From Babel to a new Pentecost

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and rekindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. Oh God, who instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, Grant that by the same Spirit, that we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation, Through Christ, our Lord. Amen! As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Pentecost, we pray for a renewal of the human person and the recreation of the earth that has been desecrated and polluted by human blood. Once upon a time, the human beings of the black race were perceived by foreign researchers as savages. Recently, the brutal words of Richard Smith, famous British Guitarist went viral on social media. Whether this is true or false, the current happenings in some countries of Africa call for deeper reflection. We could even ask if Africans are really “poisoning themselves with everything that is edible?” Richard Smith says that Africans do not protect themselves like civilized nations do. Is this true of the modern Africans? Is it true that Africans do not use their intellectual powers and that Africans will remain perpetual slaves given the way and manner they die in the desert and ocean to cross to Europe?

Some unfortunate Africans who are citizens in civilized and organised countries who have fallen victims to kidnappers when they visited their countries of origin have vowed never to visit home again. Some have willed that their corpses should never be taken to their ancestral homes. For this group of people, Africa is a jungle of human beings who have lost their humanity in the way and manner they prey on their victims. These diaspora victims have somewhere else to hide from the African kidnappers. How about those who have nowhere else to run to? The experience of Salisu Mu’azu, a Kannywood Director, actor and producer, as well as the National Vice Chairman, Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) with kidnappers reveal that some of the kidnappers are young people of the ages of twenty and below. They aim to be millionaires before they could stop their criminal operations. They even dream of kidnapping the president and top government officials before they can settle for normal life. Mu’azu wondered how these young boys have access to AK-47 (https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/our-captors-told-us-they-want-to-kidnap-buhari.html)

We call on the Holy Spirit to renew the face of the earth in Africa especially in Nigeria where the hearts, attitudes and orientation urgently call for dramatic change. May God dramatically   inspire in the citizens the courage to live normal human life. We pray that God may replace the beast in human beings with the Holy Spirit that inspires human beings to use reason and the intellectual powers that make them different from brutes. No rational human being would torture, strip naked a person, demand to rape a father, mother and daughter in an isolated forest. The victims wonder akin to civilized nations, how and why no security agents could discover the camps in the forest where organized army of kidnapers operate for so long. They wonder if the Federal and State governments are not worried that citizens who cast their votes to put them in power are being killed and buried in the forest when they cannot afford the ransom for kidnappers. Could it be true that the savage life of killers would stop if there is employment for young graduates? Could it be that crime would be eliminated if there is functional welfare for the citizens? Come Holy Spirit and renew the hearts of our leaders and rulers.

Almighty God, renew the courage of the security agents to gather adequate security intelligence and situation report to discover the various camps of the terrorists and kidnappers in the jungles and forest of Africa. If human strength is not enough to deliver those who are still held captives in the various camps, intervene by yourself and prove to the victims that you have not abandoned them, oh God Almighty break through the forest to free the victims instead of allowing them to die with their corpses abandoned as food for wild animals. They were terribly shocked to hear from the kidnappers that they are working for some highly placed leaders in the society, Lord give us credible leaders who are willing to serve rather than preying on the citizens! How did Africa countries produce these savages in human form? May God renew the face of the earth! May those who have lost their humanity be renewed by the fire of the Holy Spirit! Oh, Spirit of the Living God come afresh on us and direct our minds to heavenly gifts.

Babel is a symbol of human pride and vaulting ambition (Genesis 11:1-9). That the whole earth was of one language (Genesis 11:1) shows the unity in the human heart. Language here signifies common good and unity of purpose. The destiny of humanity is to journey together towards final union with God. The desire of human beings to build a tower that could reach heaven (Genesis 11:4) is the human pride to be like God. Human beings always want more of everything. The human insatiability and greed are illustrated in the narrative of the Garden of Eden when humanity was tempted to eat the forbidden fruit (Genesis 2-3). The unity in the language of human beings was negative hence God confused their language such that human beings could no longer understand themselves (Genesis 11:5-9). This situation calls for the restoration of the human person.

Pentecost was a regular festival in the Old Testament. It’s a celebration of the first fruits and abundant life fifty days after the seventh Sabbath (Passover). The celebrants offer new grains, two loaves made of two tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of first fruits to God (Leviticus 23:16-17). On the Festival of Pentecost, the people hold a sacred assembly. There is no regular work on that day (Numbers 28:26). Pentecost in the Old Testament then implies labour, work and celebration of just remuneration. Pentecost teaches a person the value of labour given that sweat is sweet. Every first day of May, Nigeria celebrates workers day. This celebration would have been more meaningful if the number of unemployed persons is lower than those who are actually working. There is so much hunger in the cities and villages but this does not call for kidnapping, robbery, prostitution, ritual killing and terrorism that does not fall under the category of genuine work and labour.

In Acts of the Apostles, Pentecost was celebrated fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was on the festival of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus Christ descended on the Apostles (Acts 2). The recipients of the Holy Spirit were renewed in a way and manner that Saint Paul could call them the first fruits of the Spirit who groan inwardly as they wait eagerly for their adoption to sonship, the redemption of their bodies (Romans 8:23). Those who receive the Holy Spirit become renewed creatures who would never again degenerate to the level of beasts and savages. The Holy Spirit thus purifies and unifies human life. The language that was confused in Babel is unified at Pentecost. “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them (Acts 2:4).

A new Pentecost should help us to build trust such that Arabic should not be perceived by some Christians as synonymous to Islam but a language that any religion can use in prayer just as there is rite of mass in Arabic. English should not be perceived as a Christian language. Copies of the Holy Qur’an are available in English. Let us pray for a new Pentecost in our nations to purify the human hearts, give us courage to live upright and make the world a better place for all human beings. May the same Holy Spirit guide our leaders and rulers to do the needful. May our leaders think of the common good more than their ego.

Rev. Fr. Cornelius Omonokhua is the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) ([email protected])