Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today we contemplate and re-live in the liturgy the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit sent by the risen
Christ upon his Church; an event of grace
which filled the
Upper Room in
Jerusalem and then spread throughout the
world.
But what happened on that day, so distant from us and yet so close as to
touch the very depths of our hearts? Luke gives us the answer in the
passage of the
Acts of the Apostles which we have heard (2:1-11).
The evangelist brings us back to Jerusalem, to the Upper Room where the
apostles were gathered. The first element which draws our attention is
the sound which suddenly came from heaven “like the rush of a violent
wind”, and filled the house; then the “tongues as of fire” which divided
and came to rest on each of the apostles. Sound and tongues of fire:
these are clear, concrete signs which touch the apostles not only from
without but also within: deep in their minds and hearts. As a result,
“all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit”, who unleashed his
irresistible power with amazing consequences: they all “began to speak
in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability”. A completely
unexpected scene opens up before our eyes: a great crowd gathers,
astonished because each one heard the apostles speaking in his own
language. They all experience something new, something which had never
happened before: “We hear them, each of us, speaking our own language”.
And what is it that they are they speaking about? “God’s deeds of
power”.
In the light of this passage from
Acts, I would like to reflect on three words linked to the working of the Holy Spirit: newness, harmony and mission.
1.
Newness always makes us a bit fearful, because we feel more
secure if we have everything under control, if we are the ones who
build, programme and plan our lives in accordance with our own ideas,
our own comfort, our own preferences. This is also the case when it
comes to God. Often we follow him, we accept him, but only up to a
certain point. It is hard to abandon ourselves to him with
complete
trust, allowing the Holy Spirit to be the soul and guide of our lives
in our every decision. We fear that God may force us to strike out on
new paths and leave behind our all too narrow, closed and selfish
horizons in order to become open to his own. Yet throughout the history
of salvation, whenever God reveals himself, he brings newness and
change, and demands our complete trust: Noah, mocked by all, builds an
ark and is saved; Abram leaves his land with only a promise in hand;
Moses stands up to the might of Pharaoh and leads his people to freedom;
the apostles, huddled fearfully in the Upper Room, go forth with
courage to proclaim the Gospel. This is not a question of novelty for
novelty’s sake, the search for something new to relieve our boredom, as
is so often the case in our own day.
The newness which God brings into
our life is something that actually brings fulfilment, that gives true
joy, true serenity, because God loves us and desires only our good. Let
us ask ourselves: Are we open to “God’s surprises”? Or are we closed and
fearful before the newness of the Holy Spirit? Do we have the courage
to strike out along the new paths which God’s newness sets before us, or
do we resist, barricaded in transient structures which have lost their
capacity for openness to what is new?
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| The Holy Spirit depicted as a dove, surrounded by angels, by Giaquinto, 1750s. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
2. A second thought:
the Holy Spirit would appear to create disorder in the Church, since he
brings the diversity of charisms and gifts; yet all this, by his
working, is a great source of wealth, for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit
of unity, which does not mean uniformity, but which leads everything
back to
harmony. In the Church, it is the Holy Spirit who creates
harmony.
One of
Fathers of the Church has an expression which I love:
the Holy Spirit himself is harmony –
“Ipse harmonia est”.
Only
the Spirit can awaken diversity, plurality and multiplicity, while at
the same time building unity. Here too, when we are the ones who try to
create diversity and close ourselves up in what makes us different and
other, we bring division. When we are the ones who want to build unity
in accordance with our human plans, we end up creating uniformity,
standardization. But if instead we let ourselve be guided by the Spirit,
richness, variety and diversity never become a source of conflict,
because he impels us to experience variety within the communion of the
Church. Journeying together in the Church, under the guidance of her
pastors who possess a special charism and ministry, is a sign of the
working of the Holy Spirit.
Having a sense of the Church is something
fundamental for every Christian, every community and every movement. It
is the Church which brings Christ to me, and me to Christ; parallel
journeys are dangerous! When we venture beyond (
proagon) the Church’s teaching and community, and do not remain in them, we are not one with the God of
Jesus Christ (cf.
2 Jn
9). So let us ask ourselves: Am I open to the harmony of the Holy
Spirit, overcoming every form of exclusivity? Do I let myself be guided
by him, living in the Church and with the Church?
3. A final point.
The older theologians used to say that the soul is a
kind of sailboat, the Holy Spirit is the wind which fills its sails and
drives it forward, and the gusts of wind are the
gifts of the Spirit.
Lacking his impulse and his grace, we do not go forward. The Holy Spirit
draws us into the mystery of the living God and saves us from the
threat of a Church which is gnostic and self-referential, closed in on
herself; he impels us to open the doors and go forth to proclaim and
bear witness to the good news of the Gospel, to communicate the joy of
faith, the encounter with Christ. The Holy Spirit is the soul of
mission.
The events that took place in Jerusalem almost two thousand years ago
are not something far removed from us; they are events which affect us
and become a lived experience in each of us.
The Pentecost of the Upper
Room in Jerusalem is the beginning, a beginning which endures. The Holy
Spirit is the supreme gift of the risen Christ to his apostles, yet he
wants that gift to reach everyone. As we heard in the Gospel, Jesus
says: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to
remain with you forever” (
Jn 14:16). It is the Paraclete Spirit,
the “Comforter”, who grants us the courage to take to the streets of the
world, bringing the Gospel! The Holy Spirit makes us look to the
horizon and drive us to the very outskirts of existence in order to
proclaim life in Jesus Christ.
Let us ask ourselves: do we tend to stay
closed in on ourselves, on our group, or do we let the Holy Spirit open
us to mission?
Today’s liturgy is a great prayer which the Church, in union with Jesus,
raises up to the Father, asking him to renew the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit. May each of us, and every group and movement, in the harmony of
the Church, cry out to the Father and implore this gift. Today too, as
at her origins, the Church, in union with Mary, cries out:
“Veni, Sancte Spiritus! Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love!” Amen
- Pope Francis I
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Related readings:
Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is controlled strength...After the Holy Spirit came down on the Apostles at Pentecost, the prime
question of Judaic observance was debated. Paul and Barnabas went to
Jerusalem and consulted with the other Apostles. This was a hint of how
the Church was to resolve matters in great Councils. Given the stolid
temperament and vivid personalities of the Apostles, the term “debated”
might be an understatement. But they remembered that the Risen Lord had
promised that his “Paraclete” would guide them. Only rarely does ancient
Greek use that term, as when the orator Demosthenes used it for a sort
of legal advocate, and not necessarily an ethical one at that. But
Christ makes it mean the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. How the
Apostles were helped by this divine Helper is not said, but they sent
their decision to the scattered Christians, beginning with the words “It
is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us.”
To claim private guidance from the Holy Spirit that departs from what
has inspired the collective agreement of the successors of the Apostles,
would be to confuse personal opinion with divine truth. But the Holy
Spirit does help us in the ways of truth every day. Sometimes he even
works through children: “. . . and a little child shall lead them”
(Isaiah 11:6). The birth of a child may convert a parent to more intense
faith, or a child's First Communion may inspire a young father to
return to Confession. The Holy Spirit works through encounters that are
often unnoticed. Yogi Berra, not to be underestimated as a philosopher,
said, “Some things are just too coincidental to be a coincidence.”
What would you say if we told you that speaking in tongues was necessary
for your eternal salvation? Many of you would be trembling in fear
because you have never spoken in tongues. Yet there are members of the
Pentecostal church who insist that you are not sealed by the Spirit of
God unless you speak in tongues. In other words, speaking in tongues is
the outward sign of your redemption and salvation.
Brief hiatus
First, a happy Shavuos (celebrating the giving the of the Torah at
Mt. Sinai) to all those celebrating and a happy Pentecost (celebrating
the Holy Ghost descending on the early Christian apostles) to all those
celebrating.
These holidays are sometimes celebrated through study, and especially
to those of you who are studying, I wish that you enjoy full fruits of
your study and that your study brings understanding and wisdom.
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