moved by the spirit

Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2020
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Language is the fundamental tool we have to communicate with others, our thoughts, our feelings, our convictions. Only humans have language reflecting the spiritual powers of the human soul.
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When someone says only a couple of words in another person’s language the effect is a delightful smile. Why is that? Language creates a human bond.

So, being able to speak to someone so we are understood is also fundamental to human relations. Imagine if you are speaking to someone and the other person has no idea what you are talking about, and they look at you with that expression of “ha?” or “what?” A feeling of a barrier or division has been created.

People do not have to be from different linguistic communities to experience the effects of barriers. It happens in our relationships, in our homes, at work: we speak the same language and yet there is misunderstanding. Poor language communication has its consequences and hurtful language can be disastrous. “They are only words,” you say; and yet, words can have psychological effects beginning with children. If something is repeated enough times, well it becomes believable. That’s just how we are. “It must be true, this is what I hear -- same words -- all the time.” 
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A child brought up being told he or she is an idiot will be led to feel insecure about their actual strengths. This does not mean that endless praise is the solution, words that flatter a child; this simply leads to a kid who is a narcissist and unbearable for others.
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Was it not through the deceptive words of a serpent that the man and woman fell from grace to sin (Gen 3)? And the builders of Babel did they not use a common language to outdo God (Gen 11).?

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Language based on what we hear and say has the power to set us against God, and to turn us against others; language serves a relational purpose. Even in silent prayer before God we communicate our interior disposition towards God. If language reflects a sign of our humanness, the spiritual capacities of our soul in the different stages of life, then God sends His Spirit, the 3rd person of the Trinity, as Jesus had promised, so that our spiritual potential may be actualised and perfected. Too often people fail to understand what the Holy Spirit does -- or is meant to do -- in our lives: we are transformed from natural beings to supernatural beings by the Holy Spirit. We are not just born of flesh but with the Holy Spirit we are reborn of the Spirit.

The radical transformation of the person makes an impact on the community of believers. The faithful do not congregate like a cultural or sports club but exercising a supernatural bond that unites each of them, not by their individual power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our responsibility is to co-operate with God. Such co-operation presupposes our freedom to accept or reject a participation in the supernatural life that unites us as a community of believers -- the Church -- and ultimately with God as our Final End.

The descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost marks the beginning of the Christian Church: the Apostles along with, Mary, Mother of Jesus, are gathered together, waiting (Acts 2). The first sign of God’s Spirit is the the violent wind and tongues of fire resting on each of them.
Audible and visible signs reveal God’s presence, but then, there are the effects of the Spirit: filled with God’s Spirit they began to speak in other languages. Should this not be of interest that language is the first sign of God’s Spirit. Why language? Why speaking to others?

We return to language as what makes us rational, relational, spiritual beings. Language invites us to think and reflect, language directs our relationships with others and with God, language enables the individual to pray and worship. So, while language may be divisive at various levels, God’s Spirit gives us the grace we need so language builds our community and creates supernatural bonds.

Of course, we don’t always need words to express ourselves. The language of love is certainly expressed in gestures and acts. And in the presence of God, one can remain in contemplative silence. Yet, whether its action or silence, these still presuppose thoughts and desires embedded with words. Humans cannot get away from language. The first effects of God’s Spirit, the 3rd Person of the Trinity, is the collapse of barriers through language -- the presence of God’s Spirit through language creates unity.

Why should the Spirit of God and breaking down walls be the sign of God’s Spirit at work? Unity is the sign of God’s Spirit at work in His Church. God’s Church is inseparable from the message of salvation -- Jesus Christ, Son of the living God is our Saviour. God the Father sends His Son for one purpose: that we may have Eternal Life. The Spirit promised by Jesus descends upon the Apostles and Mary; and the same Spirit upon each one of us. This is the Catholic Church that Christ left us. One Church. Transcending all language barriers and cultural divisions because God’s Spirit breathes upon the Church, and gives the Church life. Pentecost teaches us the oneness of the Church, and the one body of believers that we are called to be.

Now, the real challenge for each of us is to be receptive to God’s Spirit which guides us in all truth. Truth does not belong to us. Truth finds its source in God. But guided by the Holy Spirit we come to know who Truth is, namely, Jesus Christ. To be receptive to Truth means to live by the Truth and to correct errors in the light of the same Truth. This is the difficult part. This is where we don’t like the risks involved because of their consequences. This is where we need to pray for the virtue of courage and to stand up for Truth.

In 1 Corinthians 12, reference is made to the “same God who activates” and this is God’s Spirit who sanctifies us, perfects us to be the fullness of who we are meant to be created in God’s image and likeness.

God’s Spirit fills us with this divine power to strengthen and embolden us. We have received gifts, as St. Paul says, and these gifts serve to strengthen the body of Christ, they are the manifestation of God’s Spirit at work. We are One Body, One Church, we have One baptism and One Lord. This is the language of Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit uniting us through our common baptism in Christ, and with a common mission, to bring the Truth of the Gospel to others who hunger and thirst for Truth.

We have in St. John’s Gospel, chapter 20, the words of Jesus unveiling the Holy Trinity on Pentecost Sunday. As you know, Holy Trinity Sunday, is celebrated the Sunday after Pentecost because the theological language expressed in the Scriptures is interconnected: in John 20 Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” After having said these words, Jesus breathes on the disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

The language of St. John’s Gospel is clearly missionary: the disciples are sent on a mission to evangelise receiving God’s Spirit. This is true for all those who received God’s Spirit in baptism: the missionary responsibility that each one of us has -- to evangelise. 

We also have a sign of the Church’s salvific mission entrusted in a specific way to the Apostles and their successors: they are granted authority to forgive or to retain sins. Retaining sins might sound strange given that Jesus has preached forgiveness throughout his ministry. And here, in St. John, Jesus speaks of “retaining” sins. This is an authority entrusted to the Apostles transmitted to Bishops associated with the ministry of shepherding the Church. When Truth has been violated the Truth cannot be modified to accommodate people’s sins, but rather, “sins are retained” in matters of grave and obstinate sinfulness when there is neither contrition nor conversion. While God’s love and mercy are infinite, they are coherent with Truth. Holiness and wickedness are incompatible. God sent us His Son, and gives us His Spirit, so we can live in truth and grow in holiness. Holiness is fundamentally objective where we conform ourselves to the way Jesus set out for us. Not the way humans set out for themselves as attested in Gen 3 eating the from the forbidden tree, or in Gen 11 building a tower to make themselves great name, in both instances making themselves equal to God.

In our post-truth age, we are in fact at a crossroads: the Way of Jesus, Son of God, who is Truth and the Life; and all other ways.

On Pentecost Sunday, let us ask our Blessed Mother who was in the Upper Room when the Holy Spirit descended upon her, the same Spirit who covered Mary at the Incarnation, let us ask Mary to intercede for us. Amen.