Pentecost Is a Powerful Manifestation of God

1

• Pentecost Is a Powerful Manifestation of God
• General audience of July 12, 1989

2

• Our knowledge of the Holy Spirit is based on what
  Jesus tells us about him,
• especially when Jesus speaks about his own
  departure and his return to the Father.
• "When I shall have gone away...
• the Holy Spirit will come to you"
• (cf. Jn 167).

3

• Christ's paschal "departure"
• through the cross, resurrection and ascension
  finds its culmination in Pentecost,
• that is, in the descent of the Holy Spirit upon
  the apostles.
• They were "of one accord devoted to prayer" in
  the upper room
• "together with the mother of Jesus"
• and the group of persons who formed the nucleus
  of the original Church
• (cf. Acts 114).

4

• In that event the Holy Spirit remains the
  mysterious God
• (cf. Is 4515),
• and such he will remain throughout the entire
  history of the Church and of the world.
• It could be said that he is hidden in the shadow
  of Christ,
• the Son-Word,
• one in being with the Father,
• who in visible form
• "became flesh and dwelt among us"
• (Jn 114).

5

• In the Incarnation the Holy Spirit was not
  visibly manifested
• he remained the hidden God
• and he enveloped Mary in the mystery.
• The angel said to the Virgin,
• the woman chosen for God's definitive approach to
  man
• "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
  power of the Most High will overshadow you"
• (Lk 135).

6

• Similarly at Pentecost the Holy Spirit
• "overshadows"
• the nascent Church,
• so that under his influence she may be empowered
  to
• "announce the mighty works of God"
• (cf. Acts 211).
• What took place in Mary's womb in the Incarnation
  now finds a further fulfillment.
• The Spirit operates as the
• "hidden God,"
• invisible in his person.

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• Pentecost is a theophany,
• that is to say,
• a powerful divine manifestation.
• It completes the manifestation on Mount Sinai,
• after Israel had gone forth from the bondage of
  Egypt under the guidance of Moses.
• According to rabbinical tradition,
• the manifestation on Mount Sinai occurred fifty
  days after the Pasch of the Exodus,
• the day of Pentecost.

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• "Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the
  Lord descended upon it in fire
• and its smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln,
  and the whole mountain quaked greatly"
• (Ex 1918).
• The absolute transcendence of "he who is" then
  manifested it
• (cf. Ex 314).
• Already at the foot of Mount Horeb, Moses had
  heard from the midst of the burning bush the
  words
• "Do not come near put off your shoes from your
  feet, for the place on which you are standing is
  holy ground"
• (Ex 35).
• Now at the foot of Mount Sinai the Lord said to
  him
• "Go down and warn the people, lest they break
  through to the Lord to gaze and many of them
  perish"
• (Ex 1921).

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• The theophany of Pentecost is the last of the
  series of manifestations in which God
  progressively made himself known to man.
• With it God's self-revelation reaches its
  culmination
• through it he wished to infuse into his people
  faith in his majesty and transcendence
• and, at the same time,
• in his immanent presence of "Emmanuel,"
• of "God with us."

10

• At Pentecost there is a theophany which, together
  with Mary,
• directly touches the whole Church in its initial
  nucleus,
• thus completing the long process begun under the
  old covenant.
• If we analyze the details of the event in the
  upper room recorded in Acts (21-13),
• we find there different elements which recall
  previous theophanies,
• especially that of Sinai,
• which Luke seems to have in mind when describing
  the descent of the Holy Spirit.

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• According to Luke's description,
• the theophany in the upper room takes place by
  means of phenomena resembling those of Sinai
• "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were
  all together in one place.
• And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the
  rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the
  house where they were sitting.
• And there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
  distributed and resting on each one of them.
• And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
• and began to speak in other tongues,
• as the Spirit gave them utterance"
• (Acts 21-4).

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• Three basic elements mark the event
• the sound of a mighty wind,
• tongues as of fire,
• and the charism of speaking in other languages.
• All these are rich in a symbolic value which must
  be borne in mind.
• In the light of these facts one understands
  better what the author of Acts had in mind when
  he said that those present in the upper room
• "were filled with the Holy Spirit."

13

• "A sound like the rush of a mighty wind."
• From the linguistic point of view there is an
  affinity here between the wind (the breath of
  wind) and
• "the spirit."
• In Hebrew, as in Greek, "wind" is a homonym of
  "spirit ruahpneuma.
• We read in the Book of Genesis (12)
• "The spirit (ruah) of God was moving over the
  face of the waters,"
• and in John's Gospel
• "The wind (pneuma) blows where it wills"
• (Jn 38).

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• In the Bible a strong wind "announces" the
  presence of God.
• It is the sign of a theophany.
• "He was seen upon the wings of the wind,"
• (II Samuel 2211).
• "Behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and
  a great cloud, with brightness round about it,
  and fire flashing forth continually,
• (Ezekiel 14).
• In particular, the breath of wind is the
  expression of the divine power which draws forth
  from chaos the order of creation
• (cf. Gen 12).

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• It is also the expression of the freedom of the
  Spirit
• "The wind blows where it wills,
• and you hear the sound of it,
• but you do not know whence it comes or whither it
  goes"
• (Jn 38).
• "A sound like the rush of a mighty wind"
• is the first element of the theophany of
  Pentecost,
• a manifestation of the divine power at work in
  the Holy Spirit.

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• The second element of the Pentecost event is
  fire
• "There appeared to them tongues as of fire"
• (Acts 23).
• Fire is always present in the manifestations of
  God in the Old Testament.
• We see this in the covenant between God and
  Abraham
• (cf. Gen 1517)
• likewise when God revealed himself to Moses in
  the burning bush which was not consumed
• (cf. Ex 32)
• again, in the columns of fire which guided the
  people of Israel by night through the desert
• (cf. Ex 1321-22).

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• Fire is present particularly in the manifestation
  of God on Mount Sinai
• (cf. Ex 1918),
• and also in the eschatological theophanies
  described by the prophets
• (cf. Is 45 641 Dan 79 etc.).
• Fire, therefore, symbolizes the presence of God.
• On several occasions Sacred Scripture states that
  
• "our God is a consuming fire"
• (Heb 1229 Dt 424 93).

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• In the rites of holocaust the destruction of the
  thing offered was of less importance than the
  sweet perfume which symbolized the raising up of
  the offering to God,
• while fire, also called the
• "minister of God"
• (cf. Ps 1044)
• symbolized man's purification from sin,
• just as silver is refined and gold is tested in
  the fire
• (cf. Zech 138-9).

19

• In the theophany of Pentecost there is the symbol
  of the tongues as of fire which rested on each of
  those present in the upper room.
• If fire symbolizes God's presence,
• the tongues of fire distributed and resting on
  their heads seem to indicate the "descent" of God
  the Holy Spirit on those present,
• the gift of himself to each of them to prepare
  them for their mission.

20

• The symbolism of the multiplication of languages
• The gift of the Spirit,
• the fire of God,
• assumes a particular form,
• that of "tongues."
• Its meaning is immediately explained when the
  author adds
• "They began to speak in other tongues, as the
  Spirit gave them utterance"
• (Acts 24).

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• The words that come from the Holy Spirit are
• "like fire"
• (cf. Jer 514 2329).
• They have an efficacy that mere human words do
  not possess.
• In this third element of the manifestation of God
  at Pentecost,
• God the Holy Spirit,
• in giving himself to men,
• produced in them an effect which was both real
  and symbolic.

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• It was real in that it concerned the faculty of
  speech which is a natural property of man.
• However, it was also symbolic since these men
  "from Galilee,"
• while using their own language or dialect, spoke
• "in other languages,"
• so that in the multitude that speedily gathered
  each one heard
• "his own language,"
• although representatives of many different people
  were present
• (cf. Acts 26).

23

• The symbolism of the "multiplication of
  languages" is very significant.
• According to the Bible the diversity of languages
  was the sign of the multiplication of peoples and
  of nations, and indeed of their dispersal
  following the construction of the tower of Babel
• (cf. Gen 115-9).
• Then the one common language understood by
  everyone was divided into many languages,
• thus causing a confusion of mutual
  incomprehension.
• Now the symbolism of the tower of Babel is
  succeeded by that of the languages of Pentecost,
  which indicates the opposite of that confusion of
  languages.

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• One might say that the many incomprehensible
  languages have lost their specific character,
• or at least have ceased to be a symbol of
  division.
• They have given way to the new work of the Holy
  Spirit,
• who through the apostles and the Church brings to
  spiritual unity peoples of different origins,
  languages and cultures
• in view of the perfect communion in God announced
  and implored by Jesus
• (cf. Jn 1711, 21-22).

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• We conclude with the words of Vatican Council II
  in the Constitution on Divine Revelation (DViv
  17)
• "Christ established the kingdom of God on earth,
  manifested his Father and himself by deeds and
  words, and completed his work by his death,
  resurrection and glorious ascension and by the
  sending of the Holy Spirit.
• Having been lifted up from the earth, he draws
  all men to himself (cf. Jn 1232),
• he who alone has the words of eternal life (cf.
  Jn 668).
• This mystery had not been manifested to other
  generations as it was now revealed to his holy
  apostles and prophets in the Holy Spirit (cf. Eph
  34-6),
• so that they might preach the Gospel, stir up
  faith in Jesus, Christ and Lord, and gather
  together the Church"

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• This is the great work of the Holy Spirit and of
  the Church in human hearts and in history.