and Jesus, your Son. Amen
