When the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost in the form of a rush of a mighty wind and tongues of fire, the multitude, at this sound, came together and they were bewildered because each one heard them speaking in his own language (Acts 2:2-5). Suddenly, the multitude divided in three groups. There was our Blessed Mother Mary, the Apostles and other disciples of Jesus, of course. Then there were those who were from different countries and spoke different languages (representing all nations of the earth) who were amazed and joyful at the miracle that they were able to understand each other in spite of their differences. There was also a third group consisting of both local people and visitors who mocked them. I would like to explore now how this amazing experience plays out in our world today.
The Holy Spirit not only came upon and filled the hearts of the followers of Jesus, He descended upon the diverse crowd outside the Upper Room and upon the whole world. This was remarkable enough, but when that happened, the multicultural crowd of foreigners and strangers who all spoke different languages were suddenly able to understand each other. They were effectively one.
Such unity in diversity is a mark of the Church. It is even expressed in our name of “Catholic,” which means “universal.” It is through our common Baptism that we are united in Christ, we are a people – one people – from every nation, ethnicity, race, culture, language, socio-economic status, and more. Whereas some in our world today see these things as something that separates, that sees people from elsewhere as “other,” the Church recognizes and rejoices at what a blessing it is that we are all one body. We are all brothers and sisters in one family where everyone – and everything in creation – is interconnected.
The crowd of strangers in Jerusalem experienced a taste of this unity in diversity as well. As they wondered what it all meant, Peter explained that what they were witnessing was the fulfillment of God’s promise spoken through the prophets, that the Lord would pour out His Spirit upon all. Whereas God wrote His law on tablets of stone on the very first Pentecost after the Exodus from Egypt, now He writes His law – the law of love – on people’s hearts.
This is why this second group of people who were strangers to each other were suddenly united, because their hearts were open to the workings of the Holy Spirit. This is why after they heard Peter’s preaching, they were cut to the heart and said: “Brethren, what shall we do?” “Repent, and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” Peter said (Acts 2:37). They were promised the Spirit of Love which proceeds from the Father and from the Son, a communion of divine persons in the Trinity, and the Spirit of Truth, including the truth that we as human persons are social beings who are made for relationship – for communion – with one another.
We can also see this second group in the people of goodwill in our own time who hope for “the universal brotherhood of humanity,” understanding that we are all one human family. These people see national borders as not something that divides people, but as thresholds that bond and unite them, as Cardinal McElroy put it when he was bishop of San Diego.
Despite these aspirations, however, our world today is instead filled with so much discord and division. The story of the confusion of tongues in Babel that represents how pride fractures communications and turns kinsmen into enemies still haunts us. Today, ideological pride often makes people speak past each other, not with each other, leading to cultural and political polarization. This is the result of that first sin, where, after setting themselves apart from God, Adam and Eve turned on each other, with brother killing brother soon thereafter. And those crimes of Cain – wars of brother against brother – are still happening today.
As I have been saying for many months now, in the United States today, migrants and refugees from other countries are being disparaged by some and hunted down by masked and armed federal agents to be expelled, in some cases to a foreign prison that violates basic human rights. And it is not only the undocumented and people who commit violent crimes who are targeted, but students on visas and permanent residents who are productively employed. As a result, families are being forcefully separated, communities are being divided; the very core and essence of our society, which is family, community and comradeship has been fractured.
The government officials making these policies that violate human dignity, that separate families and split apart communities and the officers who knowingly carry them out – they are the third group outside the Upper Room on Pentecost. They are the ones who scoffed at the wonders of the Holy Spirit coming to unify humanity in all our unique differences. They ridiculed because they still could not understand others. To them, the visitors to Jerusalem were still strangers who spoke differently, looked differently, and had eccentric customs. The diverse crowd was still a bunch of outsiders and a threat to them. This is because their hearts were not open to the Holy Spirit.
With their hardened hearts indifferent to the sufferings of others, those waging these assaults against their sisters and brothers in the human family have now started demanding silence from those who are protesting against it. When the Apostles were also told to be quiet and stop proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ, Peter stood up and proclaimed, “We must obey God rather than men.” So is it with us as well. We must continue to be vocal, particularly in praying for the conversion and the softening of the hearts which have hardened, but also in the way we lift our voices against any form of violence, repression, injustice and bigotry. As for me, in all good conscience, I cannot be silent.
Thankfully, more people are publicly saying, “No more!” At the same time, what we do not want to see is the violence by some protestors that has erupted. Violence is counterproductive. Violence is just falling to the same dynamics that we reject. Our way must be the way of peace and solidarity, particularly the peace and unity of the Holy Spirit.
It is incumbent upon each of us now to choose which of these three groups we are a part of. Pope Leo said on the Vigil of Pentecost, “In a divided and troubled world, the Holy Spirit teaches us to walk together in unity. The earth will rest, justice will prevail, the poor will rejoice and peace will return, once we no longer act as predators, but as pilgrims. No longer each of us for ourselves, but walking alongside one another.”
Those of us who are Catholic, let us choose to be truly part of the first group, the Church without borders which cherishes our catholicity and unity in diversity. For others, we hope they choose to be part of the second group that aspires to social fraternity. For all of us, let us pray for and invoke this Spirit of love and peace so that none chooses to participate in the third group.
(Bishop Evelio Menjivar serves as an auxiliary bishop of Washington.)
