With Opened Bible
Come, Holy Spirit, Come
“Then there appeared to them tongues as of fre, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.” (The Acts of The Apostles 2:3)
Fifty days (Pentecost) after the Lord's resurrection, he fulfilled his promise to his disciples: the Holy Spirit came in the form of tongues of fire. But why tongues of fire? As we all know, fire is a powerful symbol in the Bible, representing the Spirit of God. It has the transformative power to burn away the chaff of our sins and refine us like gold in a furnace. This same fire also warms and gives life, symbolizing the hope and inspiration that the Holy Spirit brings to our lives. Thus, we find the answer to the question of why the Holy Spirit came in the form of tongues of fire.
The tongue is the smallest of the members of our body. But by itself, it can turn the world upside down or elevate it. Saint James reminds us of this clearly in his leter to chapters 3:5-6: "In the same way, the tongue is a small member and yet has great pretensions. Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze.” The Spirit came in the form of fire, specifically the tongue, to remind the Church of its primary mission: to ardently and powerfully proclaim the Good News of Salvation. This is not just a duty, but a calling that we must all be committed to, as Jesus himself commanded in Mathew 28:19.
In the Old Testament, an event marked history and can help us better understand Pentecost: The Tower of Babel. The children of men wanted to defy heaven by imposing a single language on all humanity. The Almighty One dispersed them, and thus, the diverse languages and cultures of the earth appeared. (Cf. Genesis 11:6-8) From the beginning, God's intenton for his creaton was unity in diversity, not uniformity. The Church, as the new Israel, is a testament to this. It is not made up of a single nation, but of all, reflecting its catholicity(universality). Everyone should be able to hear, celebrate, and bear witness to the Word of God in their mother tongue. This was the miracle of Pentecost, and it is a principle that must contnue to guide the Church. "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in their natve language? (The Acts of the Apostles 2:7-8) Jesus is the Word of God, and all languages must proclaim it with tongues of fre.
