We need each other

Pentecost Sunday – A – May 31, 2020

I grew up in a diverse neighborhood, hearing several languages other than English on a daily basis. So it’s wonderful to see parish communities embrace multicultural elements in their Pentecost liturgies. As we deepen our understanding of how faith is to be inculturated into every race, language, and nation, let us also keep before us why we need to be attentive to the diversity of our church.

When we make an effort to proclaim the Scriptures in different languages—so that people can hear it in the language their parents taught them—and to sing songs in a tongue not our own—so that others’ hearts may remember the feeling of home—we do so not to focus on ourselves. We do it to praise God, who has made us beautifully different yet one in Christ.

We take the time to learn about one another; to eat, pray, and party together; to make sure everyone is at the meal tables of our community events and the work tables of our liturgical preparation so that we never forget that we cannot be saved by ourselves. We need one another, and when a member of the body of Christ is missing, we are incomplete.

This spirit of Pentecost reminding us we need each other cannot be only for one day. We need to live it each day of the year.