Pentecost

Tongue of Fire, Word of Witness

If you find yourself wondering, “Where’s my tongue of fire?” be advised that God might be asking that same question of you.

The first reading and the Gospel find the disciples in much the same setting, but the circumstances are entirely different. In the Gospel –which precedes the first reading in order of time- the disciples are in hiding. There hopes have been revived –hopes that were utterly dashed on that awful Friday afternoon- but they are tentative. They have not fully grasped what the resurrection means and are not yet ready to bear witness to all that Jesus has taught them. They had not yet received the Holy Spirit.

There’s a phrase that we see from time to time in scripture, one that applies in so many situations. That phrase is “the fullness of time”. It means the right time, when –like the time of harvest- the time is right. The disciples waiting in the Upper Room did not receive the Holy Spirit when God was ready. God sent them the Holy Spirit when they were ready, or, as the first reading has it, “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled.”

They had been huddled together out of fear. And for good reason: what befell Jesus, they must have realized, could easily befall them. But when they were swept and overtaken by the Holy Spirit, all fear fell away. Remember: they were still in physical danger, and indeed most of the Apostles came to brutal ends. But that no longer deterred them; they never looked back.

It is imperative, then, for us to continually re-open ourselves to that same spirit. You are expected to be an active participant in your own salvation, in your own life. Otherwise you can spend your whole life waiting for God to act. Here: listen to Papa Benedict XVI:

[This] is what distinguishes the Christian—that he has received a tongue of fire in addition to his human nature. That is how the Church came into being. Each person receives the tongue of fire that is wholly and personally his and, as this person, he is a Christian in a unique and inimitable way.

Elsewhere, though, he laments the state of many Christians:

Admittedly, one who encounters the average Christian today is likely to inquire: “But where, then, is the tongue of fire?” The words spoken by Christian tongues today are unfortunately anything but fire.

Now. Now is the “fullness of time” for each of us. Now is the time when by our words and by our actions we are obligated by the Spirit we received to bear witness. For bearing witness -to the Gospel, to the love of God, to the Christ- that is the principle task of those upon whom the Spirit has alighted, each of us in his or her own way. Don’t be concerned, then, about what exactly you are to do by way of witness. “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit,” says St. Paul in today’s second reading. And, he reminds us, “in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” Which is not to say we despise the body we are born with –which is a gift- but, as members of Christ’s body, we prioritize that which will lead –again, in the fullness of time- to its glorification.