Pentecost

The onlookers at Pentecost ask the question: "And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own language"? (Acts 2: 8) When we think of language we need not always think about diverse or foreign tongues. When I say, colloquially, that "someone is speaking my language" what I means is that a person is communicating with me and I can understand him or her - we are on the same wavelength. When I speak to others about faith do I use jargon? Are my concepts and figures of speech designed to be understood or am I hiding behind a smokescreen of incomprehensibility? To be effective in communicating the Gospel we need to strive to speak language that those listening to us can understand. St Peter writes: "Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence." (1 Peter 3: 16) The next question is - what do I speak about? In the First Reading it says: "...  we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." (Acts2: 11) The best way to communicate my faith, in a language that the other will understand, is to witness to how God has been present in my life and changed me through the wonderful working of his grace: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 2: 9)