There is too much to talk about on Pentecost weekend.
Just look at all that is happening on this “feast of the Holy Spirit” (as it has been called). It is the end of our extended Easter celebration—had you remembered that Easter season has lasted for all these weeks? And the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit (the Paraclete, the Comforter).
Also, it shows the results that this Paraclete brings about: the apostles begin speaking in tongues! Jews from all different lands and languages understand without any translation (Acts 2:1 to 11)! This Paraclete means to bring us together, to allay differences, to hear the other person instead of just reacting.
Still more, Saturday night’s Vigil of Pentecost includes the profound story of the Tower of Babel (Gn 11:1 to 9). The Church put it in this place apparently because the Holy Spirit is able to reverse the babbling of humankind. Of course, “babble” is a word derived from the Hebrew word “Babel,” meaning “confusion of voices.”*
But now the problem. How did this all happen?
John’s Gospel has an entirely different version of how the Holy Spirit was sent into the disciples! Instead of Luke’s “noise like a strong driving wind” and “tongues of flame,” John has a quietening story. The risen Jesus appears in their midst and says “Peace be with you.” Then, very simply, he continues, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Peace and understanding result. Peace like you and I would love to have.
Do we spend this week’s reflection figuring out some way to reconcile such strikingly different stories of the same event? Which is true? How can all this be accurate?
• reversal of the babbling;
• Jesus’ promise of the Paraclete;
• driving winds;
• flames hanging over heads;
• peace;
• sending of the Holy Spirit;
• very different versions of that story.
We have an example here of the different ways that individuals remember any great and deeply felt event—something like the way Rashômon, that great 1950s movie, narrated the same event in very different ways according to how various characters experienced it, each recalling it according to the perspective and the emotion they had. Or, for instance, Bong Joon-Ho’s 2020 academy award winning, Parasite.
Let us take a shortcut. The diversity has roots. What are the most important things to understand about Pentecost?
First, it is the feast of the third person of the Trinity.
Second, it is based on three central facts:
• The Father is so much within Jesus that if you know Jesus you know the Father.
• If you let him, Jesus will be within you just as the Father is in him.
• This will happen by the sending of the Holy Spirit, who is the “insides” of Jesus and of the Father. The Spirit is the love they have for each other, the closeness, the great sharing.
Thus, the reason Pentecost in all its diversity is a feast equal to Christmas and Easter is that it is the incarnation of the Holy Spirit into the world of men and women. All the liturgical celebrations of Pentecost, even in this era of virus, boil down to one thing:
God is placing the love that is himself deep into our own spirits!
Let us trust!
