During the general audience of 12 July in Paul Vl Hall the Holy Father continued his reflections on the coming of the Holy Spirit.

1. Our knowledge of the Holy Spirit is based on what Jesus tells us about him, especially when he speaks about his own departure and his return to the Father. "When I shall have gone away ...the Holy Spirit will come to you" (cf. Jn 16:7). Christ’s paschal "departure", through the Cross, resurrection and ascension, finds its culmination in Pentecost, that is, in the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, who were "of one accord devoted to prayer" in the Upper Room "together with the Mother of Jesus" (cf. Acts l:14) and the group of persons who formed the nucleus of the original Church.

In that event the Holy Spirit remains the "mysterious" God (cf. Is 45:15), and such he will remain throughout the entire history of the Church and of the world. It could be said that he is "hidden" in the shadow of Christ, the Son-Word one in being with the Father, who in visible form "became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14).

2. In the Incarnation the Holy Spirit is not visibly manifested—he remains the "hidden God"—and he envelops Mary in the mystery. The Angel says to the Virgin, the woman chosen for God’s definitive approach to man: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (Lk 1:35).

Similarly at Pentecost the Holy Spirit "overshadows" the nascent Church, so that under his influence she may be empowered to "announce the mighty works of God" (cf. Acts 2:11). What took place in Mary’s womb in the Incarnation, now finds a further fulfilment. The Spirit operates as the "hidden God", invisible in his person.

3. However, Pentecost is a theophany, that is to say, a powerful divine manifestation, a completion of the manifestation on Mount Sinai, after Israel had gone forth from the bondage of Egypt under the guidance of Moses. According to rabbinical tradition, the manifestation on Mount Sinai occurred fifty days after the Pasch of the Exodus, the day of Pentecost.

"Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly" (Ex 19:18). There was then a manifestation of God’s majesty, of the absolute transcendence of "him who is" (cf. Ex 3 :14). Already at the foot of Mount Horeb Moses had heard from the midst of the burning bush which was not consumed the culmination; through it he wished to infuse into his people faith in his majesty and transcendence and, at the same time, in his immanent presence of "Emmanuel", of "God with us".

At Pentecost there is a theophany which, together with Mary, directly touches the whole Church in its initial nucleus, thus completing the words: "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which are standing is holy ground" (Ex 3:5). Now at the foot of Mount Sinai the Lord said to him: "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to gaze and many of them perish" (Ex 19:21).

4. The theophany of Pentecost is the last of the series of manifestations in which God progressively made himself known to man. With it God’s self-revelation reaches its long process begun under the Old Covenant. If we analyse the details of the event in the Upper Room, recorded in Acts (2:1-13), we find there different elements which recall previous theophanies, especially that of Sinai,which Luke seems to have in mind when describing the descent of the Holy Spirit. The theophany in the Upper Room, according to Luke’s description, takes place by means of phenomena resembling those of Sinai: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1-4).

There are three basic elements marking the event—the sound of a mighty wind, tongues as of fire, and the charism of speaking in other languages. All these are rich in symbolic value which must be borne in mind. In the light of these facts one understands better what the author of Acts had in mind when he said that those present in the Upper Room "were filled with the Holy Spirit ".

5. "A sound like the rush of a mighty wind" . From the linguistic point of view there is an affinity here between the wind (the breath of wind) and "the spirit". In Hebrew, as in Greek, "wind" is a homonym of "spirit" "ruah— pneuma". We read in the Book of Genesis (1:2); "The spirit (ruah) of God was moving over the face of the waters", and in John’s Gospel: "The wind (pneuma blows where it wills" (Jn 3:8).

In the Bible a strong wind "announces" the presence of God. It is the sign of a theophany. "He was seen upon the wings of the wind", we read in the Second Book of Samuel (22:11). "Behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness round about it, and fire flashing forth continually", is the theophany described at the beginning of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (1:4). In particular, the breath of wind is the expression of the divine power which draws forth from chaos the order of creation (cf. Gen 1:2). It is also the expression of the freedom of the Spirit: "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes" (Jn 3:8).

"A sound like the rush of a mighty wind" is the first element of the theophany of Pentecost, a manifestation of the divine power at work in the Holy Spirit.

6. The second element of the Pentecost event is fire: "There appeared to them tongues as of fire" Acts 2: 3).

Fire is always present in the manifestations of God in the Old Testament. We see this in the covenant between God and Abraham (cf. Gen 15:17); likewise when God revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush which was not consumed (cf. Ex 3:2); again, in the column of fire which guided the people of Israel by night through the desert (cf. Ex 13:21-22). Fire is present particularly in the manifestation of God on Mount Sinai (cf. Ex 19:18), and also in the eschatological theophanies described by the prophets (cf. Is 4:5;64:1; Dan 7:9 etc.) Fire, therefore, symbolizes the presence of God. On several occasions Sacred Scripture states that "our God is a consuming fire" (Heb 12:29; Dt 4:24; 9:3). In the rites of holocaust the destruction of the thing offered was of less importance than the "sweet perfume" which symbolized the "raising up" of the offering to God, while fire also called the "minister of God" (cf. Ps 103 [104]:4) symbolized man’s purification from sin just as silver is "refined" and gold is "tested" in the fire (cf. Zech 13:8-9). 

In the theophany of Pentecost there is the symbol of the tongues as of fire which rested on each of those present in the Upper Room. If fire symbolizes God’s presence, the tongues of fire distributed and resting on their heads seem to indicate the "descent" of God the Holy Spirit on those present, the gift of himself to each of them to prepare them for their mission.

The symbolism of the "multiplication of languages"

7. The gift of the Spirit, the fire of God, assumes a particular form that of "tongues", whose meaning is immediately explained when the author adds: "They began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). The words that come from the Holy Spirit are "like fire" (cf. Jer 5:14; 23:29), they have an efficacy that mere human words do not possess. In this third element of the manifestation of God at Pentecost, God the Holy Spirit, in giving himself to men, produces in them an effect which is both real and symbolic. It is real in that it concerns the faculty of speech which is a natural property of man. However, it is also symbolic since these men "from Galilee", while using their own language or dialect, speak "in other languages", so that in the multitude that speedily gathered each one hears "his own language", although representatives of many different people were present (cf. Acts 2:6).

This symbolism of the "multiplication of languages" is very significant. According to the Bible the diversity of languages was the sign of the multiplication of peoples and of nations, and indeed of theirdispersal following on the construction of the tower of Babe (cf. Gen 11:5-9), when the one common language understood by everyone was divided into many languages, thus causing a confusion of mutual incomprehension. Now the symbolism of the tower of Babel is succeeded by that of the languages of Pentecost, which indicates the opposite of that "confusion of languages". One might say that the many incomprehensible languages have lost their specific character, or at least have ceased to be a symbol of division, giving way to the new work of the Holy Spirit, who through the apostles and the Church brings to spiritual unity peoples of different origins, languages and cultures in view of the perfect communion in God announced and implored by Jesus (cf Jn 17:11,21-22).

8. We conclude with the words of Vatican Council II in the Constitution on Divine Revelation: "Christ ...revealed his Father and himself by deeds and words; and by his death, resurrection and glorious ascension, as well as by sending the Holy Spirit completed his work. Lifted up from the earth he draws all men to himself (cf. Jn 10:32), for he alone has the words of eternal life (cf. Jn 6:68). This mystery was not made known to other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit (cf. Eph 3:4-6), that they might preach the Gospel, stir up faith in Jesus Christ and the Lord, and bring together the Church". (DV, 17). This is the great work of the Holy Spirit and of the Church in human hearts and in history.