Tuesday, June 3 : Saint Augustine

Joyfully we have seen this Pentecost day arise, my brethren, in which holy Church shines out in the eyes of the faithful and their hearts are set on fire. For we are celebrating that day on which our Lord Jesus Christ, after his resurrection and the glory of his ascension, sent the Holy Spirit… This wind purified hearts from the straw of the purely natural life; this fire burnt up the grass of their former desires; these tongues, spoken by the apostles filled with the Holy Spirit, prefigured the Church’s expansion through the languages of all nations. After the flood, sacrilege had built a high tower against the Lord and humankind deserved to be divided by many languages… (Gn 11); but now the humility and devotion of believers subjects the variety of these languages to the unity of the Church. Charity reunites what discord had dispersed and the different parts of humankind, like scattered members of a single body, are rejoined to each other and to Christ, their leader and their only Head (Col 2,19). They are dissolved into unity by the fire of love… Brothers and sisters, members of Christ’s body, seeds of unity, children of peace: celebrate this day with joy, celebrate it in all security. Because you are witnessing what was formerly made known by the coming of the Holy Spirit being accomplished in you. Each one of those who then received the Holy Spirit spoke every language for himself alone. Today, the unity of the Church spread amongst all peoples speaks all languages, and it is at the heart of this unity that you possess the Holy Spirit, you who are not separated by any schism from the Church of Christ which speaks all languages.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team