Friends
Peace be with you.
On my recent pilgrimage in the footsteps of Jacques Marquette, I read in his biography that, at the time of his death, he could speak six different native American languages along with his native French. It started when he arrived in Quebec where he learned three and continued when he was assigned to Sault Ste. Marie along what is today the American/Canadian border. He sought to meet and get to know Native Americans in order to learn their language as a way to evangelize. While living and evangelizing members of the Ojibwa Tribe, he met a member of the Illinois Tribe who was seeking to trade with them. He talked with him, learned his language, and, in the process, Marquette became convinced that there was, among the Illinois tribe, an unusually large understanding of the notion of God as creator, which he could use to explain the incarnation, God coming among us. So, when Joliette needed a spiritual advisor to explore the Mississippi River, it was obvious the polyglot preacher would be a good companion. But, Marquette was intent on reaching out to the people of the Illinois Tribe, not only because of their openness to the creator, but because of the numbers purported to be in the tribe. He met with Tribal leaders in several places in this area. All along, when the group would encounter a Native American Tribe, he would seek out anyone who spoke Illinois, as that was more prevalent than the other five languages he spoke and he knew he wasn’t going to have the months and years necessary to learn their language. It was on his return to St. Ignace, Michigan, where he had established a tribal settlement with the Ojibwa that he got sick somewhere near present day North Utica, Illinois, close to Chicago. He celebrated a Mass there for 5000 members of the Illinois Tribe and, despite being sick, evangelized them and even established a make-shift chapel. When he left them, he promised that either he or someone else would come to continue his work. Unfortunately, Marquette died on the trip back and it would be several years before his dream of a mission in North Utica. However, if you travel there today, you will find St. Mary’s Church, what used to be St. Mary’s Mission, dedicated in to the memory of the Immaculate Conception, an feast Marquette especially cherished, and you will find priests continuing to reach out to the people to let them know of the truth of the gospel.
Today is Pentecost, a time when we remember the Holy Spirit coming upon the Apostles as tongues of Fire. It gives them the power to speak in tongues. Notice something that happens in the first reading. The Apostles speak but the people in each of these groups hear them in their native language. Now, it’s possible that Peter spoke in Parthian and James spoke in Mede and John spoke in Elamite and so on until everyone had someone speaking in their native language. However, it appears more like somehow the Holy Spirit bestowed a gift on the people similar to the way universal translators work on Star Trek, which, if you don’t know what that means, let me explain. On Star Trek, no matter what language the Alien species speaks, it gets automatically and instantaneously translated to English. Imagine we’re standing in New York by a group of people who only speak Spanish, another who only speak Chinese, another who speak only Arabic, and a group speaking only an African language and suddenly an announcement is made where everyone could understand it. That’s Pentecost. But, as great as the idea of a universal translator is, it is the content of the translation that’s important. They are learning of the mighty acts of God. And, right after this, Peter stands up and makes the first Papal Encyclical in chapters 2 and 3 of the Acts of the Apostles and he is understood by them all because of the Holy Spirit.
Our readings reveal to us three related aspects of the Holy Spirit. First the Spirit unites us, as it did at Pentecost. But, in the second reading, St. Paul emphasizes that the Spirit unites us with a variety of charisms. Each of us have been given different gifts for building up the body of Christ. It’s a kind of unity that allows for the diversity necessary for the health of the body. If each of us had the charism of administration, for instance, then everyone would be a leader and no one would be led. If everyone were given the gift of prophecy, which tends to have a kind of harsh warning quality to it, it could lead to the kind of conflict that happens on a political talk show. The Spirit gives a variety of gifts to recognize and celebrate the diversity of the community. This means we shouldn’t be jealous or mock someone else’s gifts but we should celebrate them, even if they make us feel a little uncomfortable. Sometimes, we may be around someone who seems to have faith that is so simple, almost foolish, in this complex world. Instead of mocking them or gossiping about them, we should celebrate someone who has been given the Spirit’s gift of faith.
The final gift the Spirit gives to us is that the Spirit leads us to truth. Truth comes from the Father and is the inheritance of the Son. But, if we have faith, it is offered to us by him in the Spirit to us, the adopted sons and daughters of God. In a world that celebrates all things as being only subjectively true, your truth versus my truth, the Spirit tells us that truth is truth. Marquette knew this better than anyone. He knew that, by spreading the gospel among the various Native American tribes to whom he was called, he was offering them the truth of salvation through Christ. We need to hear this message today more than ever. And we need Catholic schools, like Marquette, that are free to teach the truth of the Gospel along with the truths of math and science, sports and drama.
The Spirit is powerfully unitive, but in a way that fosters diversity. Let’s pray that the Spirit will unite us as members of the Body of Christ in truth while fostering the diversity of Gifts she offers.
