The Pentecost mystery of many languages united by one Spirit didn't just happen in Jerusalem so many centuries ago. One of the great beauties of the church is that many languages, nationalities, and peoples are united Sunday after Sunday in a great prayer of thanksgiving to the God who gives us every good gift. It is the Spirit of Christ that makes us one, even as we pray that we "may be filled with his Holy Spirit, and become one body, one spirit in Christ" (Eucharistic Prayer 3). The

very fact the church gathers in so many languages is a great sign of the unifying action of the Holy Spirit. We thank God for all the blessings poured out on us, each in our own tongue. And rather than it being a cacophony, the Spirit weaves our prayer together as we cry out "Abba, Father," as Paul writes in today's selection from his Letter to the Romans.

If the Holy Spirit prompts us all-no matter what race, language, or nationality-to call upon God as our Father, then indeed the Spirit invites us to see others who are baptized as our brothers and sisters. So on this great feast, think of all who are brother and sister to us because they too are baptized in Christ and call on God as our Father.

Jesus said to his disciples: "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him."

- John 14:23