In today’s first readings, from the Acts of the Apostles, God speaks in wind and fire to “devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.” The noise, driving wind, and fiery tongues evoke the beginnings of the nation Israel at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19-20. Moreover, some church fathers interpreted each Jew seeing his own language universally understood as a reversal of the multiple languages that separated humans at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). The outpouring of the Spirit in Acts is the birthday of the church, proclaiming by its symbols and history the triumphant effects of Christ’s resurrection. 

Catholics may be a bit surprised by the constant emphasis on the Holy Spirit in all three lectionary readings. Accustomed to being guided by the magisterium, “the living, teaching office of the Church, whose task is to give as authentic interpretation of the word of God,” Catholics may underestimate the hidden force of God’s Spirit in their own life and in their church’s life. Such inattention would have riled St. Paul who never tired of insisting that each community he founded was enlivened by the Spirit. The earliest followers of Jesus believed that he was present in their midst through the Spirit. They understood, with fellow Christians in the Mediterranean basin, that “spirit,” Greek pneuma, was the equivalent of Hebrew rûaḥ. Both words have the basic meaning “air in movement, blowing, breathing,” which can readily extend to “that which gives life to the body, breath,” and to “God’s being as controlling influence especially on humans.” Like the wind, Spirit is invisible, except for its effects. In biblical usage, however, it is capable of entering into the innermost parts of humans and influencing their thinking and action. 

A touching illustration of the Spirit in action is the Gospel of John when Jesus calls his disciples together, including those who abandoned him when he was arrested. No recriminations, simply “Peace be with you.” “And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Like God to Adam in the garden, God Breathed on them.

Richard Clifford, S.J., has taught biblical studies for 55 years, most recently at the Clough School of Theology and Ministry, Boston College, and has written many scholarly and popular books and articles.