Solemnity of Pentecost Acts 2:1-11; 1 Cor 12:3-7; Jn 20:19-23 (Year A)
Pentecost comes this year at a time when our nation is still grieving for those who died in the Manchester bombing. These, and similar incidents, are a stark reminder of the alienation, anger and violence that continue to threaten our fragile world. Ours is a wounded world that longs for healing, that cries out for an understanding leading to peace.
Understanding characterised the gift of the Spirit at the first Pentecost. The Apostles, who were Galileans, began to speak, and were instantly comprehended by peoples from every part of the Mediterranean world. This reached beyond the particularities of nations and language; it was a gift of the Spirit, an understanding that reached from heart to heart. It was an understanding that spoke not for itself, but from a love that reached out to all. This gift enabled selfless listening, the kind of listening that reaches beyond words so as to become one with the person who speaks.
