Thérèse-Marie Potelle (Unit France)
Gift of the Holy Spirit to the nations…
On the occasion of a spiritual time for a group of lay people and priests, I was asked to present the 2nd Pentecost that St. Luke tells us in chapters 10 and 11 of the Acts of the Apostles. This is an event that is essential for the future of the nascent Church.
Chapter 10 tells us about the crossed visions of Peter and Cornelius the centurion and their surprising encounter.
Chapter 11 tells us about Peter’s stormy return to Jerusalem, when he is summoned to give an account of his stay and his actions to the community: he went to stay with the pagans. He ate with them and baptized Cornelius and all his household. What contempt for the Law of Moses and for himself! Then Peter tells the whole story again so that everyone can see that the thing was distinctly from God. The Jesus who had been crucified had been raised from the dead by an intervention of God, who had been appointed judge of the living and the dead, offering forgiveness in his name to ‘everyone who believes in him’. Cornelius and his family believed this amazing news that Peter had given them. God then responded to their faith and the Spirit was poured out on these believers among the Gentiles as it had been on the believers among the Jews at the beginning. Peter understood that God now welcomes everyone who sincerely seeks Him according to the light they possess, regardless of the nation they belong to. God’s grace will now pour out beyond the borders of Israel. The opening of the door of faith is the fulfillment of God’s desire, and no law can be laid down concerning the reception of the Spirit. He blows where he wills and when he wills. God has given to the Gentiles “the conversion that leads to life” As Paul will say, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; this is not your fault, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).
Chapter 11 sums up, if I may say so, Peter’s docility to the Spirit, his listening to the community and the courageous decisions he had to make on several occasions.
Today, do I dare to face the new questions of our hyper-connected world and the new audiences it generates? The Lord expects us to be open to the new that takes us off centre. Am I available to his Spirit to look at and act upon our present reality?
Peter is addressing non-Jews by explaining to them the events that will bring them salvation; he does not insist on the fulfilment of the Scriptures but on the equality of all in the eyes of God. What is my language, my attitude towards those on the way to faith? What adaptations am I called to make in order to transmit a renewed faith to all?
Gailhac exhorts us: “Let your life be a life of faith; let it be an image of the life of Jesus Christ. Let Jesus Christ be represented by all your actions… Nothing resists examples… So, dear children, study Jesus Christ. Have him constantly in your mind, and even more in your heart, so that he may be revealed in all your life. (21 June 1878)
May the Spirit of Pentecost help us!
