They heard ... They saw ... They spoke

Solemnity of Pentecost

Although the descent and gift of the Holy Spirit is commonly associated with today’s feast, which takes place 50 days after the feast of the Passover, St John in today’s gospel reading provides us with another version of the story. In John 20, the gift of the Holy Spirit takes place earlier, on the evening of Easter Sunday. The Risen Lord invites His disciples to carry on the mission given Him by His Heavenly Father and empowers them to do so by breathing upon them and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

St Luke’s version of the first Pentecost, which we heard in the first reading, is the biblical account that has most captured the Christian imagination. Fifty days after Easter, the disciples of Jesus gather for prayer in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit comes upon them in dramatic fashion, with a strong wind and “tongues of fire.” They begin to speak in different languages, and miraculously their proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is heard and understood by Jewish pilgrims from different countries of the diaspora in their own native languages.

The revelation of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles on Pentecost took place in a series of sensible experiences: they heard… they saw … they spoke. First, they heard. They heard a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. This sound was so vast it filled the whole house. A sound that could only come from heaven. Next, they saw. They saw tongues as of fire, one sat on each of them. The fire of God’s presence was revealed. Finally, they spoke. As a result of the outpouring of God’s Spirit, His presence in such a distinctive way on each individual, they began to speak in languages known to those gathered outside.

These three movements could also be seen at the time of the Exodus when the Israelites were gathered at Mount Sinai and Moses received the Law directly from God. The account of this event is found in the first reading of the Vigil Mass. In fact, Pentecost or in Hebrew, Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks, commemorated this event. On this mountain, the Israelites heard the rumbling of thunder and saw the clouds covering the top of this holy mountain. Then God spoke His law which is embodied in the tablets of the commandments. But instead of hearing thunder, and seeing a cloudy theophany or hearing God speak His law, the apostles and first Christians heard, saw and spoke what was clearly the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, whose law is now written on the hearts of believers instead of stone.

But the correlation between the Jewish significance of this feast and its Christian counterpart goes back further, in fact to the beginning of the Bible. God breathed His Spirit into earthly clay, like how Jewish mystics would attempt to do in the legend of the Golem, and brought it to life. Likewise, God now breathes His Spirit upon this motley group of believers and brought the Church to life. Jesus, risen and ascended into Heaven, sent His Spirit to the Church so that every Christian might participate in his own divine life and become His valid witness in the world. The Holy Spirit, breaking into history, defeats aridity, opens hearts to hope, stimulates and fosters in us an interior maturity in our relationship with God and with our neighbour.

But there remains one final connexion between the Pentecost of the New Testament and another event in the Old Testament. The miracle of Pentecost reverses the episode of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. In that story of the tower, in response to human arrogance, God “confused” the languages of humankind and scattered them over the face of the earth. Instead, of hearing, seeing and speaking God’s Word present through His Spirit, the builders of the Tower of Babel were planning to have their own voices heard, their monumental feat seen and finally spoke in the languages which no longer could be understood nor did they communicate God’s Word. After Pentecost, the division of Babel wrought by man’s pride will be undone and the Good News of Jesus Christ is the language that unites all these different peoples.

The building of the first Babel was an act of pride. Like Adam and Eve, the builders didn’t want to receive from God; they wanted to obtain things on their own. They sought to construct a tower “with its top in the heavens” and to make a name for themselves, lest they be “scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” They desired to raise themselves to God’s level – to be self-sufficient – and to establish unity on their own terms. The lesson of Babel is clear: it is human pride that has produced confusion and division in the world. God’s act in confusing their language and means of communication was not an act of vengeance and punishment. In fact, it was an act of mercy that would set them on a long journey to discover the true source of sanctification and unification - the work of the Holy Spirit.

According to Fr Paul Scalia, “we are witnessing the construction of a new Babel. Ours is a post-Christian society, an anti-culture that has rejected the Word of God. In our pride, we want on our own terms and by our own accomplishments what creatures can only receive from God. We have thrown off His reality – about gender, sex, life, etc. – and tried to construct our own. As a result, our language is increasingly disconnected from truth, our words unintelligible, and our ability to communicate crippled.”

The crippling of language divides us. We can easily witness this in our own country and parish situation, where language no longer unites but divides. Once language is no longer a vehicle for truth, for building communities and set apart for worship, it becomes an instrument for control and domination. That is why we can recognise that Pentecost is the undoing of Babel. The Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, speak in a way that all hearers can understand. Redeemed by the Word, man can now speak intelligibly about God and about himself. And because he can communicate the truth to others, this intelligibility leads to unity.

The memory of Jesus has been kept alive, and the movement He began has been carried on by the Church, who has preached the gospel to all nations and cultures through various languages. Nevertheless, Pentecost challenges the Church today to find even more effective ways of communicating the Gospel to peoples in every land on earth. The challenge, that faced the first Christians gathered in Jerusalem at the birth of the Church, still faces the Church today. Would culture and language be an obstacle to the gospel or would it be the vehicle by which the gospel is heard, seen and spoken? Would pride get in the way once again or docility to the Spirit bring about authentic conversion? For this reason, we need the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit. And so, on this Pentecost we must pray, “Come, Holy Spirit, come!”