Acts 2:1-11
Chapter 2
Pentecost
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.Suddenly, a sound like a strong rushing wind came from the sky, filling the entire house where they were sitting.
Tongues appeared as if of fire, splitting apart and resting on each of them.
All were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them.
People from every nation under heaven stayed in Jerusalem, including religious Jews.
When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered excitedly because each person heard them speaking in his own language.
Filled with amazement and wonder, they asked: “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
How is it that we hear them in our own native language?
Here are Parthians, Medes and Elamites; and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia; Pontus and Asia;
Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt; and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene; along with visitors from Rome;
both Jews and foreigners who accept Jewish beliefs, Cretans and Arabians; and all of us hear them proclaiming in our own language what God the Savior does.”
Commentaries
Pentecost.
Luke recounts the most important event in this work: Pentecost, or the birth of the Church. How can such an extraordinary event be described? First, he places it in time during the Jewish feast of “weeks” or Shavuot, 50 days after Easter, when the Lord gives the Law to Moses. For Christians, the coming of the Spirit marks the start of a new covenant with all humanity. The Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus, acts within and through the communities of his disciples. Those who heard their testimony were converted. Thus, a new community of men and women formed, living in brotherhood, united in prayer, in solidarity in their daily lives, sharing everything, and rejoicing in the Gospel. Luke aims to convey the meaning, scope, and consequences of the Holy Spirit’s arrival for that community and for the entire world. Then, the scene shifts. The disciples appear to be outside a house, before a gathered crowd from many nations, listening in amazement as the apostles speak in their own languages. The diversity of the crowd, which Luke emphasizes, reveals the Gospel’s openness to all nations and cultures.