Catholic Analysis

The Vatican recently approved changes to the English translation of the Roman Rite according to the Ordinary Form. The Ordinary Form or post-Vatican II Mass is the central form of the Roman Rite. Hence, the English translation now approved, and apparently to be implemented at sometime in the more distant future, is crucial to us English-speakers. Those familiar with the Spanish translation will not that some, if not all (I would have to check carefully first before making a firm universal statement), of these changes are already present in the Spanish translation. There is a convenient table showing the changes that are to eventually come your way, at some unspecified time, at this link provided by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

We now have the ordinary parts of the Roman Rite newly translated into English. Don't let anyone hoodwink or intimidate you into thinking that the post-Vatican II Mass is an inferior version of the Roman Rite. The Ordinary Form or post-Vatican II Mass is no less a form of the Roman Rite than any other form of the Roman Rite. We can emphatically affirm this non-exclusive statement: The post-Vatican II Mass is the Roman Rite. In my opinion, those holding otherwise (whether explicitly or implicitly for the sake of self-protection) are not in full communion with the teaching of the Catholic Church in the same way that those who advocate ordination of women are not in full communion with the teaching of the Catholic Church.

Recall the story of Pentecost in Acts 2: three times Luke tells us that the people witnessing Pentecost heard the proclamation of the mighty works of God each in his own language. This translation continues that great Pentecostal labor (the adjective is originally Catholic and appropriately Catholic even and especially today) of letting all hear the praises of God and His mighty works "each . . . in his own language" (Acts 2:6; see also Acts 2:8, 11). Translating the telling of the mighty works of God in the Holy Mass is not an option--it is a biblical, evangelistic imperative from the origins of the Catholic Church.

As this great feast approaches, we have to be thankful that we have been given a treasure that so many of our fellow Christians, whom we love and respect, are missing: the Eucharistic Lord who joins himself bodily to ourselves and into whose face we can gaze and from whose face we receive his healing gaze in Eucharistic adoration. Some may say that they do not need it--well, we humans are both body and soul, we need the sacramental, the tangible. We are wounded, and we need the healing. Who are we to say that we do not need what the Lord chooses to give? The indifferent shrugging of the shoulders of Protestants to the real Eucharistic presence reminds me of the shrugging of the shoulders of non-charismatics toward the charisms. (Note: some Protestants claim to affirm belief in the Real Presence--whether that affirmation matches the Roman Catholic teaching that the substances of bread and wine are wholly transformed into the body and blood of Christ is unclear to me and likely varies from individual to individual.) God gives it--just receive it! It makes no sense to sit in judgment of how the Lord has chosen to save us, heal us, and edify us--unless we think we know a better way.

Here is an excerpt from the Pope's message for youth released last summer in anticipation of World Youth Day to be held this July in Australia:

I would like to add a word about the Eucharist. In order to grow in our Christian life, we need to be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ. In fact, we are baptized and confirmed with a view to the Eucharist (cf. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1322; Sacramentum Caritatis, 17). “Source and summit” of the Church’s life, the Eucharist is a “perpetual Pentecost” since every time we celebrate Mass we receive the Holy Spirit who unites us more deeply with Christ and transforms us into Him. My dear young friends, if you take part frequently in the eucharistic celebration, if you dedicate some of your time to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Source of love which is the Eucharist, you will acquire that joyful determination to dedicate your lives to following the Gospel. At the same time it will be your experience that whenever our strength is not enough, it is the Holy Spirit who transforms us, filling us with his strength and making us witnesses suffused by the missionary fervour of the risen Christ.

Source link (see Section 7; black emphasis added).

Let me highlight again the words in bold print above:

"the Eucharist is a 'perpetual Pentecost' since every time we celebrate Mass we receive the Holy Spirit who unites us more deeply with Christ and transforms us into Him."

The Eucharist is a "perpetual Pentecost"--Catholics are indeed Pentecostals, whole and complete. Catholics have a genuinely Pentecostal understanding of the Eucharist. Every Mass is a new Pentecost in which we ask for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, we receive the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit (see Romans 8:9, for how Paul refers to the Holy Spirit as the "Spirit of Christ"). Let's ask for a release of the power of what we receive. That is why I like to say that the charismatic renewal is simply "built into" Catholicism--the renewal is inherent in Catholic faith, liturgy, and practice; it is not merely a movement for a few who might be interested in that sort of thing. We simply need to rediscover the charismatic dimension again and again throughout the Church's history and not foolishly set limits on how the Holy Spirit chooses to surprise us with his manifestations. What are these surprising manifestations? Let's go back to Paul:

This invitation is what the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is all about--it is an invitation to all Catholics because all Catholics are called to be charismatics by virtue of the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. What the Pope is urging and what the Catholic Charismatic Renewal also urges, in obedience to Peter, is the "rediscovery" of our Baptism in the Holy Spirit and openness to all the gifts and charisms that the Holy Spirit sees fit to grant us in his sovereign prerogative and wisdom.

Here is an excerpt from the Pope's remarks, available in full at this Zenit.org link:

"In my message for World Youth Day 2008, I invited young people to rediscover the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives and, therefore, the importance of these sacraments," the Holy Father added. "Today I would like to extend this invitation to everyone: Let us rediscover, dear brothers and sisters, the beauty of being baptized in the Holy Spirit; let us be aware again of our baptism and of our confirmation, sources of grace that are always present.

"Let us ask the Virgin Mary to obtain a renewed Pentecost for the Church again today, a Pentecost that will spread in everyone the joy of living and witnessing to the Gospel."

Source link.

ROSARY IS NOT A PIOUS PRACTICE RELEGATED TO THE PAST
[Red emphasis below added by blogger]

VATICAN CITY, 3 MAY 2008 (VIS) - This evening Benedict XVI presided at the praying of the Rosary in the Roman basilica of St. Mary Major, "Marian temple par excellence" in which, as the Holy Father recalled, the image of Mary "Salus Populi Romani" is venerated.

"In the experience of my generation", he said, "May evenings evoke pleasant memories of vespertine appointments to pay homage to the Virgin Mary. ... Today we together confirm that the holy Rosary is not some pious practice relegated to the past, a prayer of distant times to be thought of nostalgically. Indeed, the Rosary is experiencing what is almost a new springtime".

"In the modern world which is so dispersive, this prayer helps us to place Christ at the centre, as did the Virgin who meditated upon everything that was said about her Son and upon what He Himself did and said. When we recite the Rosary we relive important monuments of the history of salvation, we again go over the various stages of Christ's mission. With Mary we turn our hearts to the mystery of Jesus".

"May Mary help us to welcome within ourselves the grace that emanates from these mysteries, so that through us this grace can 'irrigate' society, starting with our everyday relationships, purifying it from many negative forces and opening it to the novelty of God.

"The Rosary", the Pope added, "when it is prayed in an authentic manner - not mechanically and superficially, but profoundly - brings peace and reconciliation. It contains the healing power of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, invoked with faith and love at the heart of each Hail Mary".

Benedict XVI then called on those present to ensure they remained united to Mary during these days leading up to Pentecost, "invoking a renewed effusion of the Holy Spirit for the Church". He also entrusted them with "the most urgent intentions" of his ministry: "the needs of the Church, the great problems of humanity, peace in the world, the unity of Christians, and dialogue between cultures", as well as the pastoral objectives of the diocese of Rome, and the "solidary development" of Italy.

John Paul the Great's Theology of the Body has rightly been termed by George Weigel as a great treasure that the Church is only now just beginning to discover and which will eventually have a positive explosive effect on the Church. I dare to say the same about John Paul the Great's "Theology of Charismatic Rediscovery" set forth in his famous speech on May 30, 1998, to the ecclesial movements and new communities of the Church on the eve of Pentecost. So, in anticipation of Pentecost and of the 10th anniversary of this speech later this month, I reprint this major and historic theological address in full (with emphasis added by me):

SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER
POPE JOHN PAUL II
MEETING WITH ECCLESIAL MOVEMENTS
AND NEW COMMUNITIES

Saturday, 30 May 1998

"Suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:2-3)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. With these words the Acts of the Apostles bring us into the heart of the Pentecost event; they show us the disciples, who, gathered with Mary in the Upper Room, receive the gift of the Spirit. Thus Jesus' promise is fulfilled and the time of the Church begins. From that time the wind of the Spirit would carry Christ's disciples to the very ends of the earth. It would take them even to martyrdom for their fearless witness to the Gospel.

It is as though what happened in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago were being repeated this evening in this square, the heart of the Christian world. Like the Apostles then, we too find ourselves gathered in a great upper room of Pentecost, longing for the outpouring of the Spirit. Here we would like to profess with the whole Church "the same Spirit ... the same Lord ... the same God who inspires them all in everyone" (1 Cor 12:4-6). This is the atmosphere we wish to relive, imploring the gifts of the Holy Spirit for each of us and for all the baptized people.

2. I greet and thank Cardinal James Francis Stafford, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, for the words he has wished to address to me, also in your name, at the beginning of this meeting. With him I greet the Cardinals and Bishops present. I extend an especially grateful greeting to Chiara Lubich, Kiko Arguello, Jean Vanier and Mons. Luigi Giussani for their moving testimonies. With them, I greet the founders and leaders of the new communities and movements represented here. Lastly, I wish to address each of you, brothers and sisters who belong to the individual ecclesial movements. You promptly and enthusiastically accepted the invitation I addressed to you on Pentecost 1996, and have carefully prepared yourselves, under the guidance of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, for this extraordinary meeting which launches us towards the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.

Today's event is truly unprecedented: for the first time the movements and new ecclesial communities have all gathered together with the Pope. It is the great "common witness" I wished for the year which, in the Church's journey to the Great Jubilee, is dedicated to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is here with us! It is he who is the soul of this marvellous event of ecclesial communion. Truly, "this is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Ps 117:24).

3. In Jerusalem, almost 2,000 years ago, on the day of Pentecost, before an astonished and mocking crowd, due to the unexplainable change observed in the Apostles, Peter courageously proclaims: "Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God ... you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. But God raised him up" (Acts 2:22-24). Peter's words express the Church's selfawareness, based on the certainty that Jesus Christ is alive, is working in the present and changes life.

The Holy Spirit, already at work in the creation of the world and in the Old Covenant, reveals himself in the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery of the Son of God, and in a way "bursts out" at Pentecost to extend the mission of Christ the Lord in time and space. The Spirit thus makes the Church a stream of new life that flows through the history of mankind.

4. With the Second Vatican Council, the Comforter recently gave the Church, which according to the Fathers is the place "where the Spirit flourishes" (Catechism of the Catholic Church , n. 749), a renewed Pentecost, instilling a new and unforeseen dynamism.

Whenever the Spirit intervenes, he leaves people astonished. He brings about events of amazing newness; he radically changes persons and history. This was the unforgettable experience of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council during which, under the guidance of the same Spirit, the Church rediscovered the charismatic dimension as one of her constitutive elements: "It is not only through the sacraments and the ministrations of the Church that the Holy Spirit makes holy the people, leads them and enriches them with his virtues. Allotting his gifts according as he wills (cf. 1 Cor 12:11), he also distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank.... He makes them fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church" (Lumen gentium, n.12).

The institutional and charismatic aspects are co-essential as it were to the Church's constitution. They contribute, although differently, to the life, renewal and sanctification of God's People. It is from this providential rediscovery of the Church's charismatic dimension that, before and after the Council, a remarkable pattern of growth has been established for ecclesial movements and new communities.

5. Today the Church rejoices at the renewed confirmation of the prophet Joel's words which we have just heard: "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh" (Acts 2:17). You, present here, are the tangible proof of this "outpouring" of the Spirit. Each movement is different from the others, but they are all united in the same communion and for the same mission. Some charisms given by the Spirit burst in like an impetuous wind, which seizes people and carries them to new ways of missionary commitment to the radical service of the Gospel, by ceaselessly proclaiming the truths of faith, accepting the living stream of tradition as a gift and instilling in each person an ardent desire for holiness.

Today, I would like to cry out to all of you gathered here in St Peter's Square and to all Christians: Open yourselves docilely to the gifts of the Spirit! Accept gratefully and obediently the charisms which the Spirit never ceases to bestow on us! Do not forget that every charism is given for the common good, that is, for the benefit of the whole Church.

6. By their nature, charisms are communicative and give rise to that "spiritual affinity between persons" (Christifideles laici, n. 24) and that friendship in Christ which is the origin of "movements". The passage from the original charism to the movement happens through the mysterious attraction that the founder holds for all those who become involved in his spiritual experience. In this way movements officially recognized by ecclesiastical authority offer themselves as forms of self-fulfilment and as reflections of the one Church.

Their birth and spread has brought to the Church's life an unexpected newness which is sometimes even disruptive. This has given rise to questions, uneasiness and tensions; at times it has led to presumptions and excesses on the one hand, and on the other, to numerous prejudices and reservations. It was a testing period for their fidelity, an important occasion for verifying the authenticity of their charisms.

Today a new stage is unfolding before you: that of ecclesial maturity. This does not mean that all problems have been solved. Rather, it is a challenge. A road to take. The Church expects from you the "mature" fruits of communion and commitment.

7. In our world, often dominated by a secularized culture which encourages and promotes models of life without God, the faith of many is sorely tested, and is frequently stifled and dies. Thus we see an urgent need for powerful proclamation and solid, in-depth Christian formation. There is so much need today for mature Christian personalities, conscious of their baptismal identity, of their vocation and mission in the Church and in the world! There is great need for living Christian communities! And here are the movements and the new ecclesial communities: they are the response, given by the Holy Spirit, to this critical challenge at the end of the millennium. You are this providential response.

True charisms cannot but aim at the encounter with Christ in the sacraments. The ecclesial realities to which you belong have helped you to rediscover your baptismal vocation, to appreciate the gifts of the Spirit received at Confirmation, to entrust yourselves to God's forgiveness in the sacrament of Reconciliation and to recognize the Eucharist as the source and summit of all Christian life. Thanks to this powerful ecclesial experience, wonderful Christian families have come into being which are open to life, true "domestic churches", and many vocations to the ministerial priesthood and the religious life have blossomed, as well as new forms of lay life inspired by the evangelical counsels. You have learned in the movements and new communities that faith is not abstract talk, nor vague religious sentiment, but new life in Christ instilled by the Holy Spirit.

8. How is it possible to safeguard and guarantee a charism's authenticity? It is essential in this regard that every movement submit to the discernment of the competent ecclesiastical authority. For this reason no charism can dispense with reference and submission to the Pastors of the Church. The Council wrote in clear words: "Those who have charge over the Church should judge the genuiness and proper use of these gifts, through their office not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what is good (cf. 1 Thes 5:12; 19-21)" (Lumen gentium, n. 12). This is the necessary guarantee that you are taking the right road!

In the confusion that reigns in the world today, it is so easy to err, to give in to illusions. May this element of trusting obedience to the Bishops, the successors of the Apostles, in communion with the Successor of Peter never be lacking in the Christian formation provided by your movements! You know the criteria for the ecclesiality of lay associations found in the Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles laici (cf. n. 30). I ask you always to adhere to them with generosity and humility, bringing your experiences to the local Churches and parishes, while always remaining in communion with the Pastors and attentive to their direction.

9. Jesus said: "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!" (Lk 12:39). As the Church prepares to cross the threshold of the third millennium, let us accept the Lord's invitation, so that his fire may spread in our hearts and in those of our brothers and sisters.

Today, from this upper room in St Peter's Square, a great prayer rises: Come, Holy Spirit, come and renew the face of the earth! Come with your seven gifts! Come, Spirit of Life, Spirit of Communion and Love! The Church and the world need you. Come, Holy Spirit, and make ever more fruitful the charisms you have bestowed on us. Give new strength and missionary zeal to these sons and of daughters of yours who have gathered here. Open their hearts; renew their Christian commitment in the world. Make them courageous messengers of the Gospel, witnesses to the risen Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Saviour of man. Strengthen their love and their fidelity to the Church.

Let us turn our gaze to Mary, Christ's first disciple, Spouse of the Holy Spirit and Mother of the Church, who was with the Apostles at the first Pentecost, so that she will help us to learn from her fiat docility to the voice of the Spirit.

Today, from this square, Christ says to each of you: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation" (Mk 16:15). He is counting on every one of you, and so is the Church. "Lo", the Lord promises, "I am with you always to the close of the age" (Mt 28:20).

I am with you.

Amen!

Dear English-speaking friends, on the vigil of this great feast of Pentecost, I pray that the Holy Spirit will increase the flame of his love in your hearts so that you may be ever more effective in bringing the Gospel message to the world of the new millennium. The Church needs your commitment and your love!

Source link: Vatican website.

I reprint this post, which was originally published last year (May 9, 2007), as we now approach the great Feast of Pentecost on May 11th. As Pentecost approaches, some anti-charismatics will, predictably, feel compelled to churn out again tired distortions and half-truths against the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. You can expect that type of predictable distortion, as you can expect the predictable attacks on the Nativity accounts in December and on the Resurrection as Easter approaches. Hence, I reprint last year's post on Pentecost as a sort of "preemptive" strike for readers who deserve balanced and judicious writing. Yes, the compulsion of those who like to stir up religious hysteria, whether consciously or not, is lamentably predictable but nevertheless offers a great opportunity and inducement to offer a better alternative, a more excellent way. The post from May 9, 2007, follows, with some minor editing (it's hard not to edit anything!):

One of the prime, sensible rules of biblical interpretation is to interpret the Bible canonically, that is, to interpret Scripture with other Scripture. Let's try to do that with the needlessly controversial topic of the gift of tongues described in Acts 2 at the time of Pentecost and described by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 14. Some blithely dismiss the possibility of the modern, widespread manifestation of the gift of tongues because they insist that the gift of tongues, based on the Pentecost account of Acts 2, must involve in all cases, without exception, a real, known human language, such as German or Spanish or French, etc. In contrast, most charismatic tongue speaking is in unintelligible utterances that do not appear to match any known human language.

Yet, this common anti-charismatic argument is at odds with the text of Acts 2 itself and is also at odds with Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 14:3: "For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God: for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit" (ESV: all citations herein are from the English Standard Version, which has a good reputation for the literal nature of its translation). Paul is undeniably describing speaking in a language that the listeners do not understand. As a result, Paul requires interpretation when a tongue speaker formally addresses the Christian assembly (see 1 Cor. 14:27-28). If the tongue speaking were intelligible as a known human language, no interpretation would be needed. (Of course, if you are really polemically adamant, you could arbitrarily insist that the Holy Spirit was empowering people in Corinth to speak in, say, Latin to the Greek-speaking Corinthians and that is why interpretation was needed. But that view is overreaching because it flies in the face of the plain sense of 1 Cor. 14:3 quoted above which says that the tongue speaker is speaking "mysteries in the Spirit" to God, not to men).

First, let's take a fresh look at Acts 2: 1-13, where the speaking in tongues at Pentecost is described. The first thing to notice is that the term "tongues" is used to mean two differnt things: the physical organ in our mouth used for speaking and the actual language or utterance spoken. I mention this apparently minor point because it is a favorite contention of "anti-charismatics" that in the New Testament the reference to "tongues" (glossai in Greek) is exclusively to languages. That is not the case. New Testament Greek, like all other languages, is nuanced, depending on context. In Acts 2:3, we have the famous image of "tongues as of fire" resting on the Christians at Pentecost. Does the writer mean that "languages as of fire" were resting on each of them? Not at all. The writer uses the word "tongues" to describe the shape of the flame; he is not using "glossai" in verse 3 to refer to languages. So much for one of the favorite, easy arguments of the "anti-charismatics." What we see is that we must look to context and not adopt the superficial habit of assigning one rigid meaning to one particular word whenever it appears in the text--if our primary interest is in the truth and not in mere polemics to justify a predetermined conclusion.

As we read on, then in the very next verse, verse 4 of Acts 2, we do have a different context and a different meaning for the Greek word glossa: "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." Here, it makes sense to interpret "glossa" as languages because the context is speech, not the description of the shape of a flame resting on someone's head. Now, we come to the crux of the issue. The "anti-charismatics" maintain that the apostles were speaking real, known human languages of the time, such as Greek or Latin. Yet, the text does not explicitly say that.

What the text explicitly says is that the Jews present in Jerusalem from various nations of the diaspora heard them each in his own home language. For example, we read in verse 6: "each one heard them speaking in the native language of each" (see also verses 7-11, for the same description of what the "foreign" Jews heard; emphasis added). The late erudite scholar and historian Jaroslav Pelikan, who, to my knowledge, was not a charismatic, even noted that the passage talks about "hearing" in one's own language, thus implying that what was heard need not have matched the sounds actually uttered by the Christians at Pentecost. I quote from the late Prof. Pelikan, who was, by the way, a Lutheran convert to Eastern Orthodoxy:

But at [Acts] 2:8 the word is "we hear, each of us" (akouomen hekastos), which suggests the appearance here not of a polyglot congregation but of the phenomenon of glossalalia familiar from the experience of the Christian community in Corinth (1 Cor. 14). Did the apostles actually speak--or did those present only hear--all of these other languages?

Jaroslav Pelikan, Acts, p. 53, in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible series (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2005)(I have transliterated the Greek words appearing in Greek characters in the original; bold emphasis added).

It is certainly possible that the Christians spoke with their lips sounds unintelligible to any human being but somehow made directly intelligible by the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, under this proposed (but certainly not definitive) scenario, the Holy Spirit in Pentecost was himself the interpreter that Paul requires in Christian gatherings in 1 Corinthians 14. In this scenario, the uniqueness of the Pentecost event was not necessarily that the utterances were simply real, known human languages unknown to the speakers; but rather that the Holy Spirit himself translated the sounds made and spoken by the Christians "filled with the Holy Spirit" into known, human languages. Later, in the Corinthian context, human interpreters, inspired by the Holy Spirit, were needed as intermediaries for this same task. The fact that the disciples were thought to be drunk at Pentecost (Acts 2:13) further supports the possibility that they might have actually made unintelligible utterances as in 1 Corinthians that were translated by the Holy Spirit into the human languages of the attending Jewish pilgrims (see The Oxford Companion to the Bible, ed. Bruce M. Metzger and Micheal D. Coogan [New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1993] under "Glossolalia" at p. 255).

Another detail in the text of Acts 2 lends support to the view that the Holy Spirit at Pentecost could have been acting as the interpreter of unintelligible utterances spoken by the Apostles. Notice in these verses how the diaspora Jews speak about hearing "them" each in his own language: "[E]ach one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, 'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? . . . . we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God" (portions of vv. 6, 7, 11 of Acts 2; emphases added). Now, did the diaspora Jew from Rome hear Peter in Latin? While the diaspora Jew from another country heard John in Greek? Or did the Latin-speaker hear all of the apostles speaking in Latin? Did the Greek-speaker hear all of the apostles speaking in Greek? The wording of the text seems to possibly imply that each one heard all of them in his own native language, not just one or several of the Christians, here and there, in the group of Christians filled with the Holy Spirit. If that is a sensible reading of the text, then it implies that the Holy Spirit interpreted the utterances of all into different known human languages for the benefit of the diaspora Jews present, so that the Latin-speaking Jew heard them all in Latin, the Greek-speaker heard them all in Greek, etc. That scenario is consistent with viewing the gift of tongues as utterance in an unknown language needing interpretation, as was the case in 1 Corinthians. This scenario of the Pentecost event dovetails with the picture presented by Paul in 1 Corinthians.

Under my proposed (but note: not conclusive) interpretation, the two biblical texts are thus consistent in viewing the gift of tongues as utterances needing interpretation, either directly by the Holy Spirit in the case of Pentecost without human interpreters or indirectly by the Holy Spirit using human interpreters as in 1 Corinthians 14.

What is the bottom line? We have here a sensible, canonical interpretation of Acts 2 which does not require that the actual utterances of the Apostles at Pentecost be known human languages of that time and era. Rather, this sensible interpretation reconciles Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 14 by proposing that the utterances were not known human languages and hence needed interpretation by the power of the Holy Spirit so that each one in the diaspora crowd at Pentecost could hear all of them in his own native language. Under this reading, in Pentecost, the Holy Spirit directly interpreted what all said for the full benefit of each listener far from home. In 1 Corinthians, Paul insists that there be a human interpreter present who can interpret under the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, interpretation by the Holy Spirit, whether direct or indirect, was needed in both cases.

My proposed interpretation certainly does not even pretend to close the matter. The truth is that, in spite of our very human curiosity, we can never really know definitively the exact, minute, microscopically dissected sequence of events in the great event of Acts 2. But what this proposed exegesis does accomplish is seriously question the blithe assumption of "anti-charismatics" that the gift of tongues means that you always hear a known human language, unfiltered, without interpretation. The view I propose makes sense of Scripture by appealing to other Scripture.

At the end of the day, what really happened at Pentecost? In my own mind, the bottom line is that in Acts 2 the Holy Spirit at some point transformed the ecstatic utterances of the disciples (the "Galileans") into known human languages. At what exact point that happened, whether as the words were actually being pronounced by the lips of the disciples or when the words were heard by the different Jewish pilgrims, makes little theological difference to the central point of Acts 2: the Holy Spirit was poured out in power on all present as prophesied in the Old Testament book of Joel (see Acts 2:16-21); and the New Israel, the Church, was manifested to the entire world! At the same time, we should not see it as contradictory at all to find that in 1 Corinthians we have a speaking in tongues that is unintelligible speech in need of interpretation by those fellow Christians granted the power of interpretation by the Holy Spirit. Whether, with or without human interpreters, the Holy Spirit is at work in a new and marvelous way in both Acts 2 and in 1 Corinthians, in a way that fulfills the longings and foreshadowing in the Old Testament. That fulfillment of the Old Testament is the central point of the great feast of Pentecost, not tiresome polemics that would mislead us into thinking that speaking in tongues must follow one rigid, preconceived pattern. That polemical agenda may reflect more our own preferences for some sort of straight-jacket consistency not found in the biblical texts rather than reflecting the sovereign independence of the Holy Spirit to do as He deems fit and appropriate in different settings. Let the Holy Spirit be the Holy Spirit, even if He does not follow our personal preferences for compulsively neat, human templates!

Addendum: Pentecost has long been seen by commentators as a reversal of the confusion of languages in Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), in which mankind lost one common language. At Pentecost, the barriers to communication are overcome because each one hears the proclamation in his own language (see Acts 2:6, 8, 11). A thoughtful and careful reader will realize that what happened at Pentecost is not an exact reversal of Babel. An exact reversal of Babel would have been the restoration of one, common, single human language. What happens in Pentecost is that the pilgrims from different countries hear the proclamation each in his own language. The Holy Spirit brings unity out of the diversity of languages without eliminating the diversity of languages. With apologies to partisans of the exclusive use of Latin in the liturgy of the West, this detail provides, in my opinion, a biblical argument for our having the Mass available in the vernacular languages, so that each group may hear in his own native language.

John Allen of the heterodox National Catholic Reporter is not, in my opinion, all that reliable a Catholic analyst; but he does get it right in discussing the rise of Pentecostalism worldwide. I know he gets it right because I am familiar with the impressive, corroborative research of Penn State Prof. Philip Jenkins. Here is Allen's discussion of a question apparently put to him during some of his recent speaking engagements:

Who seems to be doing well in terms of missionary expansion around the world?

By most measures, Christian Pentecostalism. From less than six percent of world Christianity in the mid-1970s, Pentecostals finished the century representing almost 20 percent, according to a 2006 study by the Pew Forum called "Spirit and Power." Combining organized Pentecostal denominations such as the Assemblies of God and the Church of God in Christ, plus the vast galaxy of independent churches around the world with a Pentecostal flavor, such as the African Zionists, the Spiritual Baptists in the Caribbean, and the True Jesus Church in China, brings the total worldwide number of Pentecostals to around 380 million. That would make Pentecostalism the second-largest Christian "denomination" on earth, lagging behind only Roman Catholicism.

As remarkable as those numbers are, they underestimate the real Pentecostal footprint. Established Christian denominations have also spawned their own versions of Pentecostalism, usually called Charismatics. Combining Pentecostals and Charismatics into an amalgam scholars refer to as "Revivalist Christianity" brings the global total to a staggering 600 million.

Trying to account for the global expansion of Pentecostalism is one of the more wide-open parlor games in religious sociology today. Among the most commonly cited factors are: a competitive, entrepreneurial spirit; the fact that Pentecostalism "travels light," not requiring a heavy ecclesial infrastructure; a lay-led approach to mission; an upbeat spirituality that compensates for a post-modern "ecstasy deficit"; and a strong sense of community.

One final note: While Pentecostalism often eats away at the raw numbers of Catholics, sometimes it can be an index of religious ferment that, in the long run, may also benefit Catholicism. In his 2008 book Conversion of a Continent, Dominican Fr. Edward Cleary argues that Latin America is in the grip of a religious upheaval, with Pentecostalism as its leading edge. Catholicism, Cleary says, is also becoming more dynamic in Latin America, generating higher levels of commitment among those who remain. Cleary believes that this Catholic awakening had its roots in lay movements that go back to the 1930s and '40s, but it's been jump-started by healthy competition from the Pentecostals. Clearly argues that despite its statistical losses, Catholicism in Latin America is actually much stronger because of the Pentecostal presence.

If you go to Gallery 208 of the Chicago Institute of Arts, you will find the above panel entitled "Pentecost" which, according to the exhibit, formed part of the wings of an altarpiece in a Carthusian Monastery in Thuison-les-Abbeville, France. The panel is dated to 1490/1500. You can read more details at this link and see a larger version of the panel. (Or you can click the above image to enlarge it.)

Notice the hands of Mary and the other Apostles: they are raised in a gesture of prayer and expectation. One of the Apostles even has his arms extended fully (if you look to the right). I gazed at this exquisite panel and recognized something: I see those very same expectant hand gestures somewhere all of the time. Aha, I see them at prayer meetings and during Holy Mass in my Catholic charismatic parish.

I then recalled the stereotypical response of some Catholics who periodically express discomfort with and even distaste toward the upraised hands and arms of charismatic prayer. Let them go to room 208 on Michigan Avenue in the Windy City and see why we raise our arms. I also recall the comments of some who claim that all this charismatic stuff began for the first time with Protestant Pentecostals somewhere around 1900. Let them go to room 208 on Michigan Avenue in the Windy City and see an exhibit from the 15th century. Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words. The roots are in plain sight for those who wish to see.

Update: The depiction of the Mother of God and the Apostles with raised hands and arms is not surprising. Those in the Upper Room were aware of upraised hands as a gesture of reverence and expectation toward God in the Scriptures (see Psalms 28:2; 119:48; and 143:6, among others). I think the 15th century artist was also aware of the tradition.

The English translation of the Pope's just released WYD 2008 message is now available at this Vatican link. I reprint the text in full with bold emphasis added by me, since I consider the message pivotal for all Catholics because the message calls all Catholics to renewal in the Holy Spirit so we can evangelize the world.

Blessed John XXIII also prayed for a "New Pentecost." Like Catholic apologist Peter Kreeft and many others, I too believe that the Catholic Charismatic Renewal was an answer to that prayer of John XXIII. Our Pope today, Benedict XVI, is seeking to spread that renewal to all Catholics. You will sometimes here some mistakenly say that we receive the Holy Spirit only in the Sacrament of Confirmation. In contrast, the Pope here shows how we receive the Holy Spirit in all the sacraments of initiation, thus also including Baptism and the Eucharist. Also, note that it is perfectly appropriate to pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a New Pentecost, even if we have already received all of the Sacraments of initiation. We are simply asking for a release and actualization of the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, which we have already first received sacramentally. The language of the Pope here is unmistakably the language of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. That should be no surprise because only the willfully blind and deaf among those who pay attention to papal statements can continue to ignore the clear and precise encouragement of our recent Popes to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. The time for superficial theological excuses and rationalizations for ignoring the Charismatic Renewal is over. This renewal is not just for a few: it is for all Catholics and for all the world. Rome has spoken extensively on the issue and has now just spoken again. Here is the text in full (black and red emphases added by blogger):

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER
BENEDICT XVI
TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF THE WORLD
ON THE OCCASION
OF THE XXIII WORLD YOUTH DAY, 2008

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you will be my witnesses ” (Acts 1:8)

My dear young friends!

1. The XXIII World Youth Day

I always remember with great joy the various occasions we spent together in Cologne in August 2005. At the end of that unforgettable manifestation of faith and enthusiasm that remains engraved on my spirit and on my heart, I made an appointment with you for the next gathering that will be held in Sydney in 2008. This will be the XXIII World Youth Day and the theme will be: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). The underlying theme of the spiritual preparation for our meeting in Sydney is the Holy Spirit and mission. In 2006 we focussed our attention on the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth. Now in 2007 we are seeking a deeper understanding of the Spirit of Love. We will continue our journey towards World Youth Day 2008 by reflecting on the Spirit of Fortitude and Witness that gives us the courage to live according to the Gospel and to proclaim it boldly. Therefore it is very important that each one of you young people - in your communities, and together with those responsible for your education - should be able to reflect on this Principal Agent of salvation history, namely the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Jesus. In this way you will be able to achieve the following lofty goals: to recognize the Spirit’s true identity, principally by listening to the Word of God in the Revelation of the Bible; to become clearly aware of his continuous, active presence in the life of the Church, especially as you rediscover that the Holy Spirit is the “soul”, the vital breath of Christian life itself, through the sacraments of Christian initiation - Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist; to grow thereby in an understanding of Jesus that becomes ever deeper and more joyful and, at the same time, to put the Gospel into practice at the dawn of the third millennium. In this message I gladly offer you an outline for meditation that you can explore during this year of preparation. In this way you can test the quality of your faith in the Holy Spirit, rediscover it if it is lost, strengthen it if it has become weak, savour it as fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, brought about by the indispensable working of the Holy Spirit. Never forget that the Church, in fact humanity itself, all the people around you now and those who await you in the future, expect much from you young people, because you have within you the supreme gift of the Father, the Spirit of Jesus.

2. The promise of the Holy Spirit in the Bible

Attentive listening to the Word of God concerning the mystery and action of the Holy Spirit opens us up to great and inspiring insights that I shall summarize in the following points.

Shortly before his Ascension, Jesus said to his disciples: “And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you” (Lk 24:49). This took place on the day of Pentecost when they were together in prayer in the Upper Room with the Virgin Mary. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the nascent Church was the fulfilment of a promise made much earlier by God, announced and prepared throughout the Old Testament.

In fact, right from its opening pages, the Bible presents the spirit of God as the wind that “was moving over the face of the waters” (cf. Gen 1:2). It says that God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life (cf. Gen 2:7), thereby infusing him with life itself. After original sin, the life-giving spirit of God is seen several times in the history of humankind, calling forth prophets to exhort the chosen people to return to God and to observe his commandments faithfully. In the well-known vision of the prophet Ezekiel, God, with his spirit, restores to life the people of Israel, represented by the “dry bones” (cf. 37:1-14). Joel prophesied an “outpouring of the spirit” over all the people, excluding no one. The sacred author wrote: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh ... Even upon the menservants and maidservants, in those days, I will pour out my spirit” (3:1-2).

In “the fullness of time” (cf. Gal 4:4), the angel of the Lord announced to the Virgin of Nazareth that the Holy Spirit, “the power of the Most High”, would come upon her and overshadow her. The child to be born would be holy and would be called Son of God (cf. Lk 1:35). In the words of the prophet Isaiah, the Messiah would be the one on whom the Spirit of the Lord would rest (cf. 11:1-2; 42:1). This is the prophecy that Jesus took up again at the start of his public ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth. To the amazement of those present, he said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour” (Lk 4:18-19; cf. Is 61:1-2). Addressing those present, he referred those prophetic words to himself by saying: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21). Again, before his death on the Cross, he would tell his disciples several times about the coming of the Holy Spirit, the “Counselor” whose mission would be to bear witness to him and to assist believers by teaching them and guiding them to the fullness of Truth (cf. Jn 14:16-17, 25-26; 15:26; 16:13).

3. Pentecost, the point of departure for the Church’s mission

On the evening of the day of resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples, “he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (Jn 20:22). With even greater power the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. We read in the Acts of the Apostles: “And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them” (2:2-3).

The Holy Spirit renewed the Apostles from within, filling them with a power that would give them courage to go out and boldly proclaim that “Christ has died and is risen!” Freed from all fear, they began to speak openly with self-confidence (cf. Acts 2:29; 4:13; 4:29,31). These frightened fishermen had become courageous heralds of the Gospel. Even their enemies could not understand how “uneducated and ordinary men” (cf. Acts 4:13) could show such courage and endure difficulties, suffering and persecution with joy. Nothing could stop them. To those who tried to silence them they replied: “We cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). This is how the Church was born, and from the day of Pentecost she has not ceased to spread the Good News “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

4. The Holy Spirit, soul of the Church and principle of communion

If we are to understand the mission of the Church, we must go back to the Upper Room where the disciples remained together (cf. Lk 24:49), praying with Mary, the “Mother”, awaiting the Spirit that had been promised. This icon of the nascent Church should be a constant source of inspiration for every Christian community. Apostolic and missionary fruitfulness is not principally due to programmes and pastoral methods that are cleverly drawn up and “efficient”, but is the result of the community’s constant prayer (cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi, 75). Moreover, for the mission to be effective, communities must be united, that is, they must be “of one heart and soul” (cf. Acts 4:32), and they must be ready to witness to the love and joy that the Holy Spirit instils in the hearts of the faithful (cf. Acts 2:42). The Servant of God John Paul II wrote that, even prior to action, the Church’s mission is to witness and to live in a way that shines out to others (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 26). Tertullian tells us that this is what happened in the early days of Christianity when pagans were converted on seeing the love that reigned among Christians: “See how they love one another” (cf. Apology, 39 § 7).

To conclude this brief survey of the Word of God in the Bible, I invite you to observe how the Holy Spirit is the highest gift of God to humankind, and therefore the supreme testimony of his love for us, a love that is specifically expressed as the “yes to life” that God wills for each of his creatures. This “yes to life” finds its fullness in Jesus of Nazareth and in his victory over evil by means of the redemption. In this regard, let us never forget that the Gospel of Jesus, precisely because of the Spirit, cannot be reduced to a mere statement of fact, for it is intended to be “good news for the poor, release for captives, sight for the blind ...”. With what great vitality this was seen on the day of Pentecost, as it became the grace and the task of the Church towards the world, her primary mission!

We are the fruits of this mission of the Church through the working of the Holy Spirit. We carry within us the seal of the Father’s love in Jesus Christ which is the Holy Spirit. Let us never forget this, because the Spirit of the Lord always remembers every individual, and wishes, particularly through you young people, to stir up the wind and fire of a new Pentecost in the world.

5. The Holy Spirit as “Teacher of the interior life”

My dear young friends, the Holy Spirit continues today to act with power in the Church, and the fruits of the Spirit are abundant in the measure in which we are ready to open up to this power that makes all things new. For this reason it is important that each one of us know the Spirit, establish a relationship with Him and allow ourselves to be guided by Him. However, at this point a question naturally arises: who is the Holy Spirit for me? It is a fact that for many Christians He is still the “great unknown”. This is why, as we prepare for the next World Youth Day, I wanted to invite you to come to know the Holy Spirit more deeply at a personal level. In our profession of faith we proclaim: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son” (Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed). Yes, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the love of the Father and of the Son, is the Source of life that makes us holy, “because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” (Rom 5:5). Nevertheless, it is not enough to know the Spirit; we must welcome Him as the guide of our souls, as the “Teacher of the interior life” who introduces us to the Mystery of the Trinity, because He alone can open us up to faith and allow us to live it each day to the full. The Spirit impels us forward towards others, enkindles in us the fire of love, makes us missionaries of God’s charity.

I know very well that you young people hold in your hearts great appreciation and love for Jesus, and that you desire to meet Him and speak with Him. Indeed, remember that it is precisely the presence of the Spirit within us that confirms, constitutes and builds our person on the very Person of Jesus crucified and risen. So let us become familiar with the Holy Spirit in order to be familiar with Jesus.

6. The Sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist

You might ask, how can we allow ourselves to be renewed by the Holy Spirit and to grow in our spiritual lives? The answer, as you know, is this: we can do so by means of the Sacraments, because faith is born and is strengthened within us through the Sacraments, particularly those of Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist, which are complementary and inseparable (cf. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1285). This truth concerning the three Sacraments that initiate our lives as Christians is perhaps neglected in the faith life of many Christians. They view them as events that took place in the past and have no real significance for today, like roots that lack life-giving nourishment. It happens that many young people distance themselves from their life of faith after they have received Confirmation. There are also young people who have not even received this sacrament. Yet it is through the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and then, in an ongoing way, the Eucharist, that the Holy Spirit makes us children of the Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus, members of his Church, capable of a true witness to the Gospel, and able to savour the joy of faith.

I therefore invite you to reflect on what I am writing to you. Nowadays it is particularly necessary to rediscover the sacrament of Confirmation and its important place in our spiritual growth. Those who have received the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation should remember that they have become “temples of the Spirit”: God lives within them. Always be aware of this and strive to allow the treasure within you to bring forth fruits of holiness. Those who are baptized but have not yet received the sacrament of Confirmation, prepare to receive it knowing that in this way you will become “complete” Christians, since Confirmation perfects baptismal grace (cf. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1302-1304).

Confirmation gives us special strength to witness to and glorify God with our whole lives (cf. Rom 12:1). It makes us intimately aware of our belonging to the Church, the “Body of Christ”, of which we are all living members, in solidarity with one another (cf. 1 Cor 12:12-25). By allowing themselves to be guided by the Spirit, each baptized person can bring his or her own contribution to the building up of the Church because of the charisms given by the Spirit, for “to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7). When the Spirit acts, he brings his fruits to the soul, namely “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22). To those of you who have not yet received the sacrament of Confirmation, I extend a cordial invitation to prepare to receive it, and to seek help from your priests. It is a special occasion of grace that the Lord is offering you. Do not miss this opportunity!

I would like to add a word about the Eucharist. In order to grow in our Christian life, we need to be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ. In fact, we are baptized and confirmed with a view to the Eucharist (cf. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1322; Sacramentum Caritatis, 17). “Source and summit” of the Church’s life, the Eucharist is a “perpetual Pentecost” since every time we celebrate Mass we receive the Holy Spirit who unites us more deeply with Christ and transforms us into Him. My dear young friends, if you take part frequently in the eucharistic celebration, if you dedicate some of your time to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Source of love which is the Eucharist, you will acquire that joyful determination to dedicate your lives to following the Gospel. At the same time it will be your experience that whenever our strength is not enough, it is the Holy Spirit who transforms us, filling us with his strength and making us witnesses suffused by the missionary fervour of the risen Christ.

7. The need and urgency of mission

Many young people view their lives with apprehension and raise many questions about their future. They anxiously ask: How can we fit into a world marked by so many grave injustices and so much suffering? How should we react to the selfishness and violence that sometimes seem to prevail? How can we give full meaning to life? How can we help to bring it about that the fruits of the Spirit mentioned above, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (no. 6), can fill this scarred and fragile world, the world of young people most of all? On what conditions can the life-giving Spirit of the first creation and particularly of the second creation or redemption become the new soul of humanity? Let us not forget that the greater the gift of God - and the gift of the Spirit of Jesus is the greatest of all – so much the greater is the world’s need to receive it and therefore the greater and the more exciting is the Church’s mission to bear credible witness to it. You young people, through World Youth Day, are in a way manifesting your desire to participate in this mission. In this regard, my dear young friends, I want to remind you here of some key truths on which to meditate. Once again I repeat that only Christ can fulfil the most intimate aspirations that are in the heart of each person. Only Christ can humanize humanity and lead it to its “divinization”. Through the power of his Spirit he instils divine charity within us, and this makes us capable of loving our neighbour and ready to be of service. The Holy Spirit enlightens us, revealing Christ crucified and risen, and shows us how to become more like Him so that we can be “the image and instrument of the love which flows from Christ” (Deus Caritas Est, 33). Those who allow themselves to be led by the Spirit understand that placing oneself at the service of the Gospel is not an optional extra, because they are aware of the urgency of transmitting this Good News to others. Nevertheless, we need to be reminded again that we can be witnesses of Christ only if we allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit who is “the principal agent of evangelization” (cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi, 75) and “the principal agent of mission” (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 21). My dear young friends, as my venerable predecessors Paul VI and John Paul II said on several occasions, to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness to the faith is more necessary than ever today (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 1). There are those who think that to present the precious treasure of faith to people who do not share it means being intolerant towards them, but this is not the case, because to present Christ is not to impose Him (cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi, 80). Moreover, two thousand years ago twelve Apostles gave their lives to make Christ known and loved. Throughout the centuries since then, the Gospel has continued to spread by means of men and women inspired by that same missionary fervour. Today too there is a need for disciples of Christ who give unstintingly of their time and energy to serve the Gospel. There is a need for young people who will allow God’s love to burn within them and who will respond generously to his urgent call, just as many young blesseds and saints did in the past and also in more recent times. In particular, I assure you that the Spirit of Jesus today is inviting you young people to be bearers of the good news of Jesus to your contemporaries. The difficulty that adults undoubtedly find in approaching the sphere of youth in a comprehensible and convincing way could be a sign with which the Spirit is urging you young people to take this task upon yourselves. You know the ideals, the language, and also the wounds, the expectations, and at the same time the desire for goodness felt by your contemporaries. This opens up the vast world of young people’s emotions, work, education, expectations, and suffering ... Each one of you must have the courage to promise the Holy Spirit that you will bring one young person to Jesus Christ in the way you consider best, knowing how to “give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but [to] do it with gentleness and reverence” (cf. 1 Pet 3:15).

In order to achieve this goal, my dear friends, you must be holy and you must be missionaries since we can never separate holiness from mission (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 90). Do not be afraid to become holy missionaries like Saint Francis Xavier who travelled through the Far East proclaiming the Good News until every ounce of his strength was used up, or like Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus who was a missionary even though she never left the Carmelite convent. Both of these are “Patrons of the Missions”. Be prepared to put your life on the line in order to enlighten the world with the truth of Christ; to respond with love to hatred and disregard for life; to proclaim the hope of the risen Christ in every corner of the earth.

8. Invoking a “new Pentecost” upon the world

My dear young friends, I hope to see very many of you in Sydney in July 2008. It will be a providential opportunity to experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s power. Come in great numbers in order to be a sign of hope and to give appreciative support to the Church community in Australia that is preparing to welcome you. For the young people of the country that will host you, it will be an exceptional opportunity to proclaim the beauty and joy of the Gospel to a society that is secularized in so many ways. Australia, like all of Oceania, needs to rediscover its Christian roots. In the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Oceania, Pope John Paul II wrote: “Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church in Oceania is preparing for a new evangelization of peoples who today are hungering for Christ... A new evangelization is the first priority for the Church in Oceania” (no. 18).

I invite you to give time to prayer and to your spiritual formation during this last stage of the journey leading to the XXIII World Youth Day, so that in Sydney you will be able to renew the promises made at your Baptism and Confirmation. Together we shall invoke the Holy Spirit, confidently asking God for the gift of a new Pentecost for the Church and for humanity in the third millennium.

May Mary, united in prayer with the Apostles in the Upper Room, accompany you throughout these months and obtain for all young Christians a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit to set their hearts on fire. Remember: the Church has confidence in you! We Pastors, especially, pray that you may love and lead others to love Jesus more and more and that you may follow Him faithfully. With these sentiments I bless you all with deep affection.

From Lorenzago, 20 July 2007

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

© Copyright 2007 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Here is the link to the Catholic News Service story on the Pope's message to young people planning to attend WYD 2008 in Australia. Why do I say the Pope goes "Pentecostal"? The theme of the gathering is the Holy Spirit. The Pope tells the youth that they will invoke the Holy Spirit at the gathering and seek a "New Pentecost." Those gathered will renew their Baptism and Confirmation promises. Make no mistake about it: this is the Pope seeking to extend the fruits of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal to all Catholic youth so that they will lead the way in evangelizing the world. Yes, the Pope can "go Pentecostal" because Pentecost is Catholic. For further confirmation (pun intended), see this link to the World Youth Day E-Newsletter.

Note: I recall hearing earlier this year (March, 2007) a veteran Catholic Charismatic leader telling an audience that she had written the Pope asking him to consider having all Catholics renew their Confirmation promises at Pentecost. So I find it very interesting that Benedict is doing precisely that as part of World Youth Day 2008.