Crunching numbers can sometimes provide needed clarity; so, we have on the count 1,989 years. That’s how long it has been since the Catholic Church was born, and today is her birthday. Before that first Pentecost day, the Church had lived in the ‘womb’ of the Spirit, undergoing varied stages of development. These stages are represented by different images such as: a covenant people, a pilgrim people, a troop of God, people of God (or Israel), etc. In these nascent but real forms, God was gradually revealing Himself and entering into relationship with humanity. For example, with Adam and Eve, He showed Himself a lover who couldn’t keep His love hidden, rather revealed His image in us; with Noah, He was a peacemaker renewing humanity that had gone astray; with Abraham, He showed Himself as one who surrounds His people with bountiful gifts and blessings in their sojourn; with Moses, He became a deliverer of His pilgrim people from oppression and the lover of law and order; with David, He was the great conqueror who brought many nations to Himself; and finally in Jesus, He shows Himself as one who loves to the extent of giving His life for the beloved. Pentecost makes God’s love universal or catholic, so it could reach the whole world.
Jesus’ earthly sojourn was for 33 years, leading to His death and resurrection after three days. He ascended into heaven 40 days later, and ten days after His Ascension, He sent the Holy Spirit to give birth to the Church—exactly fifty days after the new Passover. The Passover is a Jewish feast commemorating their deliverance by God from slavery in Egypt. Following the Passover, the Jews celebrate Shavout (Pentecost), an agricultural feast that comes 50 days after Passover in the Jewish calendar to commemorate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, fifty days after the exodus. When we celebrate Pentecost today, we reenact in a more universal sense the deliverance of God’s new people (the Church) from slavery to sin and death—our own Egypt—through the passion, death and Resurrection of Christ. We celebrate today, fifty days after our new Passover (or Easter) when the Holy Spirit gave birth to the Church. That first Pentecost, which was originally a Jewish harvest festival but recreated by God to renew the face of the earth in a new harvest of regeneration is what we celebrate today as the birthday of the Catholic Church.
It is with full intentionality that I call today the Birthday of the Catholic Church. Pentecost is not for Pentecostals, anymore than baptism is for Baptists. Pentecost is intrinsically a Catholic feast. Jesus’ last words before He ascended into heaven was asking the disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they received the Promise of the Father. In obedience to Jesus—but also out of fear of the Jews—they locked themselves up in the cenacle until today. As if some great fire was kindled in them, they arose today, left the Upper Room and went out to speak openly. They lost all fear of being arrested; but some other power had arrested them. Their listeners that day were people from many languages who gathered for the festival, and each of them heard the words of the apostles in his or her own native language. The first time language created a barrier between people was at Babel. Pentecost was an undoing of Babel, creating one universal language that all could hear. Universal is a translation of the Greek word “katolikos,” from which we get the word catholic. It was only as catholic that the Gospel could be preached and reach the whole world.
The Gospel today has the risen Lord breathing new life on His apostles. Recall that the first mention of God’s breath was in Genesis 2:7 when He breathe life into lifeless Adam, making him a living being. In like manner, the risen Lord would breathe new life to His apostles from whom life had been sucked. Pentecost for us, too, is a fresh breathe giving us the new life of the Spirit so that we may, in turn, renew the face of the earth. Happy Birthday!
Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo