In a recent column in our local paper, the religion editor wrote about the excellent communication skills of two leading religious leaders—Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York and televangelist Joel Osteen. In the short time he’s been in New York, the archbishop has cheered the Mets and the Yankees, participated in a firefighters’ Communion Breakfast, prayed at the site of the World Trade Center, and blessed sandhogs constructing a new subway. Each day brings news of his efforts to contact the people whom he has been called to lead and of the warmth of their response.

Mr. Osteen oversees a 40,000 member congregation in Houston and is considered one of the twenty top evangelical preachers in the United States. On April 25, he appeared at Yankee Stadium and inspired his audience with his warm and comforting message. Some 20,000 people stood and dedicated their lives to Christ and renewed their commitment to Christianity. Clearly, each of these men has a gift in connecting with those who hear them.

For Christians, the great feast of Pentecost is, in its essence, a celebration of communication. As Luke tells us in the second chapter of The Acts of the Apostles, “Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem . . . gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.. . .’we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.’ . . . they were all astounded and bewildered” (2: 5-13). That very day, 3,000 were added to their numbers, and these only increased in the weeks that followed.

This was the beginning of the ministry that was to carry out Jesus’ commission to go and teach. And reading about it now, we understand how amazing it was to accomplish this feat of communication without the help of any of the most basic media—except the spoken word carried by the Spirit into the minds and hearts of those listening.

But it was a very different kind of communication from that of Archbishop Dolan or Mr. Osteen, whose personalities, enhanced by the media, make their messages so attractive to listeners. Today we live in a world where such feats of communication are commonplace. The power of the media has made the power of the word instantaneously available to every corner of the globe. But the power of understanding is far more difficult, especially in our Church.

In 1993, Bishop Raymond Lucker of New Ulm, MN, wrote in his weekly column, “These are difficult times for the Church that we all love. . . . We see confusion and dissent, religious ignorance, quarreling among ourselves, decrease in attendance at mass, people alienated and dropping out, an ever-growing shortage of priests, struggle over gender issues, and sexual misconduct.” How much has been written and spoken about these issues since, and how much has changed?

Pentecost is the feast of the Holy Spirit, the completion of the founding of the Church, and the beginning of the sacrament of Confirmation which marks the completion of Christian formation. As we celebrate this great feast, it is helpful to reflect on the words of Lumen Gentium that call on the laity to share with the clergy in the ministry of Christ to go and teach: “The faithful . . . by Baptism are incorporated into Christ and placed in the People of God and in their own way, share the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ and to the best of their ability carry on the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world” (31).

As we try to understand our responsibilities as Catholic Christians in a Church that continues to seem so divided, we can continue, “to the best of our ability,” to pray, to study, and to foster dialogue within the Church about the issues that concern us. We remember that, even after that first Pentecost, there were disagreements among the first Christians about how the mission of the Church was to be accomplished. Christ had gathered into His community not only His mother and the apostles but also the Samaritan woman and the tax collector.

Donald Cozzens reminds us that, centuries ago, Catherine of Siena, as Paul did before her, challenged her contemporaries in the Church “to speak the truth in love.” That is the call of the Spirit today as we continue the struggle to build the City of God.

John M. Conroy

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The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution that pays tribute to the works of the women religious of the United States who by their works of mercy helped build the country from 1727, when the Ursulines arrived in New Orleans.

Click Here to view the full text of the resolution.