"Staying together as the condition set out by Jesus to welcome the gift of the Holy Spirit" and "a long prayer" as the prerequisite for creating harmony among the apostles: in these two respects, said the Pope yesterday morning during Mass in the square of the Vatican basilica when celebrating the Pentecost, we find "a formidable lesson for every Christian community". For the same "missionary effectiveness", noticed Benedict ZXVI, "the Lord asks for our assistance, but, before we answer at all, His initiative is required: His Spirit is the real protagonist of the Church". Then, the Pope highlighted that, with the Pentecost, "the Alliance with Israel is extended to all the peoples on Earth. The Church has been Catholic and missionary since its birth". With the Pentecost, went on the Pope, God’s People is "extended until it had no barriers at all in culture, space or time". Unlike what had happened with Babel’s Tower, "in the Pentecost, the Spirit, with the gift of the languages, shows that its presence unites and transforms ‘confusion’ into ‘communion’. Man’s pride and selfishness always create divisions, raise walls of indifference, hatred and violence. The Holy Spirit instead makes the hearts able to understand everyone’s languages, as it restores the bridge of real communication between Heaven and Earth. The Holy Spirit is Love". (to be continued)
