They then received the Holy Spirit who descended upon them as tongues of fire. Each received the gifts of the Holy Spirit as well as the gift of tongues so that people could understand them in their native language as they preached the Gospel of Christ. This ability to communicate in various languages while speaking only one is connected to the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. The people of Babel were ambitious, never thinking of God, only themselves.
Like today, they place science and technology as means to give humankind a sense of self-divinity. We can split atoms, go to the moon, collide protons, clone animals, land space crafts on comets, and immediately we think we are gods. Now, they want to try to revive dead corpses in Germany! Others think they can change someone's gender with cosmetic surgery. The arrogance of the people of Babel brought God to confuse their language. Their sins united them, so to speak. The confusion of their tongue humbled them and delayed any advancements they were planning. However, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the Blessed Mother and the Apostles the gifts of tongues allowing them to once again speak in one language that was intelligible to everyone else but with the message of Christ, not one like those of Babel who were self-centered humanists.
Pentecost means the 'fiftieth day' and was celebrated on the 'Feast of Weeks' or 'Shevout'. On this day, all Jews recalled the day the Commandments were given to Moses 50 days after their Exodus from Egypt (Leviticus 23:15-21, Deuteronomy 16:9-11). There was a big harvest on this day. Jesus had promised the Holy Spirit to the Apostles (Luke 24:49). He told them that the Helper or Paraclete would come to them reminding them of all He has taught them and will guide them in Truth (John 14:15-31).
These are important verses that are ignored by our separated brethren who often claim that the Catholic Church is corrupt and apostate. In America's infancy, groups such as the Finneyites rose up preaching a form of "primitivism," or what they called a return to the "original Christianity." We see many of their sects today such as the Baptists, Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Methodists, Evangelicals, Mormons, Adventists, and so on. Anyone who believes that Christ's Catholic Church became corrupt is basically calling Jesus a liar. If Jesus indeed promised that the Spirit would guide the Church in Truth, how can it become corrupt? How can the Church fall away from Christ?
This is a misconception our separated friends must really meditate on. They must cast away that ignorant rhetoric from the harsh anti-Catholicism that existed in the past - post-reformation and into America's infancy. This is very true in regard to the hate that they have against the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the spouse of the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit has been with her since day one, so to speak. She said the Magnificat prayer under the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came to her to conceive the Christ child and the Holy Spirit came upon her at Pentecost along with the Apostles. This woman is indeed important in Christianity! To set her aside or call her "nothing" as this young man who entered a Catholic Church recently to "preach" and who went viral on social media, is simply nonsense and unbiblical.
It is the Holy Spirit who gave life to the universe, the earth, and man (Genesis 1:2, Genesis 2:7). The Spirit will renew the face of the Earth as we read in today's Psalm. It is via this Spirit that we can profess faith in Jesus as Lord as the second reading (the first option from (1 COR 12:3B-7, 12-13) tells us. This Spirit gives us the gifts necessary for us to spread the Gospel to others and grow in the Gospel internally. We must not fight the Holy Spirit but let Him transform us as we read in the second option from Galatians 6:16-25.
Lastly, in the Gospel, both options tell us of Christ's promise of this Helper. We need this helper today more than ever. Our Church is being attacked from within and without. Many among us have lost our way, even among the clergy. Churches are closing, and people are leaving the faith. A culture of death, sexual confusion, and egoism is on the rise. The world seems to have gone to hell, so to speak. We must ask the Holy Spirit to come to us and renew us so that we can combat the evils in the world which come from the father of lies (John 8:44, Ephesians 6:12). The Spirit will come when we are united in prayer. In this Holy Spirit, we must go out and proclaim Christ in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2). We all know that Christ and His Gospel is extremely out of season in our day, nevertheless, we must be courageous because God's Spirit which was given to us is not a pusillanimous or timid Spirit (2 Timothy 1:7). We may not have the 'eye of the tiger,' but we have the Holy Spirit and the world will hear us roar just like on the day of Pentecost.
Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to come once again and renew the Catholic Church and the world.
Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to rid the Church of scandals; to rid the Church of her Judas' who continues to betray Jesus.
Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to renew our faith and restore or bring the gift of faith to those who lost it or never bothered with it.
Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to tell us what to do in these trying times. To instruct us on how to confront with love and reason the errors of today such as Relativism, Atheism, Secularism, Homosexual behavior, the distortion of Marriage, the selfishness and ego of Feminism, Indifferentism, Personhood distortion, and attack on life, and gender confusion.
The Covid 19 Coronavirus pandemic has humbled man in ways he has not imagined. As stated before, humanity prides itself on having abilities to split atoms, bring men to the moon, robots to Mars, the internet, and so forth. Like Babel, man is still arrogant thinking he can build himself to God's realm and be godlike. Ironically, an organism way smaller than man has reminded the man that he is not the be-all-end-all of nature. The Covid 19 virus paralyzed the world. It froze economies, and world powers, belittled science and medicine into primitive guessing trades, and even froze religious institutions.
We must learn from this and remind ourselves that we are not gods. God only allows our science and knowledge to do good, not to become gods or replace God. We must rely on God's Holy Spirit for true Knowledge and Wisdom which guides us to goodness and righteousness. God's Spirit is what gives the universe life and existence. Let us call on the Paraclete to come to help us during this pandemic and in everyday situations. Let us ask Him to guide us and protect us from evil and ourselves. Let us pray for all the confirmandi around the world who have received the Sacrament of Confirmation. May the Holy Spirit be with them always guiding them.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love, sent forth your spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
