When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. 2 And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. 3 Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. 6 At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language? 9 We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, 11 both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.”
Acts 2:1-11 recounts the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles at Pentecost, fifty days after the Resurrection. Gathered in one place, likely the upper room (cf. Acts 1:13), the apostles receive the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised (cf. Acts 1:8; John 14:26). A "noise like a strong driving wind" fills the house, and “tongues as of fire” rest upon each of them. They begin to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enables them, and devout Jews from many nations hear the mighty works of God proclaimed in their own languages.
This moment fulfills Jesus’ promise of the Advocate (John 16:7-13) and marks the birth of the Church as a visible, Spirit-empowered body sent into the world to proclaim the Gospel.
The sound of wind and the appearance of tongues of fire are deeply symbolic, not random phenomena. The wind recalls the Spirit of God in Genesis 1:2 and the breath that brings life in Ezekiel 37:9-10, both of which signal a new creation. The fire evokes God’s presence at the burning bush (Exod. 3:2), Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:18), and in the pillar of fire (Exod. 13:21), all signs of divine presence, purification, and mission. These visible signs reveal the spiritual reality of Pentecost: the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the sanctifying fire of divine love, and the apostles’ divine commissioning to carry that fire to the world (cf. Luke 12:49).
The apostles’ speech in other languages is not chaotic but intelligible: each listener hears “them speaking in his own language” (v. 6). This reverses the confusion of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9), where pride fractured human unity through language. Now, by the Spirit, diverse tongues are reunified in praise—a foretaste of the Church’s universal mission to all peoples (cf. Isa. 2:2-3; Matt. 28:19).
This event also confirms the apostolic witness: it is God Himself, not human strategy, who initiates the Church’s evangelizing mission. The gift of tongues is both a sign of the Spirit’s power and a means of proclamation—a symbol of the Church’s catholicity (universality).
Luke's expression "Jews from Every Nation Under Heaven" (v. 5) is not literal in modern geographic terms. It reflects a biblical idiom meaning Jews from the full extent of the known diaspora (cf. Tobit 13:3; Luke 4:25-27). The term diaspora refers to the scattering of the Jewish people beyond the land of Israel, especially after the Babylonian exile, resulting in established Jewish communities throughout the Mediterranean and Near East by the time of the New Testament. At Pentecost—originally a Jewish feast of harvest and covenant renewal—these Jews represent the first fruits of the new harvest (cf. Exod. 23:16; Lev. 23:15-21). The Church Fathers understood this passage as a deliberate gathering of nations, paralleling the nations listed in Genesis 10, to show that salvation in Christ is meant for all humanity.
Pentecost is far more than a one-time event; it marks the fulfillment of Christ’s saving work, the birth of the Church, and the beginning of the Spirit’s enduring presence in the world. It reveals God’s desire to unite all peoples in one faith and offers a foretaste of the final gathering of all nations in Christ. What began that day continues in the Church’s mission and in every soul who responds to the Spirit with faith and openness.
Come, Holy Spirit, breath of the living God, fill our hearts with the fire of Your divine love. Renew the face of the earth, and kindle in us the flame of truth and the unity that overcomes all division. Send us forth to bear witness to the Gospel in every tongue and to every heart. And may we, like the first disciples, proclaim Your mighty works with boldness and joy. Amen.
Sources
- McSorley, Joseph. An Outline History of the Church by Centuries (From St. Peter to Pius XII). 2nd ed., B. Herder Book Co., 1944.
- Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
- Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: The Pentateuch. Four Courts Press, 2017
- Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, 1990.
- Charpentier, Etienne. How to Read the Old Testament. Translated by John Bowden, 1981.
- Komonchak, Joseph, et al., editors. The New Dictionary of Theology.
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