Auden: the miracle of Pentecost

Sunday, June 5, 2022
    Pentecost
    Feast of Boniface (Wynfrith) of Crediton, Archbishop of Mainz, Apostle of Germany, Martyr, 754
Meditation:
    All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
    —Acts 2:4-6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is extraordinary that sects of religious enthusiasts, from the Montanists down to the Catholic Apostolics, should have imagined that to make verbal noises which nobody else could understand was evidence of Divine Inspiration, a repetition of the miracle of Pentecost. What happened at Pentecost was exactly the opposite, the miracle of instantaneous translation—everybody could understand when everybody else was saying.
    ... W. H. Auden (1907-1973), A Certain World, London: Faber and Faber, 1971, p. 170 (see the book)
    See also Acts 2:4-11; Isa. 28:11; Acts 10:44-46
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, with You there are no barriers. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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