The Tower of Babel and Pentecost

Do you remember this story from Genesis 11: 1-9 when the people tried to congregate in one spot and build a tower to heaven rather than inhabit and fill the earth? God sees this as a sin of pride and arrogance that the people are ignoring his command from Genesis 1:28 to “fill the earth.” So God decides to confuse their language to upset their plan. The people cannot understand each other so they give up on their idea and the tower of Babel was never completed. We have to remember that it is not the language that separates people but our pride.

Then at Pentecost what happened at Babel is reversed. In the Acts of the Apostles chapter 2 the Holy Spirit enables everyone to understand what the apostles are saying even though they are from different lands. God wants the Good News to be proclaimed to all so we can all have the opportunity to reach Heaven. The Good News is universal and unites everyone we encounter no matter what language we speak.

At Pentecost we celebrate the birth of the Church and along with that we remember the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit that enabled the apostles to speak so everyone could understand them. The 7 gifts are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, piety and respect. And the 12 fruits are: charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, endurance, mildness, faith, modesty, continence and chastity. These are all virtues and they are powerful and rare in our world today.

To celebrate the fruits of the Holy Spirit why don’t you serve a 12 fruit salad for dinner on Pentecost? You could serve it with a simple dressing of honey, and fresh lime juice with some ginger or mint for seasoning.