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Pentecost Sunday |
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Dear Preachers:
PRE-NOTE: Have you seen Sr. Patricia Bruno, OP’s monthly scriptural reflections on our webpage? Sister usually focuses on a passage we don’t usually hear Sundays from the pulpit. She often includes poetry and stories from her experience and the lives of contemporary prophets. Go to: https://preacherexchange.com/ and click on “Stories Seldom Heard.”
Today’s Gospel takes place in the evening. It is dark outside, but it is even darker for the disciples – a darkness born of fear. They are gathered together in a room with the doors locked. That is often what we do when we are afraid, uncertain, or unable to see clearly into the future: we lock ourselves in. Into that dark and fearful space, the risen Christ comes – not by crashing through the doors, nor with dramatic display or noise.
Instead, he simply stands among them and says, “Peace be with you.” Then he breathes on them, sending them forth with the gift of the Holy Spirit and the authority to forgive sins.
This scene is not only about the past. Many communities today live behind “locked doors” in different ways. Our fear may not come from persecution, as it did in the early Church, but from declining membership, internal divisions, uncertainty about the future, or anxiety about change. Like the disciples, we can be tempted to turn inward to preserve ourselves, rather than risk reaching outward.
Yet the first gift the risen Christ offers is not judgment, but peace. As individuals and as a parish community, we are called to receive that peace – not as a vague feeling that “everything will be fine,” but as a deep trust that Christ is present even when we feel fragile and he seems absent. Without that grounding in Christ’s peace, we can become withdrawn, defensive, and driven by anxiety.
Then comes the sending: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” The Church is not merely about self-maintenance; we are called to continue Christ’s mission. That mission moves outward – toward the poor, the marginalized, the spiritually searching, and the wounded. Rather than waiting for people to come to us, we are being sent out to them. This is evangelization: less about programs and more about presence, welcome, hospitality, and credible witness.
Jesus breathing the Spirit upon the disciples recalls the creation story, when God breathed life into humanity. The Church is continually re-created by the Holy Spirit, not by human strategies alone. Many of our parish communities are busy with projects, committees, and structures. These are necessary; but they are insufficient without openness to the Spirit’s unpredictable action – raising up new leaders, inspiring new ministries, and opening new paths of outreach.
At the heart of today’s Gospel is also forgiveness: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.” Our world is darkened by war, polarization, resentment, and broken relationships. Pentecost reminds us that we are called to become truly Spirit-filled people of light – marked by mercy, listening rather than condemning, restoring rather than excluding, healing rather than dividing.
Today’s feast invites both the Church and each of us personally to examine ourselves. Where are the “locked doors” in our lives? What fears keep them shut? Do we truly live from the peace Christ gives when he says, “Peace be with you”? Or are we living from fear and anxiety about survival?
Pentecost is not simply the celebration of a past event; it is an identity to be lived. The risen Christ still enters our guarded spaces, still speaks peace, still breathes his Spirit upon us, and still sends his Church into the world. We may not be perfect, but through the gift of the Holy Spirit we are empowered so that fear does not leave us locked away as frightened disciples.
In today’s second reading, Paul reminds the Corinthians – and us – that the Holy Spirit is not given merely for personal comfort or private holiness. The Spirit is given for the life and mission of the community. “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit…. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”
Pentecost, then, is not simply a remembrance of tongues of fire descending upon the apostles. It is the feast of the Church alive with the Spirit of Christ. Those frightened disciples in the upper room became a missionary community, courageous enough to go into the world proclaiming the Gospel. The Spirit transforms fear into witness, isolation into communion, and weakness into service.
For us modern disciples, Paul’s words raise important questions. What gift of the Spirit have I received? How am I using that gift to strengthen the Church and serve others? Do our communities reflect unity amid diversity, or division and rivalry?
Look around your parish community. Pentecost does not expect everyone to be alike. Rather, the Spirit is at work through many voices, ministries, and vocations – all united in Christ. Today we celebrate both our unity and our diversity, the many gifts of the Spirit alive within the Church.
Pentecost is not a once-only event. The Spirit continues to descend upon ordinary believers and send them into the world. Each of us is called to recognize the gifts we have received and place them at the service of others, helping to build up the Body of Christ in love.
Click here for a link to this Sunday’s readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052426-Day
QUOTABLE
“God does not bless any conflict… Peace comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.” “The power with which Christ rose is entirely nonviolent.” ---- Pope Leo
We were all given to drink of one spirit —1 Corinthians 12: 13
Do you find it hard to believe sometimes that we have one spirit in common? On the surface we seem so different. We come with different life experiences and have such a variety of interests and causes that we feel take priority. . .the spirit seems to get lost in the weaving of lives and attitudes. Yet, if we keep that one spirit as our guide, our lives will be formed in a transformed way. Pentecost is not just another day. If we had a picture of a person of spirit, what would we notice about them? Looking beyond the superficial, would we discover a person touched by the dove of peace, a person on fire with passion and love for others, a person who is just and life-giving like water? Looking further at that person, would we discover the creative wind of service in their actions? Would we not notice them at all? A person of spirit can appear as ordinary as anyone else and at the same time, full of revealing light.
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit empowers the believer to spark the flame of this inner person who is so hidden. Announcing we are loved and anointed in an incomparable peace, we are to spread this love and peace to others, including, and especially, those who are not like us. We begin to see as God sees and act as God acts. God’s priorities for a just world become our priorities. The prophet Joel states that God will one day pour out divine spirit “upon all mankind” (Joel 3:1). Joel envisioned a world in which all people would be enlivened and transformed by the divine life breathing within them. This is a world-altering change in your own thinking and being. Pentecost will have arrived.
Imagine, just imagine, a people of spirit creating a world of unity amid diversity; a just world filled with love and peace for all.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who, by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy your consolations. Through Christ our Lord, let us drink of the one spirit, the spirit that connects us all. Amen.
Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh, NC
Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. “Faith Book” is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home. From today’s Gospel reading:
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”
Reflection:
Pentecost is not simply the celebration of a past event; it is an identity to be lived. The risen Christ still enters our guarded spaces, still speaks peace, still breathes his Spirit upon us, and still sends his Church into the world. We may not be perfect, but through the gift of the Holy Spirit we are empowered so that fear does not leave us locked away as frightened disciples.
So, we ask ourselves: For us modern disciples: · What gift of the Spirit have I received? · How am I using that gift to strengthen the Church and serve others? · Do our communities reflect unity amid diversity, or division and rivalry?
POSTCARDS TO DEATH-ROW INMATES
“One has to strongly affirm that condemnation to the death penalty is an inhuman measure that humiliates personal dignity, in whatever form it is carried out.” ---Pope Francis
Inmates on death row are the most forgotten people in the prison system. Each week I am posting in this space several inmates’ names and locations. I invite you to write a postcard to one or more of them to let them know that: we have not forgotten them; are praying for them and their families; or whatever personal encouragement you might like to give them. If the inmate responds, you might consider becoming pen pals.
Please write to:
Central Prison, PO Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131 (While the prison is in Raleigh mail for inmates is processed at this address)
For more information on the Catholic position on the death penalty go to the Catholic Mobilizing Network: http://catholicsmobilizing.org
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