Pentecost overcomes division and enmity

[Bernward]

THE UNITY OF PENTECOST OVERCOMES DIVISION AND ENMITY
Vatican City, 27 May 2012 (VIS) - Benedict XVI focused his homily on an essential aspect of the mystery of Pentecost which, he said, is particularly important in our own times. "Pentecost is the feast of union, of human understanding and communion. Yet it is evident to everyone that in our world, although are closer to one another than ever before thanks to the development of the communications media, ... understanding and communion among people is often superficial and difficult. Imbalances remain and not infrequently lead to conflict; dialogue among generations is problematic; ... we daily witness events which seem to show that mankind is becoming more aggressive and quarrelsome; understanding one another seems too arduous an undertaking, and we prefer to remain within ourselves and focus on our own our interests".

"Thanks to scientific and technological progress we have acquired the power to dominate the forces of nature, to manipulate the elements, to fabricate living beings, almost going so far as to fabricate human beings. In such a situation praying to God seems outmoded and useless, because we ourselves can construct and achieve anything we want". Yet "men are nursing a sense of diffidence, suspicion and reciprocal fear, to the extent that they have even become a danger to one another". We have greater power to communicate but, paradoxically, we understand one another less. More....