Like much of the New Testament, the story of Pentecost has Old Testament roots. Genesis 11 records how the human race disobeyed God's command to spread throughout the world: they settled in Babel and built the tower. In punishment God confused human language so that human beings could no longer understand each other. When Luke tells us that the people gathered before Peter and the Apostles each heard them speaking in his own language, he is teaching us that the punishment of Babel is being reversed. By the presence of the Spirit we can communicate once more. Where human disobedience led to great disunity, we can be united again as one humanity because Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven to send the Spirit upon the Church. It is the Spirit who leads us to a recovery of lost unity.

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to remind us of all that He had taught. The language of Jesus was a language of love. That is what we must hear and learn. When it has been accepted as the common language of all humanity, Jesus' language of love will allow us to communicate with each other and to grow in unity.