Pope: The Church is born from the fire of love, from a "fire" that blazes at Pentecost

At the general audience, Pope Francis explains the event of Pentecost, "God’s eruption" like "wind" and "fire". The word of the apostles, inflamed by the Spirit, speaks the "language of truth and love, which is the universal language: even the illiterate can understand it". "The Holy Spirit is the maker of communion, it is the craftsman of reconciliation". He helps the Church "to go beyond human limits, sins and scandal". Greetings to Asian groups and to the Young Messengers of Peace of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan).

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "The Church is born from the fire of love, from a" fire "that blazes at Pentecost", thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit. It is precisely the Spirit "who unites and harmoniously builds diversity" in the Church; He "is the maker of communion, he is the craftsman of reconciliation who knows how to remove the barriers between Jews and Greeks, between slaves and free, to make one body. He builds the community of believers by harmonizing the unity of the body and the multiplicity of the members. He makes the Church grow by helping it to go beyond human limits, sins and scandal ”.

These are some of the salient phrases of the catechesis that Pope Francis gave this morning at the general audience in St. Peter's Square, on the theme: "Languages ​​like fire. Pentecost and the dynamics of the Spirit that inflames the human word and renders it Gospel ", with reference to the passage from the Acts of the Apostles (2,3).

The pontiff first described the event of Pentecost: "God’s eruption", which "bursts open doors", which presents itself as "a wind that remembers the ruah, the primordial breath"; as "fire, which recalls the burning bush and Sinai"; as capable of giving energy and strength to the "weak" word of Peter.

"The word of the Apostles - he continued - is imbued with the Spirit of the Resurrected and becomes a new, different word, which however can be understood, as if it were translated simultaneously in all languages: in fact" each one heard them speak in their own language "(At 2.6). It is the language of truth and love, which is the universal language: even the illiterate can understand it.

The Holy Spirit not only manifests itself through a symphony of sounds that unites and harmoniously composes differences but presents itself as the orchestra conductor who plays the scores of the praises for the "great works" of God. The Holy Spirit is the creator of communion, the craftsman of reconciliation who knows how to remove the barriers between Jews and Greeks, between slaves and free, to make one body. It builds the community of believers by harmonizing the unity of the body and the multiplicity of the members. It makes the Church grow by helping it to go beyond human limits, sins and any scandal ”.

"The wonder is so great, that some wonder if those men are drunk. Then Peter intervenes on behalf of all the Apostles and rereads that event in the light of Joel 3, where a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit is announced. The followers of Jesus are not drunk, but live what Saint Ambrose calls "the sober intoxication of the Spirit", which turns prophecy through dreams and visions among the people of God. This prophetic gift is not reserved to some, but to all those who invoke the name of the Lord.

From now on the Spirit of God moves hearts to welcome the salvation that passes through a Person, Jesus Christ, the One whom men nailed to the wood of the cross and whom God raised from the dead "freeing him from the pains of death (Acts 2 , 24). It is He who has poured out that Spirit that orchestrates the polyphony of praise that everyone can hear ... Only the Spirit of God ... has the power to humanize and fraternize every context, starting from those who welcome it. "

"We ask the Lord - he concluded - to let us experience a new Pentecost, which expands our hearts and fine tunes our feelings with those of Christ, so that we will not be ashamed to announce his transforming word and witness the power of love that calls to life everything it encounters".

In the greetings to the linguistic groups, Pope Francis greeted some Asian groups from the Middle East, from India, from Indonesia, together with the Young Messengers of Peace group from Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan).