I love this:
The disciples spoke in the language of every nation. At Pentecost God chose this means to indicate the presence of the Holy Spirit: whoever had received the Spirit spoke in every kind fo tongue. We must realize, dear brothers, that this is the same Holy Spirit by whom love is poured out in our hearts. It was love that was to bring the Church of God together all over the world. And as individual men who received the Holy Spirit in those days could speak in all kinds of tongues, so today the Church, united by the Holy Spirit, speaks in the language of every people,
Therefore if somebody should say to one of us, “You have received the Holy Spirit, why do you not speak in tongues?” his reply should be, “I do indeed speak in the tongues of all men, because I belong to the body of Christ, that is the Church, and she speaks all languages. What else did the presence of the Holy Spirit indicate at Pentecost, except that God’s Church was to speak in the language of every people?” –An excerpt from an exposition of Ecclesiastes by St. Gregory of Agrigentum (from yesterdays Office of Readings)
2 Comments on “Veni, Sancte Spiritus!”
Hey Chelsea,
For more on the above theme, I recommend checking out then-Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s book On the Way to Jesus Christ (Ignatius Press, 2005), particularly Chapter 3, “Communication and Culture,” and Chapter 8, “Universality and Catholicity.”
God bless,
Bob
Thanks, Bob – I’ll check it out!