This morning at Vigils, after a series of scriptural readings centered on the Spirit, we heard a Pentecost homily by Dom Christian de Chergé, one of seven Cistercian monks who were killed by Islamicist terrorists in Algeria in 1996. Later in the day I read that a film by Xavier Beauvois about these men had won a grand prix at Cannes. Here is a link to a newspaper account of the win and here is a link to a couple of extracts on YouTube.
Here is the text of the Pentecost homily Christian preached a few years before his death:
People of all languages, races, colors and cultures begin to sing together of the wonderful works of God, so much so that this symphony seems to have rediscovered the harmony of all creation.
Let us, as Christians of today, welcome this symbol of the fiery tongue which is meant to put our tongue at the service of the Word of God and our heart at the service of his Spirit, so that there may be, as St Benedict desired for his disciples, perfect harmony between our heart and what our lips profess, this bond which in God unites the Word and the Spirit.
What is Pentecost? It is the great revelation of the Spirit, after that of the Father in creation and of the Son in the Incarnate Word, and that revelation of the Spirit will unveil for us the Father and the Son, for the Spirit is the one who alone reveals God -- that is exactly why he remains hidden, un-graspable, just like the mystery which he must speak.
If he reveals himself, it can only be by way of symbol, and these symbols are elements in movement: the tongue and the fire, like the dove or the wind or living water.
The tongue of fire which symbolizes the gift and the presence of the Spirit came to rest on each one of the apostles. It is a personal gift, destined for each person, which manifests the vocation of each to be indwelt by the Spirit of God or, still better, to enter into the vocation of the Holy Spirit, which is to be a revealer of God. It is the whole person who becomes a revealer of God (better than a book) and the apostles enter concretely into that call:
- They go forth to transmit Christ, that is to say, the Word of God, to us, to be its interpreters, to be bearers of the Word. The tongue rediscovers its raison d'etre, which is to speak to the Father the words of the Son with the profundity of the Spirit.
- They are identified, by their very being, with him to whom they testify: the Spirit, who enables them to work still greater miracles. In the fire that has been enkindled in their hearts, the imitation of Jesus Christ, made possible by the Spirit, is the revelation of God and of his design for mankind.
When the Spirit had not yet come, the words of Jesus came up against closed hearts.
When the Spirit had not yet come, the brothers and sisters of Jesus, the multitude, came up against hearts that were hardened, or fearful, or trapped in prejudices of race, language, color, nation...
The tongue of fire thus makes a person into a Revelation of the Word and the Love which are in God. But that is only possible if the person is set in motion, like the Spirit, and enters into the very movement of the Spirit. Pentecost is the whole person who must be put in movement: interior movement towards the Word who draws us to the Father, exterior movement towards the multitude, because one's tongue draws one to share with others, and the fire in one's heart must be spread.
Thus the Spirit sets us in movement towards the other, a movement of intellect and a movement of the heart, because we are made to speak the same language, to find ourselves on the same wave length, and the dialogue, the sharing in communion, will never have an end.
The Spirit sets us in movement as he did Mary, setting out in haste for the first Visitation of the Church, welcoming the pledge of the Spirit in Elizabeth, giving rise to the Magnificat!
The Spirit sets us in movement towards each person, a tongue of fire moving ever closer to another tongue of fire, and saying: "In every encounter I must make the effort to join the `little flame' put in each one."
Revelation, the movement of Pentecost, is all that!
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