In our Own Languages we hear the Marvelous Acts of God

The feast of Pentecost has always been for me a very special day on my faith journey. We Christians celebrate the giving of and the breaking out of the Holy Spirit among the disciples, the followers of the way of Jesus, with energy and power and courage to spread the Good News of God in Jesus Christ. In Jerusalem on that day, fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus, there were gathered “people from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.” (Revelation 7:9) And they each heard in “their own native language, the marvelous works of God.” (Acts 2:1-21)  On this day, the “followers of the Way,” became the Church and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit spread the Good News throughout the world.

This year on Pentecost I had an unexpected experience of these “Marvelous Acts of God.” I was assisting with a Voter Registration Project at a large Hispanic Roman Catholic Church in Albertville, Alabama, La Capilla de la Santa Cruz. We were there during the Noon Mass or Eucharist. Being “somewhat fluent in Spanish, I was able to listen to the Scripture readings, the Sermon and Eucharistic prayer in the native language of the majority of those worshiping there. This gave me some sense of what that day in Jerusalem might have been like: people inspired by the Holy Spirit, speaking different languages so all present could her and understand the “marvelous acts of God.” The Spirit of God was truly floating around “La Capilla de la Santa Cruz,” bouncing of ceiling and walls and into the hearts and minds and bodies of God’s people.

Padre Raul’s sermon was amazing, not only because I understood most of it, but because of his simple and powerful explanation of the Holy Spirit and her work in the world around and within us. To his simple question, “who is the Holy Spirit, he gave the equally simple and profound answer: “God! The Holy Spirit is God!” So simple and yet so life giving and life changing. He then asked, “What does the Holy Spirit do?” His answer: “The Holy Spirit shows us the rest of God, God the Creator and God the Son,” and then “opens our hearts and minds and bodies to God the Holy Trinity, to all of God.” Once we have been opened up to God, the Holy Spirit then enables us to do what God has called each one of us to do in the world.

We are all given different gifts, talents and callings to serve the world in Jesus’ name, and the Spirit gives us the strength, power, wisdom and courage to use our gifts to become co-creators with God. “Love God, Love your neighbor, Change the World.” Empowered by God the Holy Spirit we can “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ, seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves, and strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” (Book of Common Prayer, pp. 304-305)