|
From The Associate...
PENTECOST: THE NEW HUMAN RACE
There is a great deal of talk in the news these days about the unity (and disunity) of the world. We are told that the world has become a global village in which everything affects everyone; we hope for the easing of tensions between countries and between cultural sectors of the world; we are given an analysis of the emerging world culture; we hear a lot about the United Nations and other international bodies; we speak of the need for a multicultural outlook.
All of this gives evidence of a deep and enduring desire of the human race: the desire to be united, to be part of the same thing, to make up one "human family" as the phrase is often used. This is because we are meant to be united, we were created by God to live in love and in peace. So what happened?
The Book of Genesis tells the story: our first parents took their gaze off of God, and turned from the way of obedience and joy. The result was murder. Cain killed his brother Abel. Rupture in relationship with God destroys relationship with one another. Then comes the story of the Tower of Babel. The human race, descendants of Adam and Eve, wanted to "build a tower to heaven," a poetic way of saying that they wanted to construct a world without God, in which they, in their pride, would be sufficient to save themselves and to create a perfect world. The result of this futile attempt was the confusion of languages, and Babel became babble. The world lost the unity that was intended for it. Wanting to be God, wanting to create perfection without the Perfect One, we have gained for ourselves only violence and disunion.
Then comes Pentecost, the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. A sound like the rush of a mighty wind. Tongues of fire. "Staying in Jerusalem at the time were devout Jews of every nation under heaven. . . . They were much confused because each one heard these men speaking his own language." Why of all possible miracles is the coming of the Spirit accompanied by this particular miracle of a common language? Because it is a sign, a sign that the curse of Babel has now been undone. The Holy Spirit, whose presence alone can bring unity to the world, has begun the new human race. From that small band of disciples, the new humanity has radiated outward, drawing people from every nation and culture into the creative current of the Holy Spirit's divine life. This is what we mean by the Church: the new humanity inhabited by the Holy Spirit, united across every cultural and national boundary, learning to speak the same language of love in obedience to God.
These two forces, Babel and the Church, are still at work in the world. Both seek world unity: the first attempts to build that unity on pride and human self-sufficiency; the second knows that only the Holy Spirit can bring such unity about, and seeks to work with the Spirit to unite the human race in its source and center: God himself revealed in Jesus Christ.
May we, like those first disciples, become drunk with the Holy Spirit, be filled with his divine life, and find in him the unity with one another we so desire. "Come Holy Spirit, renew the hearts of the faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love."
|
|
