Feast of Pentacost

Speaking in foreign tongues is the first big manifestation of the Holy Spirit. The apostles, so filled with that fire, went out and began speaking in languages they had never learned and never heard. The Spirit was able to work through them to speak to the many visitors who had gathered. How many times in your life have you wanted to share a supportive, loving or kind word with another person, but didn’t know what to say? Sometimes the right words feel awkward or forced. However, if we seek the support of the Holy Spirit, God is able to work through us to speak a word to that person. In Lent, we read “The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, That I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them." (Isaiah 50). Well, the Holy Spirit gives us that power!

The Holy Spirit didn’t just come to comfort us, it came to help us in the Missionary and Apostolic work of the Church. We should be praying that God’s word would always be at the tip of our tongue and that we are able to speak in foreign tongues. This doesn’t mean to speak in Chinese, Spanish or French, although it could. This means to be able to speak teenager if you are an adult, to speak angry neighbor if you are a calm one, to speak support and comfort, motivation and healing, guidance and reproach.

We are called to testify what we have seen and heard about God. We are called to speak to others on God’s behalf. Jesus doesn’t walk on this earth anymore, but we do. We walk with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit wants to work through us to reach others. We must testify what we know about God so that others may hear and benefit. The Holy Spirit has the power to speak through us to others, but we must ask the Holy Spirit to come into our lives and work in this way.

Finally, we shouldn’t feel bad if we don’t testify in the ways we see others testifying. Not everyone can be a priest, not everyone can stand on the corner and read scripture to strangers as they walk by. However, we can share with some of our friends and family a story of how God has loved us, how God has helped us, how God has saved us, taken us back, or brought us into His glory. These are the stories we are meant to share with others.

The psalm proclaims, “When you send forth your spirit, they are created, 
and you renew the face of the earth.” Well, God has sent forth his Spirit. We have been created and blessed by Him. In sharing our stories with others, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can share the love that God has shown to us. In this way, the face of the Earth can be renewed.