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The Nuclear Energy of the Church - Acts 2:12-21 Just Imagine the power of the church if everyone were filled with God's love! By Father Raniero Cantalamessa Part 3 of a 5 part series We have looked at the first two scenes of the Pentecost drama. The third scene begins like this: Then Peter stood up with the eleven and addressed them in a loud voice. "Men of Judea and all of you who live in Jerusalem. Make no mistake about this. But listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk as you imagine. Why, it is only the third hour of the day. On the contrary, this is what the prophet was saying. In the last days the Lord declares, 'I shall pour out my Spirit on all humanity. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy. Your young people shall see visions. Your old people shall dream dreams. Even on the slaves, men and women shall I pour out my Spirit." I am convinced this is more than just a quotation St. Peter took from Joel, from a dead prophet. This is a living word which is spoken here in the last days. This really means in the years after the Vatican Council, when the Lord has been pouring out his Holy Spirit on all humanity. He's still doing it. Old people are dreaming dreams; the young are seeing visions. Endowed for Ministry Once when I was speaking in the papal household where there are very many old people-old cardinals-I quoted this prophecy of Joel and said: Oh, how beautiful for the church to have these old people in the church who dream dreams, dreams of a new humanity, a new church, not of a church always oppressed and fearful, like the apostles before Pentecost. No, if such wonderful dreams are being dreamt in the church, it makes us think that we are headed for a new century, a new millennium full of the work of the Holy Spirit. And why? Because Jesus is alive. Jesus is Lord. Not because we are particularly clever, cleverer than our predecessors. No, but because Jesus promised that we would do works even greater than what he did. Why is this particular scene important in the account of Pentecost? It tells us about the importance of the charisma, and here the problem is charisma. God wants to pour out his Holy Spirit, not only to change people's hearts, to transform people and make them holy, but also to endow them for ministry-prophecy, teaching, visions; all kinds of charisma have been poured out on the church. We know that, at least in our Catholic Church, charisma were a little (not to say a lot) neglected. We stressed the importance of the sacraments, of the word of God, of the ordained ministry, and the hierarchy of the church. Very seldom did we speak about charisma. We could say, in fact, that the Holy Spirit works in two different directions: from above, through the channels which are the sacraments, and also from the bottom, through any baptized Christian. I dare to say that the charisma are the nuclear energy of the church. Why? Nuclear energy is the energy hidden in any cell of uranium; the charisma are an energy which is present in any cell of the body of Christ, that means in any baptized Christian, in any lay man or lay woman. And imagine what the power of the church would be if we were able to exploit this energy which has been left unemployed in the church. If Only all God's People were Prophets The Vatican Council (in Lumen Gentium) said very clearly that the Holy Spirit not only sanctifies the people of God through the sacraments and the ministries; he also distributes all kinds of charisma, thus enabling people to serve the body of Christ in many different ministries. Certainly this is a matter which calls for collaboration between clergy and lay people in the church today. It is not an easy task. It is something very new in the church for lay people to take more responsibility. For me it is always a joy to see lay people and deacons serving the church in different ministries of service. It's a great joy. Of course this achievement is not always an easy one. The clergy must grow in understanding and appreciating lay people's ministries, and vice versa. But it is very necessary. There was an incident in the Old Testament where Moses ordained seventy elders and the Holy Spirit was transmitted to them (Numbers 11:21-30). Two men (named Eldad and Medad) who were not present in the place where Moses was ordaining, received the Holy Spirit nevertheless. Joshua, a kind of deacon to Moses, ran to Moses saying: "Quick, come. Eldad and Medad are prophesying without having received from you the Holy Spirit. Tell them to be silent, to keep quiet." I like this passage and you can imagine why. This scene is being repeated today. The Holy Spirit has been poured out to people outside the ordained ministry, to many Eldads and Medads who weren't ordained by the bishop. And, of course, there are people like Joshua today who want to say to the Pope, for instance: "Tell these charismatic people to keep quiet. They have been not regularly ordained." What did Moses answer and what does the Holy Father answer today to people who are in this position? Moses replied: "If only all God's people were prophets and God would give them the Spirit." He was very happy, no matter what happened. 'Would that all God's people were prophets," he said. This series continues in: The Center of Evangelism: Acts 2:22-36 Back to Fr. Cantalamessa's Scripture series page This series first appeared in The WORD AMONG US, A DAILY APPROACH TO PRAYER & SCRIPTURE, and is used with permission. For further information contact them at: www.wau.org
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