Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On Pentecost Sunday 4 June Pope Benedict XVI presided Mass in St Peter’s Square. “At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles and this was the beginning of the Church’s universal mission to the world- the Pope said in his homily recalling that Jesus himself asked the Eleven to stay together to prepare to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “Staying together was the condition Jesus made for receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit; the presupposition for their harmony was prolonged prayer- the Pope continued -. We find here a wonderful lesson for every Christian community. We may think that missionary effectiveness depends mainly on careful planning and successive intelligent carrying out a concrete commitment. Certainly, the Lord calls for our collaboration but before our response there must be His initiative: His Spirit is the real agent in the Church”.
To describe the sudden arrival of the Holy Spirit Saint Luke uses two images- wind and fire- which remind us of Mount Sinai. “Speaking of tongues of fire Saint Luke wishes to present Pentecost as another Mount Sinai, as the feast of the new Covenant - the Pope explained -, in which the Covenant with Israel is extended to all the peoples of the earth. The Church is catholic and missionary from the beginning. The universal nature of salvation is significantly emphasised by the list of the many different ethnic origins of those were the first to hear the Apostles speak”.
Unlike what happened with the Tower of Babel, “at Pentecost with the gift of tongues the Spirit shows that His presence unites and changes confusion into communion … The Holy Spirit enables hearts to understand all languages because He rebuilds the bridge of authentic communication between Earth and Heaven. The Holy Spirit is Love.” After the Last Supper Jesus explains to the bewildered apostles the meaning of his departure: “he will go away, but he will come back; in the meantime he will not leave them alone, like orphans. He will send the Comforter, the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit will make known Christ’s work of love: love of the One who offered himself, love of the Father who gave Him. This is the mystery of Pentecost: the Holy Spirit illuminates the human spirit and revealing Christ crucified and Risen shows how we can become more like Him, an "expression and channel of the love which flows from Him" (Deus caritas est, 33).”
At the end of the Mass, before leading the singing of the Regina Caeli hymn Pope Benedict XVI said “Pentecost is a call to go back to the beginnings of the Church … At Pentecost the Church showed she is one, holy, catholic and apostolic; she showed she is missionary, with the gift of speaking all the languages of the world, because the Good News of God’s love is addressed to all peoples”. Among the realities born of the Spirit in the Church the Pope mentioned Church Movements and Communities and he added: “The Church, as Pope John Paul II used to say, is one vast Movement animated by the Holy Spirit, a river will flows through history watering it with God’s grace, rendering it fecund with life, goodness, beauty, justice and peace”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 5/6/2006 - righe 37, parole 551)
