“As the soul is the life of the body, so the Holy Spirit is the life of our souls” (St. Peter Damian)
The Holy Spirit Speaks Your Language
Pentecost was one of the pilgrim feasts that required adult men of Israel to travel to Jerusalem (Deut 16:16). It was the harvest festival celebrated 50 days after Passover. There were pilgrims from every nation – international gathering of Jews in Jerusalem. This foreshadowed the international acceptance of the Gospel by Gentiles. Hence, on the day of Pentecost “there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem” (Acts 2:5).
In the Christian tradition, Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Easter, as the culmination of the Paschal Season. The details of the events of Pentecost were remarkable. “They were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim” (Acts 2:1-4). The Holy Spirit preaches the Gospel in the language of the people.
In the Gospel according to John, wind and Spirit are associated. The sound of a great rush of wind marks the beginning of a new action of God in the history of salvation. Fire symbolizes the presence of God on Mount Sinai where he initiated the Covenant. Likewise, the Spirit acts on the Apostles to prepare them to proclaim the new covenant with unique gifts. Different tongues prefigure the worldwide mission of the Church.
At the tower of Babel (Gen 11:1) God used multiple languages to confuse and scatter the human family. At Pentecost, he uses multiple languages to communicate the gospel and gather the family of God.
Fr. Augustine