Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Pentecost with Pastor Carlos
Pentecost
50 days have come and
gone, and Easter season draws to a close today with the feast of Pentecost.
According to the account in Acts, “a noise like a strong driving wind, filled
the entire house in which they [the disciples] were. Then there appeared to
them tongues as of fire...” Later in the passage, people from many different
countries commented how they heard the disciples “speaking in our own tongues
of the mighty acts of God."
The Church as the herald
of the good news of Jesus Christ to all the nations, was born on this day. The
Holy Spirit allowed the disciples to speak to everyone in his or her own
language. Every known country at the time was represented, and they all heard
the mighty acts of God in their own tongue. This event speaks of the
universality of the Church: How the church is called to proclaim Christ to all
nations, so that all peoples may be saved.
In my correspondence with
a parishioner, lately we have been discussing what it means to be Catholic. One
topic has led to another, and lately the question at hand has been: why, of all
the various Christian traditions, are we called to the Catholic Church? What
surfaced in our exchange of e-mails is that catholicity is linked with
universality. Our Church is not a self-selected group of individuals. What
unites us is not a common language, or ethnic background, but the Truth of the
Gospel that the Holy Spirit wants proclaimed in every language and nation.
In other words, there is
something deeper than even our common humanity that calls us to be in unity
with one another. The celebration of Pentecost today invites us to reflect on
our own participation and commitment to live as members of the body of Christ:
a body that includes all cultural backgrounds and languages.
In a world that tries to
pit one group against another, I am grateful to live at St Augustine Monastery,
where Fr Phil and I live with friars born in Ireland, Mexico, Nicaragua,
Pakistan, and myself from Colombia. The American-born friars speak of traditions
from their parents or grandparents from Italy, Germany, Canada, or Korea. We
have a diversity also in life experience and educational backgrounds. We call
one another brother, because in Christ we are called to live “in one mind and
heart on the way to God.” Fr. Phil and I try to foster the same spirit here in
the parish.
God bless, Fr. Carlos, OSA
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