Pentecost (2025)
We heard Jesus make a promise on the night before he died that,
“the Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14:26).
And a few minutes ago, we heard how that promise was fulfilled 50 days after the Resurrection when the Spirit of God came down on that first Pentecost in wind, fire, and voice (cf. Acts 2:1-4).
Now, if we take the Readings as they are, it seems to be the end of the story and what we are doing now is simply remembering a past event. But if we pay attention to the prayers and songs of this liturgy, we will realize that, even though it seems Jesus’ promise has been fulfilled, today we are continuing to as we pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Church and the world.
In just the same way as our celebration of Resurrection transcends Easter Sunday and even the Great Fifty Days of the Easter Season—calling us to live the Resurrection-life—today’s celebration of the coming of the Spirit on that first Pentecost isn’t about some event confined to the past because what happened in the Upper Room wasn’t a one-time event.
It was, in fact, was only a beginning.
We can say this because, even though the Holy Spirit doesn’t always come to us in great signs and wonders as it did for Mary and the Apostles, this same Spirit remains present and active in each of our lives and in the life of the Church. The Spirit continues to move us forward, pushing us beyond the boundaries of the small worlds we make for ourselves, calling us to do and to be more! And not simply to do and be more as individuals, but to do and be more together.
Centuries ago—sometime before the sixth century—a hermit in the deserts of Egypt wrote this:
“The heart directs and governs all the organs of the body. And when grace pastures the heart, it rules over all the members and the thoughts. For there, in the heart, the mind abides, as well as all of the thoughts of the soul and its hopes. This is how grace penetrates throughout all the parts of the body.”
That nameless hermit (whom we know today by the name “Pseudo-Macarius”) understood that the heart is that place where a person’s spirit and the Spirit of God exist together.
And the mind, the seat of rational thought, can only be complete when it abides in the heart and it is in the heart that the mind becomes enlightened.
Although our mind is an essential part of who we are, we are only at our best when our minds and hearts move together. And this unity can only be achieved by God’s Spirit at work within us.
The Spirit gifts us with unity of mind and heart…
The Spirit gifts us with that unity brings individuals together in bonds of faith and love…
This theme of unity in the Spirit is something that we often forget. But when we think about what happened on that first Pentecost, we see a reversal of the disintegration, disunity, and confusion that began at the Tower of Babel (cf. Genesis 11:1-9). Rather than a cacophony of voices speaking different languages, competing to be heard, and speaking over one another, on that first Pentecost each believer spoke a language that those present heard as their own (Acts 2:5-8). In this powerful sign, the Spirit made use of human instruments in a way that foretold a future in which all humanity would sing God’s praises in one voice. And we know that this same Spirit who binds us all together in praise also enriches us with a diversity of gifts. This diversity is essential to the life and health of the Church.
Saint Paul reminds us that, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).
All of this means that this Solemnity of Pentecost is a celebration of possibilities, both for individual believers and for the whole Church. And this celebration reminds us the Pentecost of the first Christians was a witnessing of the power of the Spirit for the future.
This future is lived out in each of us in the little moments of our lives, when we allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit.
By being open to the Spirit, individually and communally, we can celebrate legitimate diversity based on giftedness and vocation and we can live a unity that is not afraid of questions, doubts, challenges, and possibilities. And in those questions doubts, challenges, and possibilities, the Spirit leads us outside of ourselves for the sake of others. Not everyone will speak in tongues, as Saint Paul reminds us, but each person, with unique gifts, is essential to the Church.
If the gifts we have received are for the common good, then our Pentecost mission is to share our gifts and spend ourselves nurturing others, drawing them into the unity of the Spirit and the Church, and to open ourselves to the workings of the Spirit in the diversity of the gifts and lives of others. Amen.
O God, who by the mystery of today’s great feast
sanctify your whole Church in every people and nation,
pour out, we pray, the gifts of the Holy Spirit
across the face of the earth
and, with the divine grace that was at work
when the Gospel was first proclaimed,
fill now once more the hearts of believers.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for the Solemnity of Pentecost (Mass During the Day)
Homily preached at Our Lady of Divine Providence, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
