Many gifts but the same spirit
May 31, 2020
PENTECOST SUNDAY (MASS DURING THE DAY)
Acts 2:1-11
The First Pentecost
Ps 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34
Renew the face of the earth
1 Cor 12:3-7, 12-13
Many gifts but the same spirit
Jn 20:19-23
He said: Receive the Holy Spirit
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/053120-day.cfm
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The readings for Pentecost Sunday are classic. A theme in two of them is tongues, or languages. In the account from Acts, the Genesis story of the Tower of Babel lies in the background. But Luke is using for his source the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint, rather than the Hebrew original. This is the case for all of the New Testament writers, actually. But in this case it is especially telling, since the Septuagint locates the event in Genesis at the “Tower of Confusion” rather than “Babel.” Thus it is that the crowd in Acts are “confused” at the sound of the speaking in tongues.
In the Hebrew, “Babel” refers to Babylon, the site of their exile, and references the temple pyramids, the ziggurats, that they encountered there. As a side benefit, the name works for us as well, in that it puns on the English word “babble.” But “confusion” works well too.
What Luke has in mind is a reversal of the scattering of the many peoples in Genesis. Now the moment has arrived when they will come together. This anticipates the mission to the world which is the narrative of Acts.
Paul’s account of the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 serves as the primary text in support of the idea of the one Body of Christ. One body with many interacting parts. And one Spirit with many gifts. The occasion for his writing is what he sees as an abuse in the Corinthian community. The main gift he has in mind is the gift of tongues, which has taken on a special cachet, an undue prominence. And those with the gift are enjoying a certain celebrity status, which Paul sees as inimical to the Christian spirit, and Spirit. He gets more specific in Chapter 14, but he lays the groundwork here.
Paul’s concern throughout this letter is the health of the community, which he sees as threatened from many aspects, many dues to special status claimed by different members. Some are wealthy, some are in positions of authority. And some are more spectacularly gifted than others. That is why in 1 Corinthians 13, between the two “tongues” chapters, he famously promotes love as the true Christian gift of the Spirit.
The Gospel of John treats the theological sequence of the Easter events in his own distinct way. Where as Luke spaces the moments out through many days, useful for the purposes of the liturgical calendar, John has it all happening in 24 hours. On Easter morning, Mary discovers the empty tomb (John 20:1-10). Later in the day, she encounters the risen Christ in the garden, where he says he must ascend to the Father (20: 11-18). That evening, while thy are gathered in the locked room, he appears to them, and breathes the Holy Spirit upon them (20:19-23). Here we have Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost in one narrative sweep. And the final moment is selected to be the Gospel for today.
As always, Luke makes his accounts do extra work. The sequence of events is actually outside time. They are theological moments, and in a sense instantaneous. Luke uses them to articulate moments of experience in the early church. There is a time when Jesus risen from the dead appears to members of the community. Then the appearances stop. And then the age of the church begins.
John is doing something else. And it includes the Easter note of forgiveness. For we cannot forget that the last time the disciples were in the story of Jesus they abandoned him. And now he returns. And forgives. And asks them to do likewise.
For reflection: There are many ways the Spirit is the life of the church.
Father Beck is professor emeritus of religious studies at Loras College, Dubuque.
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