There is a line in the acts of the apostles in Pentecost about the devout Jews.
“Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.” – Acts 2:5
The Greek word for “devout” (eulabḗs) refers to a person who clings to the good once it is known, and as it is known. It suggests a certain being circumspect or cautious of what is in the world because not everything is good. But once the good is known, that person will take hold of that good carefully and surely. That is what devout means: a person who is a searcher of the good and who clings to the good, redefines one’s life totally according to the call and demand of the good.
In yesterday’s homily on the Feast of the Cenacle, Fr Roger Champoux spoke about entering the realm of the sacred, of sanctification, and of consecration; of allowing oneself to be possessed by and oriented towards the loving and tender embrace of the Good, and the good God. Here, we find an echo on this in the Jews gathered in Jerusalem who are described as “devout.” They are those who are already predisposed towards the good, and have oriented their entire lives towards the good God.
Devotedness is this inner predisposition by which the Spirit can more fully enter into us further bless us. In the narrative of Pentecost in Acts 2, there is ambiguity and ambivalence in that not everyone heard the message of the apostles in their own language. Others heard only drunken speech. Why this then disparity and difference in Pentecost? I believe that it was only to the devout Jews coming from all parts of the lived world of that time that the gift of interpretation was also given by the Spirit. Their being devout open up the way for them to also receive the Spirit’s gift of interpretation by which the devout Jews were enabled to accurately and intelligibly hear and understand in their own native tongue what was otherwise heard as drunken speech by the non-devout crowd in Jerusalem. In the New Testament, the Greek word for “interpret” (dierméneuó) means to explain things thoroughly, completely or fully, and accurately: it is the same word used to describe what the risen Jesus did in explaining the Scriptures to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
It is this gift of interpretation, this further gift of the Spirit to the already devout Jews of that time, that also helps us today to discern truth amid the ambivalence, ambiguity and confusion of a noisy world. The gift of interpretation renders clear and intelligible the matter of discernment to devout persons who sincerely seek and fundamentally orient their lives towards goodness in whatever form it is discovered and encountered in the world. With the Spirit’s gift of interpretation, confusion is transformed into clarity.
Devout that we are, let us more proactively await and pray for this grace of interpreting the signs of the times and the movement of the Spirit that may be initially heard as the noise of the world. Let us pray for this gift of interpretation so that we can understand more clearly what the Spirit is saying to us and to churches. May the Spirit further guide us, unfold for us, and translate for us God’s unique message for us and for the world today.
Finally, the Gospel today says that “Jesus breathed on them” (John 20:22). The Greek word for the breathing action used here (emphysáō) occurs only once throughout the New Testament, and it is the same word also used in the Greek Old Testament in the creation story when God breathed life into the human being. This word correlates to another Greek word for breath (pneuma): “Receive the Holy Spirit” (pneuma). “Spirit” means “breath”. Our invitation today is simply to stand before the Lord our Creator and allow ourselves to receive the breath of Christ which is the Spirit.
This relates to what Fr Roger in yesterday’s homily said about the foundress’ (Thérèse Couderc’s) spirituality of “se livrer”: that is, to deliver or entrust oneself totally to the Lord, to allow one’s life to be totally defined, shaped and oriented anew by the breath of Christ, that is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Breath. In a way, it is difficult because it involves a radical dying to self when we define our lives according to our own terms, or in conformity to the standards of the world. Pentecost calls us to simply let go and simply stand before the Lord and open ourselves widely to the coming of Spirit. To simply stand and be open: that is why the foundress also says that “se livre” is the easiest thing to do. To simply stand and be open to God’s work in us, to be most docile and malleable to the freedom of the Spirit in shaping our lives and directions in life, to allow ourselves to be completely redefined and reshaped by the Spirit: Ikaw bahala, Lord. Se livre.
And so in this mass on the Solemnity of Pentecost, let us pray for the three graces of the Spirit: the gift of devotedness; the gift of interpretation; and the gift of “se livrer”
Homily delivered by Fr. Oliver Dy, SJ
28 May 2023 | Solemnity of Pentecost
Cenacle Retreat House