From: Acts 2:1-11
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
[1] When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one
place. [2] And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
[3] And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and
resting on each one of them. [4] And they were all filled with the
Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance.
[5] Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every
nation under heaven. [6] And at this sound the multitude came together,
and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his
own language. [7] And they were amazed and wondered, saying, "Are not
all these who are speaking Galileans? [8] And how is it that we hear,
each of us in his own native language? [9] Parthians and Medes and
Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus
and Asia, [10] Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya
belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
[11] Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the
mighty works of God."
Commentary:
1-13. This account of the Holy Spirit visibly coming down on the
disciples who, in keeping with Jesus' instructions, had stayed together
in Jerusalem, gives limited information as to the time and place of the
event, yet it is full of content. Pentecost was one of the three great
Jewish feasts for which many Israelites went on pilgrimage to the Holy
City to worship God in the temple. It originated as a harvest
thanksgiving, with an offering of first-fruits. Later it was given the
additional dimension of commemorating the promulgation of the Law given
by God to Moses on Sinai. The Pentecost celebration was held fifty days
after the Passover, that is, after seven weeks had passed. The material
harvest which the Jews celebrated so joyously became, through God's
providence, the symbol of the spiritual harvest which the Apostles
began to reap on this day.
2-3. Wind and fire were elements which typically accompanied
manifestations of God in the Old Testament (cf. Ex 3:2; l 3 :21-22; 2
Kings 5:24; Ps 104:3). In this instance, as Chrysostom explains, it
would seem that separate tongues of fire came down on each of them:
they were "separated, which means they came from one and the same
source, to show that the Power all comes from the Paraclete" ("Hom. on
Acts", 4). The wind and the noise must have been so intense that they
caused people to flock to the place. The fire symbolizes the action of
the Holy Spirit who, by enlightening the minds of the disciples,
enables them to understand Jesus' teachings--as Jesus promised at the
Last Supper (cf. Jn 16:4-14); by inflaming their hearts with love he
dispels their fear and moves them to preach boldly. Fire also has a
purifying effect, God's action cleansing the soul of all trace of sin.
4. Pentecost was not an isolated event in the life of the Church,
something over and done with. "We have the right, the duty and the joy
to tell you that Pentecost is still happening. We can legitimately
speak of the 'lasting value' of Pentecost. We know that fifty days
after Easter, the Apostles, gathered together in the same Cenacle as
had been used for the first Eucharist and from which they had gone out
to meet the Risen One for the first time, "discover" in themselves the
power of the Holy Spirit who descended upon them, the strength of Him
whom the Lord had promised so often as the outcome of his suffering on
the Cross; and strengthened in this way, they began to act, that is, to
perform their role. [. . .] Thus is born the "apostolic Church". But
even today--and herein the continuity lies--the Basilica of St Peter in
Rome and every Temple, every Oratory, every place where the disciples
of the Lord gather, is an extension of that original Cenacle" (John
Paul II, "Homily", 25 May 1980).
Vatican II (cf. Ad gentes, 4) quotes St Augustine's description of the
Holy Spirit as the soul, the source of life, of the Church, which was
born on the Cross on Good Friday and whose birth was announced publicly
on the day of Pentecost: "Today, as you know, the Church was fully
born, through the breath of Christ, the Holy Spirit; and in the Church
was born the Word, the witness to and promulgation of salvation in the
risen Jesus; and in him who listens to this promulgation is born faith,
and with faith a new life, an awareness of the Christian vocation and
the ability to hear that calling and to follow it by living a genuinely
human life, indeed a life which is not only human but holy. And to make
this divine intervention effective, today was born the apostolate, the
priesthood, the ministry of the Spirit, the calling to unity,
fraternity and peace" (Paul VI, "Address", 25 May 1969).
"Mary, who conceived Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit, the Love of
the living God, presides over the birth of the Church, on the day of
Pentecost, when the same Holy Spirit comes down on the disciples and
gives life to the mystical body of Christians in unity and charity"
(Paul VI, "Address", 25 October 1969).
5-11. In his account of the events of Pentecost St Luke distinguishes
"devout men" (v. 5), Jews and proselytes (v. 11). The first-mentioned
were people who were residing in Jerusalem for reasons of study or
piety, to be near the only temple the Jews had. They were Jews--not to
be confused with "God-fearing men", that is, pagans sympathetic to
Judaism, who worshipped the God of the Bible and who, if they became
converts and members of the Jewish religion by being circumcised and
by observing the Mosaic Law, were what were called "proselytes", whom
Luke distinguishes from the "Jews", that is, those of Jewish race.
People of different races and tongues understand Peter, each in his or
her own language. They can do so thanks to a special grace from the
Holy Spirit given them for the occasion; this is not the same as the
gift of "speaking with tongues" which some of the early Christians had
(cf. 1 Cor 14), which allowed them to praise God and speak to him in a
language which they themselves did not understand.
11. When the Fathers of the Church comment on this passage they
frequently point to the contrast between the confusion of languages
that came about at Babel (cf. Gen 11:1-9)--God's punishment for man's
pride and infidelity--and the reversal of this confusion on the day of
Pentecost, thanks to the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Second Vatican
Council stresses the same idea: "Without doubt, the Holy Spirit was at
work in the world before Christ was glorified. On the day of Pentecost,
however, he came down on the disciples that he might remain with them
forever (cf. Jn 14;16); on that day the Church was openly displayed to
the crowds and the spread of the Gospel among the nations, through
preaching, was begun. Finally, on that day was foreshadowed the union
of all peoples in the catholicity of the faith by means of the Church
of the New Alliance, a Church which speaks every language, understands
and embraces all tongues in charity, and thus overcomes the dispersion
of Babel" ("Ad Gentes", 4).
Christians need this gift for their apostolic activity and should ask
the Holy Spirit to give it to them to help them express themselves in
such a way that others can understand their message; to be able so to
adapt what they say to suit the outlook and capacity of their hearers,
that they pass Christ's truth on: "Every generation of Christians needs
to redeem, to sanctify, its own time. To do this, it must understand
and share the desires of other men--their equals--in order to make
known to them, with a 'gift of tongues', how they are to respond to the
action of the Holy Spirit, to that permanent outflow of rich treasures
that comes from our Lord's heart. We Christians are called upon to
announce, in our own time, to this world to which we belong and in
which we live, the message--old and at the same time new--of the
Gospel" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 132).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.