“Indeed, upon my servants and my handmaids I will pour out a portion of my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy” (cf. Joel 3:1-5).

   When St. Peter stands on Pentecost Sunday in front of thousands of devout Jews from around the world and preaches Jesus Christ for the first time, he first points to the miracle of tongues as a sign of God’s presence and power. Every nation heard these backwater hicks from Galilee as if they were at a United Nations conference with those translating headsets. Egyptian, Parthian, Phrygian: all heard the good news of Jesus Christ proclaimed to them in their own language. St. Peter pulls deep in salvation history to when God promised this prophetic outpouring of his Spirit through Joel (800 BC). From this story I want to pull on two threads: their own language and the idea of prophecy.

   Back in the story of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11), when humanity in its pride united to build a tower to the sky to become God’s equal, God descended, confused their language, and scattered them to teach them humility and dependence on him. Since that day, we have ‘babbled’ at each other instead of understanding each other. We know it’s even possible to speak the same language and misunderstand the other person (family dinners come to mind). To bring the nations together again into one family, God therefore temporarily overcomes this language barrier through a miraculous translation. The lesson we can draw from this: in order to understand each other, we must listen to another’s language and speak it ourselves with competency. This applies of course to actual languages within our community (English, Spanish, Polish, Malayalam, Tagalog, etc.), but even more importantly to the culture and personality of the person we’re encountering. If we don’t take the time to listen for the other person’s loves, fears, passions, and perspective, we are unlikely to speak their ‘language’. I have often seen this in well-meaning parents speaking to their children (whether grown or adolescent) about our Catholic faith. I’ve seen it in siblings and cousins, neighbors and friends, coworkers and fellow parishioners. When we don’t know what makes them tick, our words fall like seeds on barren soil. As the disciples knew and spoke the language of their audience miraculously, so we must intentionally learn another’s ‘language’ to meaningfully connect.

   Here enters the idea of prophecy, because meaningful connection in a Catholic context may start with ordinary loves, interests, passions, and perspective, but it doesn’t stop there. Prophets speak for God and before God. They speak for God when they announce his message to another who needs to hear it. They speak before God when they bring that person’s needs back to him. Each baptized Catholic (yes, YOU) has received this outpouring of the Holy Spirit to prophesy. You have the ability and the duty to announce, not any old message, but the good news of the God-Man Jesus Christ Crucified, Risen, and Ascended to the Father. How Christ’s story connects to your audience is where speaking another’s ‘language’ proves necessary. Without that ‘translation’, Christ’s word falls on deaf ears. Without Christ’s story, what’s the point of being Catholic? You are called to prophesy, not in another language or a different part of the world, but to the men and women of Oak Creek and beyond. Learn their loves, their fears, passions, and perspective, and then ask the Spirit to prophesy through you!

   -Fr. Stephen