Pentecost and Globalisation

Reflections on Pentecost Sunday (Acts 2:1-11, Galatians 5:16-25, 12-13, John 15:26-27; 16:12-15)

Pentecost was a global moment, in the sense that it marked a significant phase of a multinational movement that we call mission. A group of disciples confined to the upper room gripped by fear and anxiety experience something radically different that enables them to take charge of this mission of proclaiming the Gospel, in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Interestingly, everything about the global project of Pentecost (its subjects, dynamics, and purpose) stands in stark contrast to another more recent global movement, which has left a lasting global impact and has radically changed history: globalisation. While elements of globalisation are as old as humanity itself, its contemporary version has gripped the world in recent decades with the great promises of prosperity, peace, freedom, and a better future for all. While, globalisation has radically changed the way we live, think, and relate, its original promises seem to grow increasingly empty. The feast of Pentecost proposes three anti-dotes to a flawed vision of globalisation:

1. Put Profit or People First?

Data from the World Inequality Report 2022 show that since the mid-1990s, the richest 10% of the world's population have come to own 76% of global wealth, earn 52% of total income and are responsible for 48% of global carbon emissions. In contrast, the poorest 50% of the world's population own 2% of global wealth, earn 8.5% of global income and account for 12% of carbon emissions. While the rich become richer, the poor become poorer, and globalisation does very little to change this status quo. While the standard of living has improved, the standard hasn’t reached everyone equitably. The global vision of Pentecost proposes an interesting antidote to this malaise: while globalisation prioritises profit, Pentecost challenges us to put people first. It opposes the oppressive dominion of uniformist or universalist visions of market economies that are created to promote and safeguard the interests of multinational corporations. Pentecost proposes the counter-cultural model of the early Church, whose members were “one in heart and mind, not claiming any possession as their own, but sharing everything they had” (Acts 4:32). The protagonist of the Pentecost narrative is not a political ideology or an economic model. It is the Holy Spirit that acts on a people gathered ‘in one place together’ (first reading). The mission of Pentecost, contrary to the agenda of globalisation, inspires us to go move from profits to people, from the centre to the peripheries, from the peaks to the valleys.

2. Unholy Uniformity and Blessed Plurality:

Our ‘global villages’ reel under the hegemony of a globalised imperialistic culture that erases cultures, languages, and histories. Pentecost, on the contrary, is a feast of happy plurality and blessed diversity. In our context and time, humanity, if it wishes to express itself, is forced to speak the language of the ‘empire’, a ‘sacred’ language that standardizes cultures and imposes the likes and dislikes of some over others. However, Pentecost reminds us that the language of the Gospel is not the language of the empire. The disciples spoke not in Latin or Greek but in their ‘own language’ and everyone gathered ‘heard them in their own native languages’. Pentecost celebrates a spirit of communion that is rooted beyond standardized ways of thinking, believing, living, and communicating. It opens our world to a larger horizon. It teaches us that we can be together without demanding that everyone should look like us, speak our language, or worship like we do. Pentecost encourages us to experience curiosity and joy in the presence of others who are different.  It invites us to move from imperialistic uniformity to communion in diversity.

3. From the Culture of Exploitation to Mission:

Current globalization has led to a wide mobility of labour both domestically and internationally. At the same time, one also sees a shocking growth in levels of exploitation, deregulation, lack of legal representation or protection for migrant workers, exposure to inhuman and dangerous work conditions for the sake of profit and “maintaining competitiveness”, and the degradation of ecology, increased emissions, and habitat destruction. Globalisation seems to have promoted a culture of exploitation of humans and the planet. Pentecost, on the contrary, does not exploit the disciples but makes them partners in God’s mission. The Spirit does not oppress but empowers them. Until Pentecost, the disciples were afraid. Traumatized by the crucifixion of their master, they locked themselves up in fear and isolation. Pentecost breaks down the doors and pushes them out to the temple square and the marketplace. The Spirit loosens their tongues to proclaim with courage, the Gospel of life and liberation that builds the Church. Pentecost is a feast of liberation that proposes a new culture of partnership in the salvific mission of reconciliation, solidarity, and renewal. The Spirit leads the Church in its mission of renewing the face of our planet (Psalm 104:30).

In the mystery of the Pentecost, Jesus ‘history’ becomes ‘our story’. John Henry Newman wrote, “Without Pentecost, the Christ-event (the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus) remains imprisoned in history as something to remember, think about and reflect on. May Pentecost inspire us to value people, celebrate plurality, and become dignified partners in the Spirit's universal mission of liberation. Veni spiritus sanctus!