This is the editorial from our Newsletter for Pentecost, 2025. To view the full newsletter, click here
Communion
Dear Friends,
Welcome to our Newsletter for the Pentecost Season, especially to our new subscribers. Scroll down to discover the featured articles in this edition.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches
On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were all together in Jerusalem. Jesus had told them to wait there for the promise of the Father. As devout Jews, they would also have been waiting to celebrate Shavuot, the Jewish festival that celebrates God’s revelation of the Law at Mount Sinai.
Hearing a great noise like a rushing wind, the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit. Astonishingly, they find themselves speaking in multiple languages. The noise alerted other Jews in Jerusalem, people from all over the known world. They came to see what was going on—and were amazed to understand the apostles’ message in their own tongues. Many Christians interpret this action of the Holy Spirit as the birth of the church. This unity of peoples and languages is often contrasted with the Tower of Babel, when man’s attempt to acquire god-like power, through false unity, was thwarted by the true God.
Our own time is plagued with a new sort of faulty unity: the globalised world created by the neoliberal marketisation of society. We are reduced to units of labour and consumption, unmoored from a meaningful past and with no regard for our distinct personal selves. The globalised economy and social systems promise to respect diversity, but reduce difference to superficial “identity groups”, whose unity is artificial. These groups lack the true internal coherence needed for self-governance or authentic rebellion, so they end up as subservient subgroups of the ever more extensive and intrusive modern state.
George Orwell wrote about this tendency, where “laissez-faire capitalism gives way to planning and state interference”. He describes a “managerial class” whose manipulation of bureaucratic procedure enables them to intervene in more and more areas of life. James Burnham, the philosopher who gave Orwell the idea, predicted that this class, capable of the “technical direction and coordination” of society, would operate by gently coercing consent.
Such people today, now widely mocked as the “lanyard class”, have achieved significant power. Convincing themselves they know what is best for society while acting in their own interests, they extend their reach – across state, economy, academia, and culture, and across national borders – by handing “unlimited power to people very similar to themselves”.
The result is a sort of soft totalitarianism, which enrages many ordinary people. Indeed, much of what is called populism can be more accurately described as a revolt against the political ideas, arrogance and evasion of accountability of the new ruling class.
But all empires contain the seeds of their own doom. Saint Augustine’s concept of the two cities can help us understand the dynamics. The City of Man, pandering to the human desire for control, can be identified by its “love of self, even to the point of contempt for God”. Its unhappy outcome is a cultural malaise, and so it is no coincidence that we see growing evidence now of a spiritual hunger, a longing to escape this deadly uniformity, and a yearning for true unity in God. There is a restlessness in our own empire.
In his Confessions, Augustine prays, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” That rest is found only in the City of God, the City that reaches its perfection in heaven. Unlike the all too human earthly city’s political tyranny, atomised consumption, oppressive uniformity, hedonism, divisive identity categories and dehumanising systems, the Heavenly City offers a very different kind of reality.
The citizens of the Heavenly City are the people who love God above all else. Representing the community of believers, this is a spiritual reality. Transcending earthly boundaries, it offers an authentic unity and freedom only possible through the Holy Spirit. As we read in Acts 2, “All the believers were together and had everything in common.” Regardless of difference, this community has agency, and can hold the full complexity of human uniqueness. Tyrannical forces hate this unity. Pentecost is a reminder that we are engaged in spiritual warfare.
We make our home in the City of God, but Augustine does not advocate for detachment from earthly affairs. Living in the world but not of it, as sojourners or pilgrims, we, the church, are called to get into the detail of our local, physical reality, to join with our neighbours in building up a just and orderly society for the common good. We must listen to the Spirit, our advocate, who gives us the grace to play our part. In fact, the earthly peace of our nations depends on it.
In his first address, Pope Leo XIV invoked peace. His greeting, “Peace be with you!” was not abstract. He was referring to peace as a tangible gift, “a peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering.” This peace comes not through control, but through surrender to God. It is built by listening, encounter and bridge-building. He was describing the peace of the risen Christ.
The meaning of Pentecost is both a judgement against the false unity of tyrants, and a blessing on communal life to be upheld through true unity in the Spirit. The City of God is not like the City of Man. It is not measured in greatness, but experienced in communion.
Jenny Sinclair
Founder and Director, Together for the Common Good
In this edition
In addition to the editorial above, this Newsletter contains lots of great content – click here to read the full edition. First, a short reflection by Michael Merrick on the estrangement of the Church from the working class, then a keynote by Jenny Sinclair on how Catholic Social Teaching can help us play our part in this time of deep change. You’ll also find a beautiful story by Jide Ehizele on the value of Christian vocation in the local, and Jo Stow explores the difference between being a consumer and a neighbour. We share the latest Leaving Egypt episodes too, featuring conversations with Jo Gilbert, Samuel Luak and Rodney Clapp. Last but not least, you will find Signs of the Times, our latest collection of articles and Recommended Books.
Explore the T4CG Substack – you’ll find lots to discover here