A Reflection on Pentecost Sunday

I was in Third Grade, and my teacher was a lady who hated the word “stuff.” She said that there was always a better word to replace it with, and that was why we should learn and memorize our vocabulary.

A little later on in life, in sixth grade, I had a Reading teacher who would explain to us why cursing was bad. It wasn’t your typical “it’s taking the name of the Lord in vain,” although that was emphasized. She said that whenever you curse, there was always a better way to express yourself, and that cursing actually limits your vocabulary because you tend to stick to what is comfortable, and when you are comfortable cursing, it becomes a part of  your speech that is difficult to remove as you grow older.

So why did I open with those two stories? I wanted to focus today’s post on language and expression in the context of Pentecost Sunday. As the story goes, the Apostles and disciples, along with Mama Mary, were hiding in a room because they feared persecution. Since the Ascension (last weekend), they grew restless and uneasy without Jesus’ physical presence. But Jesus brought them peace and gave them a beautiful gift: The Gift of Tongues.

Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of the Church, and just recently, I started considering it my spiritual birth as well. Yes, I know technically my Baptism was the moment I was united to the Church, but allow me to explain. That same Third Grade teacher had assigned us to write about Pentecost Sunday for homework, and as I was remembering this homework assignment in prayer, I had a flashback to my writing it. I remember being so moved at the idea of the Gift of Tongues. Language, at least to 9-year-old me, was such a barrier sometimes, and I wished I could speak another language. I had been taking Mandarin classes at that point, but I could barely speak it. What a gift it would be fluent in another language! Well, dear readers, I ended up putting a great deal of effort into the coloring on the page and making sure my handwriting was as neat as possible. I ended up getting a 5 on the assignment (the highest grade possible was a 5, by the way…and they were not given easily). I still cannot remember exactly what the comment on my paper said, but it was something along the line of “you really have a gift for writing, and you shouldn’t ignore the gift you have for Religion!”

Looking back, it was because of this very assignment that I started really paying attention in Religion class. Not that I wasn’t paying attention before – as those who know me personally understand, I have always loved learning for the sake of learning – but I started really feeling God in my heart. I couldn’t explain it back then, but it was without a doubt the Holy Spirit. Like I said before, I know I was united to Him in Baptism, but this was the point in my life when I started sensing and responding to it.

It was at this young age that I started being fascinated by languages, both because of this assignment and because of the ban on the word “stuff.” It is incredible how I forgot for so many years the origin of my love of both languages and the faith. And it makes so much sense! The love of God and languages is one of my core personality traits, and it is crystal clear to me as to why that is. I don’t know what that means for my life, but so far, it has led me to study Latin and French! Learning another language helps you speak your native tongue better, and I have found that it allows me to communicate better with those who don’t speak English as their first language. Something about understanding parts of a sentence and how different languages construct their sentences really opens your eyes to understand how a whole culture looks at things.

A classic example of this is the English phrase: I miss you. In French, the phrase is: Tu me manques. This translates to “You are missing from me.” Manquer is also the word for “lack.” I have a blog post that uses this word in a concrete way, but for this post, I am focusing on the idea of language as a whole.

Anyway, I could write so much about Pentecost, but I will leave this one final thought. As we are all staying in place because of the pandemic, it is helpful to know that the Holy Spirit is still moving in us. With Jesus in Heaven and Mary with us, we can open ourselves up to learning new languages or reading about different cultures. The tongues of fire (literally…it has been so warm lately) will descend upon us and bless us so that we can communicate better with those who we don’t think would understand us.

This message of communication shaped and formed my life so gently that I didn’t even notice until I stopped to meditate on it. I would encourage you all to do the same if you have the time!

Thoughtfully,