The Catholic Spirit 公教精神

Solemnity of Pentecost, Year A
Theme: The Catholic Spirit 公教精神

My mom was an iron lady. Since her arrival in Hong Kong, she refused to forsake her beloved dialect and insisted on using it for more than six decades. Yet, without her knowing it, her dialect underwent imperceptible shift. I knew it even when the coach I travelled on was tens of miles away before arriving at my home town in Zhongshan. Hearing the mother-dialect was extremely soothing and uplifting for no reasons.

As a medium of communication, both written and spoken languages change over time. Even if all humanity had descended from one man, say Adam in the book of Genesis, the scarcity of resources would force his descendants to move out to explore and develop new terraces. In a few generations, they would develop new vocabulary to describe new things they encountered. They would pick up new sounds to narrate events they had never seen before. New idioms would develop in smaller groups into sub-cultures which other groups would not understand easily. It is not necessary to take a God to confuse human language (Genesis 11:7). Therefore, the Tower of Babel is an etymology story to explain why the descendants of one family, namely Noah’s three sons, would speak different languages. Who else would be powerful enough to achieve such a feat if not God? I would argue that it is natural for human beings not to understand each other through the passage of time and the expansion of space!

Furthermore, where there is a will, there is a way. If human beings had wanted to understand each other, to make all information accessible to all, no disparity of languages would have prevented them from doing so. See how people use sign-languages to overcome language barriers and how missionaries are able to learn local dialects to preach the good news. Traditionally the Pentecost story could be interpreted as a remedy to the confusion of languages which might result from human pride as suggested in the story of the Babel Tower. Failure to understand each other breeds conflicts among groups. Conflicts would lead to tribal wars and eventually world wars! Humanity learnt a painful lesson in the previous century. Enough is enough. Through dialogues it is possible to resolve conflicts and reach common grounds. Like the etymology of the Babel Tower, it seems that it is not necessary to take a Holy Spirit to enable the pilgrims to hear the Galileans speak in their own native languages (Acts 2:7-8).

The fact is, it takes years for the missionaries to learn new languages to proclaim the gospel but a breakdown of good-will would totally wipe out decades of Herculean missionary efforts. The Chinese Rites controversy in the 17^th and 18^th China was a case in point. Therefore the Pentecost narrative is necessary and reasonable. First of all, the Pentecost pilgrims from all over the world would return again next year. They would not stay long in Jerusalem. The disciples of Jesus would not have enough manpower and time to convert those pilgrims. Secondly, both Peter and Paul instructed the disciples to obey/pray for rulers (1 Timothy 2:1-4, 1 Peter 2:13-17). It was because Christians need a relatively safe and stable environment to practise their faith and to proclaim the gospel. However, the Jewish Sanhedrin and the Roman Empire were hostile to the Christians. The 120 disciples needed divine intervention to enrol enough members, 3000 on day one (Acts 2:41), to kick-start a new religion! In other word, the Holy Spirit is essential in the establishment of the early Church in Jerusalem. Therefore, the Pentecost narrative can still be an etymology, namely the Genesis of the Catholic Church!

While the Babel etymology explains the origin of the diversity of languages despite the unity of humanity, the Pentecost etymology explains the unity of peoples despite their cultural diversity. Not only is the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17), but He is also the Spirit of unity. Unlike the Father and the Son whom we are able to identify more easily, the Holy Spirit is less concrete. He is like “the wind [which] blows where it wills” (3:8a). We are able to know of its existence only by the trails and the “fruit” He leaves behind, namely but perhaps not exclusively, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness [and] self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). These traits are essential for the well-being of a community which consists of different peoples and all walks of life. “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were given to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). In the Pentecost narrative, more peoples are named, “Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travellers from Rome, but Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs” (Acts 2:9-11a). At least sixteen regions of the then known world around the Mediterranean Sea are mentioned. The Holy Spirit becomes the uniting principle of the baptized. Thus, He is the spirit of unity and the community which He binds together is Catholic, i.e. it is universal and excludes no one!

How can we stay together with peoples who threaten to deplete our resources or perhaps who are rivals for the scarce resources available at hand? The story of the institution of deacons in Acts 6 is a case in point. It shows that the allocation of resources within a community can be a source of schism. We are grateful that the leaders of the early Church had listened to voice of the Holy Spirit and were able to resolve the disputes in a peaceful and pragmatic manner. “Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task” (Acts 6:3). Thus we see how the Holy Spirit actively helped build the early Church just as He helped the Son of God incarnate and He transubstantiates the bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord during the celebration of masses. Perhaps the gospel reading today is able to shed more light on the role of the Holy Spirit.

On the first Easter evening, Jesus appeared to His disciples, gave them peace and commissioned them to reconcile the world with God. “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.’” (John 20:21-23). The Father sent the Son of God to reconcile sinners to Him. Similarly, Jesus Christ commissioned the Church, not just to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19a), or to proclaim the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15), or to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins to all nations (Luke 24:47), but to be ambassadors of reconciliation to the world (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). People would easily misunderstand and question the authority of the Church to forgive sins. No! Jesus has given the Church the Holy Spirit to carry out the reconciliation ministry. Only God can forgive and the Church, which the Holy Spirit empowers, is the minister of God’s righteousness only. Peace is achieved through reconciliation.

Brethren! Let us invoke the Holy Spirit to empower us in the ministry of reconciliation. Amen.
God bless!
2020 Reflection
Picture Credit: ncregister.com