Holy Spirit: Unity in Diversity

“How is it that we each, in our own native languages, hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power? All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

Pentecost is probably my favorite liturgical feast. I love the wild, unpredictable outpouring of the Spirit. I love that each of the disciples, both men and women, received the fiery gift of the Spirit. They were transformed from a timid group, filled with questions and uncertainty, to a bold band of witnesses who proclaimed the faith that had claimed their hearts.

I am a lover of language and have studied five languages other than my native tongue, so the bit about bursting out in a multitude of languages is delightful to me. One of my favorite memories from my recent pilgrimage walk in southern France was a meal where around the table was being spoken English, French, German and Ukrainian. Unlike at that meal, in the Pentecost story everyone could fully understand everything that was being said.

This beautiful tapestry of unity in diversity is an image of the reign of God bursting into a world where difference too often divides. Newly elected Pope Leo XIV proclaims his personal motto to be: We are one in the One.  This unification is one of the great “deeds of power” proclaimed in the Pentecost frenzy.  What does this mean? It means that the fire of God’s love burns down the walls that divide us and weaves us together as children of the one God. When Paul proclaims that “there is no longer male or female, Jew or Greek, slave or free, that we are one in Christ Jesus”, he is not proclaiming that only those who follow the Christian religion are united. He is saying that the God revealed in and through Jesus is a God who gathers us all together, breaking down all human-erected barriers. All. Of. Them. This is indeed Good News! Alleluia!

Come, Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful,
and enkindle in us the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created,
and you shall renew the face of the earth.