“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. John 15:26

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:4

Today we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost and we commemorate the day of the Holy Spirit by reading the gospels in different languages. It is our liturgical attempt to relive that glorious moment. It gives us a feeling of excitement and diversion. I am sure that the first disciples would have never used these words. Maybe they might have said confusing or even disturbing. Too many radical things had occurred in a short span of time. There was too much to process for any human being. They knew that Jesus was unique and special. He had changed everything in this world. They also knew that it was something that needed to be shared. At the same time, they were clueless on how to communicate everything they knew to the world. Therefore, it is not surprising that the first sign of the presence of Holy Spirit was the freeing of their tongues to break all barriers between humanity. The disciples were relieved from the burden: the weight of knowing the answer without being able to express it. Now, the Holy Spirit has overcome this obstacle. We can share the Answer to Humanity’s deepest and most profound question. The Holy Spirit has revealed that the words will come to us to communicate that Jesus is the Answer!

Once Mary and I were sitting on the steps talking with the youth when a complete stranger came to us and said, “The answer to all your problems is Jesus.” The children politely agreed and then waited for the person to leave. Immediately they continued with their conversation as if nothing had happened. In reality, nothing did happen. The person merely pronounced some empty words. She gave us an answer without knowing the question. No one doubted her sincerity neither did anyone pay attention to her message. Nothing was communicated. She perhaps believed that she was fulfilling her religious obligation. Nevertheless, Jesus did not send His disciples to fulfill a religious duty. He sent them out to heal the souls of people who were desperately seeking for the Answer to their soul’s deepest longing. The first step in healing is to listen to those who are suffering.

I am always amazed in the gospels the number of times when Jesus asked someone who was blind or lame, what they desired. I thought that it was obvious that they wanted to be healed. However, Jesus did not assume this. He did not think that he knew their’s deepest longing. He wanted them to express it. In a way, it prepared them to receive the healing. The early disciples knew this. They knew that having the answer alone was not enough. They needed to know the deep existential question that plagues the soul of every individual before they could administer the healing. Without knowing this, there is nothing significant to communicate. It would be a grave mistake to assume to know the question. No one can know the questions of another person’s soul except God’s spirit as St Paul explains in the verses above. Before we open our mouths to proclaim the answer, we need to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit first in order to know the question.

Recently Bruno and I were having a light hearted conversation about our strange habits. I told him that I have a habit of falling asleep on the public bus. Once I take a seat, I go into deep sleep. There were countless times that I missed my stop and ended up in the bus terminal being woken up by the driver. Bruno laughed and shared that he does the same thing. He told me that when he was young, he loved riding on the public bus with his mother for this very reason. He found the rumbling of the bus’ engine comforting and it never failed to soothe him to sleep. He added that many times his mother would take this opportunity to leave him on the bus and go home without him. He said that he always found his way home much to the chagrin of his mother. She would always make excuses that she completely forgot to wake him. He said that he knew that she was just trying to get rid of him. He was smiling when he shared this. It was his funny story even though it was extremely poignant. Bruno did not want me to feel sorry for him. He wanted me to know that he was able to look at these things he suffered and be able to laugh at them. However, he wasn’t making light of his harsh reality. Our youths do not have the luxury to avoid their brutal past. However, he wanted to communicate something to me. He knew that I would understand. The truth is that I will never understand the kind of rejection which he has suffered. There is a great gulf between our life experiences. I grew up in a home where my parents would wait for me at the bus stop everyday. If I was a minute late, my father would go out looking for me. This was the environment in which I grew up. I did not deserve nor choose it. It just happened. Bruno did not choose his environment either. None of our children chose to be homeless. There is a social schism between us but the answer to our existential question is still the same. This has brought us together.

We convinced of the answer. This is why we are here. This is why we call ourselves Christians. Like the early disciples, we know that we cannot just sit on this. The Answer compels us to share it to everyone. Needless to say that we realized that going around saying Jesus is the Answer is just not going to cut it. We need to know the questions that our children are asking about themselves and their existence in order to speak the Answer meaningfully to them. Sometimes, it is tough just to formulate the question. I realized that our children do not know how to ask their own existential questions. They have gone through so much in their lives that everything seems confusing and painful. They need the Holy Spirit to free up their tongues so that they can express themselves clearly. Perhaps our greatest evangelistic task is not going around trying to impose an answer but rather to help them understand that there is gentle Spirit who will give them the ability to formulate the ultimate question in their souls. Maybe the Spirit is working through us. Each time they share a story from their lives, they are offering us a little piece for us to put together so that we will understand the deep questions of their souls. It is possible but we will never know. We just have to wait and pray until the Spirit opens our eyes and hearts to understand the questions so that we can help them discover the Answer.