“Peace be with you!” Then he showed them his hands and his side.The disciples, seeing the Lord, were full of joy.
Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”Again Jesus said to them,
“Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”After saying this, he breathed on them, and said to
them, “Receive the Holy Spirit! Thosewhose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; those whose sins you retain,
they are retained.”
Read: The Pentecost, the correctiveThe Pentecost, the correctiveevent of the Tower of Babel disaster. We are all
members of the one body of Christ, reminds St. Paul. Jesus breathes on the disciples, as Yahwehhad breathed
once into the nostrilsof the first human.
Reflect: The first public commentThe first public comment made of the new post-resurrectional community of the
disciples ofJesus was that they spoke a kind of language that everyone understood.The Pentecost is the corrective
to the Tower of Babel experience(Gen. 11:1-9) where hardly anyonespoke a language that another could understand.
If the Babel was an attempt out of existential fearto resist a dispersal of people andto play God, the Pentecost is an
act of God’s Spirit to dispel the fear and empower the new community to traverse every corner of the world ,bringing
a new language that everyhuman being can understand. Whatis this language that anyone, beyond the conditionings
of space, time, orculture, can understand? It is the language of love, the lingua francaof the Spirit of God. It is the
language Christians are called to speak in and be united in.
Pray: Pray for the gift of thePray for the gift of thelanguage of the Spirit—Love.
Act: Talk lovingly to everyone whomTalk lovingly to everyone whomyou meet today.
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