The Elements of the New American Pentecost

by Fr. Roger J. Landry - April 25, 2008

During his apostolic pilgrimage, Pope Benedict, conveyed repeatedly that in celebrating the "bicentennial of a watershed in the history of the Church in the United States, its first great chapter of growth," he was looking gratefully backward only to guide us courageously and faithfully forward.

He rejoiced at the 200th anniversary of the formation of the first American Archdiocese in Baltimore and its first four daughter dioceses, including Boston. He marveled at the "impressive growth" of the Catholic Church in America over the past two centuries. From the tiny scattered flock of priests and faithful led by Archbishop John Carroll of Baltimore in 1808, the Church in the U.S. has "grown to maturity," as seen, among other indications, in the 195 dioceses, 19,000 parishes, 8,000 Catholic schools and universities, and 4,400 Catholic health care facilities, which "have been built up in fidelity to the twin commandment of love of God and love of neighbor" and have "contributed significantly to the growth of American society as a whole."

Looking at this historical flourishing, the Holy Father was brought to see "the growth of the Church in America as one chapter in the greater story of the Church's expansion following the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost." The history of the Church in the United States, the Pope said in Yankee Stadium, is a long succession of "spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God" under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He noted the sacrifices of so many immigrants who came to our shores with no money in their pockets but the treasure of immense faith in their hearts, the "countless fathers and mothers who passed on the faith to their children, the steady ministry of the many priests who devoted their lives to the care of souls, and the incalculable contribution made by so many men and women religious, who not only taught generations of children how to read and write, but also inspired in them a lifelong desire to know God, to love him and to serve him."

Pope Benedict said that the last 200 years of the Church in the United States can be symbolized in the image of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, which was built "to remind the young Church in America of the great spiritual tradition to which it was heir, and to inspire it to bring the best of that heritage to the building up of Christ's body in this land." That munificent edifice is a tangible sign not only of the splendor of the Catholic faith that points us to heaven and helps us to pray, and not only of the "lasting legacy of faith and good works" of the Catholics who built it, but also a clear call to Catholics in every age that God is worth our very best.

For the Holy Father, the celebration of this bicentennial is the occasion for "the Church in the United States … to look to the future, firmly grounded in the faith passed on by previous generations, and ready to meet new challenges … with the hope born of God's love, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit." It is the opportunity for the Lord to make of us real "living stones" (1 Pet 2:5) built up into a spiritual house of faith far more resplendent even than St. Patrick's. "This, dear friends," he said on Saturday, "is the particular challenge which the Successor of Saint Peter sets before you. As 'a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,' follow faithfully in the footsteps of those who have gone before you!"

The whole point of his trip, he said at St. Patrick's, was to "implore from God the grace of a new Pentecost for the Church in America. May tongues of fire, combining burning love of God and neighbor with zeal for the spread of Christ's Kingdom, descend on all present!"

The constitutive elements of this new Pentecost, Pope Benedict stressed at the Mass at Nationals Park in Washington, are found in the first Pentecost.

On that day, St. Peter and the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, burst through the closed doors of the Upper Room, and preached to the multitudes assembled from every nation. Each of them heard St. Peter speaking in his own language (Acts 2:6). This points, Pope Benedict says, to the unity that the Holy Spirit seeks to bring about in every age. Despite the diversity of languages and cultures, the Holy Spirit seeks to achieve the unity in Christ's body for which Christ himself prayed on Holy Thursday (John 17). It is clear, as Jesus himself said, that a "house divided against itself cannot stand" (Mt 12:25).

For a new Pentecost in the United States, therefore, we first need the Holy Spirit's help to overcome all divisions in the Church. One disunity is racial, which leads some to see, for example in immigrants or Catholics of other ethnic groups, strangers rather than siblings. Another conflict comes in doctrine, in which "the one faith" proclaimed by St. Paul (Eph 5) is rent asunder by those who choose not to adhere to the fullness of the Catholic faith. Another is liturgical, in which the supreme sacrament of the Church's unity becomes a battleground. A last division is in Christian life, when some people practice their faith on Sundays but not on workdays, often acting contrary to the teachings of the faith at work, as if there were a split between faith and life. Pope Benedict prayed that his visit would be an occasion "for all Catholics to reaffirm their unity in the apostolic faith."

The second element of the new Pentecost is found in St. Peter's actual message on Pentecost Sunday: "Repent … for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). Without conversion and absolution, neither the first Christians nor we will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit necessary for the renewal and expansion of the Church. Pope Benedict said that he had come to "proclaim anew" the first pope's "urgent call to conversion and the forgiveness of sins and to implore from the Lord a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church in this country."

This call to conversion and forgiveness is the context for his repeated sorrowful confession and ecclesial firm purpose of amendment with regard to the shameful sins of the sexual abuse of minors. Without acknowledging, repenting, amending and doing penance for these sins that have hurt so many people and wounded the Church as a whole, there can be no rebirth of the Church.

But the same goes for all sins. The Church as a whole cannot be renewed, the Pope added, without every American Catholic's allowing the Holy Spirit to bring him or her to conversion and to the forgiveness lavishly given in the sacrament of Penance. "The liberating power of this sacrament," Pope Benedict underlined, "needs to be rediscovered and reappropriated by every Catholic. To a great extent, the renewal of the Church in America depends on the renewal of the practice of Penance and the growth in holiness which that sacrament both inspires and accomplishes."

The final element for the new Pentecost is based on these first two: the ardent proclamation of Christ, the Good News incarnate. "In every time and place," the Holy Father said, "the Church is called to grow in unity through constant conversion to Christ… This unity, in turn, gives rise to an unceasing missionary outreach, as the Spirit spurs believers to proclaim 'the great works of God' and to invite all people to enter the community of those saved by the blood of Christ and granted new life in his Spirit."

This unity of vision and purpose — "rooted in faith and a spirit of constant conversion and self-sacrifice" — Pope Benedict said was the "secret" of the impressive growth of the Church in our country over the past two centuries.

It is the open secret for the rebirth of the Church now.

Father Roger J. Landry is pastor of St. Anthony of Padua in New Bedford, MA and Executive Editor of The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River.