May 24 – Pentecost Sunday

In her autobiography, St. Therese of Lisieux recounts that, experiencing a certain perplexity in finding inner peace, she decided to peruse the Pauline epistles.

By chance, chapters twelve and thirteen of the First Letter to the Corinthians fell beneath her eyes, and more especially one of the passages taken up by today’s second reading:

“As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ” (1 Cor 12:12).

She concluded that “the necessary and most noble member cannot be lacking,” and therefore “the Church has a heart, and this heart is inflamed with love.” Finally, exulting with joy, she exclaimed: “I have found my place in the Church. […] In the heart of the Church, […] I will be love.”1

Just as the heart inwardly sustains bodily life, so too the Holy Spirit vivifies, unites, and moves the Church through a hidden influence.2

In this sense, the words of Our Lord spoken in Bethany could well be applied to St. Therese of Lisieux: Therese has “chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Lk 10:42).

In the Vigil Mass of Pentecost, we are presented with one of the greatest sins narrated in Genesis: the arrogance of the Tower of Babel.

Men took pride to such heights that they wanted to be equal to God, attempting to reach Heaven. As a punishment, the Lord confused their languages, causing dispersion throughout the earth (cf. Gn 11:4-8).

In contrast, the first reading of the Mass of the Day narrates the descent of the Paraclete upon the Apostles in tongues of fire.

Then, they “began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:4), but everyone heard them proclaiming the wonders of God in their own languages (cf. Acts 2:11).

Despite the diversity of tongues, everyone understood each other, for they spoke a universal language… that of the Holy Spirit!

Therefore, the Apostle teaches that in the Church “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord” (1 Cor 12:4-5).

The Liturgy of the Solemnity of Pentecost thus shows us two groups of people with opposing inner attitudes: the builders of the Tower of Babel, proud, self-assured and, consequently, incapable of seeking forgiveness.

And the disciples who, having humbly recognized their own shortcomings and miseries, received the Holy Spirit and were even enabled to grant forgiveness (cf. Jn 20:22-23).

Modern humanity, confused in mind and corrupted in heart, as in the times of the insolence of Babel, needs to implore a great pardon.

More than ever, the face of the earth is defiled, barren, and darkened by a “tower” of sins, and as a result, it needs to be cleansed, watered, and illuminated by the Comforter Spirit.

We must, therefore, make a choice: either we choose the path of Babel, or the path of Pentecost. There is no third option.

Let us implore Mary Most Holy, Spouse of the Divine Holy Spirit, to grant us a meek and humble heart, like the Heart of Jesus, and to help us to choose the best part! 

 

1 ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX. Manuscript B, 3v.
2 Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Summa Theologiæ. III, q.8, a.1, ad 3.