The Great Sharing

Pentecost is not just another Sunday. It is a celebration quite equal to Christmas and to Easter itself.  It is the official sending of the Holy Spirit into men and women.  This is the moment we have been hearing Jesus talk about for weeks in the gospels.  He has been telling us he will not leave us alone.  He will send the Spirit, the Paraclete, to us.

Historically, the first sign of this gift was that the apostles began speaking in tongues!  People from all different lands and languages gathered and each one understood the disciples’ words without any translation!  But what does that speaking in tongues mean today for us?

Beneath this extraordinary sign (speaking in tongues) was something much more spiritual.  The Holy Spirit’s purpose is always to bring us together, to allay differences, to let us hear the other person, to think about not just our own selves.  Each of us has a “language” that expresses who we are (not a literal language, but an idiomatic way of speaking and acting that comes from the core of who we are).  We can “listen through” the mere idiomatic characteristics of another person and derive loving knowledge of them, even if they have very little intention of letting us in.