Pentecost Sunday (Year C)
Scriptures: Acts 2: 1-11; Rom. 8: 8-17 or 1 Cor. 12: 3b-7, 12-13; Jn.20: 19 – 23
Today, the Church throughout the world celebrates the Solemnity of Pentecost, the Coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. This feast is not just a beautiful conclusion to the Easter Season; it is a powerful new beginning, the birth of the Church and the inauguration of her mission to the whole world. On this day, a group of frightened and confused disciples were transformed into bold witnesses of the Risen Christ. And this transformation did not come from within them; it was not the result of long training or intellectual brilliance, but rather the outpouring of the Divine Energy of the Holy Spirit. This same Spirit remains the hidden strength and enduring fire of the Church’s mission through the ages.
Among the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit often remains the most mysterious and, at times, misunderstood. A popular anecdote illustrates this. A catechism teacher once asked children to draw their idea of God. One child drew an airplane with three figures: an old man and a young man as passengers, and another in the cockpit. When asked who the third figure was, the boy replied, “That’s Pontius Pilate!”, mistaking the name of the Holy Spirit for something else altogether!
Indeed, the Spirit can be elusive. Jesus Himself described the Spirit as a wind that blows where it wills (Jn 3:8). You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. That is the nature of the Holy Spirit: unpredictable, free, wild, and powerful. The Spirit can shake us out of our comfort zones, just as a mighty wind blew into the upper room, disrupting the Apostles’ fear and calling them into bold mission. The Spirit can challenge our security, our long-held customs and assumptions, and push us toward new paths. And yet, the same Spirit can also come gently, as the quiet breath of Jesus, offering us peace and calm (Jn 20:19–23). This contrast shows us the depth of God’s presence: both overwhelming and intimate, both powerful and personal, mysterious and deeply inspirational.
In today’s first reading from Acts (2:1-11), the Spirit comes as tongues of fire and a mighty wind, equipping the Apostles to speak in many languages. In the Gospel, He comes as a gentle breath from the Risen Christ, who says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” These varied manifestations show that the Spirit is not bound to one mode of operation.
And what is the result? The reversal of Babel! At Babel, human pride led to confusion and division of languages. At Pentecost, the Spirit creates unity amidst diversity, allowing people from every nation to hear the same Good News in their own tongue. This is the miracle of the Church’s mission: to bring together all peoples in the unity of the Gospel, to make all people into one family, worshiping one God. The Pentecost event came as a surprise, despite the fact that Jesus had clearly promised the Spirit in His farewell discourse (cf. Jn 14:15–26; 16:12–15). His promise is now fulfilled—but in a way that the Apostles could never have predicted.
Interestingly, the descent of the Spirit happens on the day of the Jewish Pentecost, a feast celebrating the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Now, in the New Covenant, the Law is not written on stone but on human hearts, through the gift of the Spirit. And those gathered in Jerusalem for the Jewish feast—Jews from the diaspora—are led to a new Sinai, the Upper Room, where the Spirit writes the New Law of love and mission.
The Holy Spirit transforms the Apostles from a timid, disoriented group into a courageous community, proclaiming the Gospel without fear. This transformation did not stop with them. Through Baptism and Confirmation, we too have received the Holy Spirit, and with Him, His gifts (cf. 1 Cor 12:7). But these gifts are not for personal pride or private benefit. St. Paul reminds us: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” The gifts are given so that we may build up the Church, the Body of Christ. Every baptized Christian has a part to play in the mission of the Church, according to the gifts and charisms received.
And yet, as Pope St. Paul VI reminded us, “The modern world listens more to witnesses than to teachers; and if it listens to teachers, it is because they are also witnesses” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 41). The Holy Spirit empowers us to be witnesses, to live what we believe, and to speak from the experience of faith.
As we gather today around the same Spirit, we are invited to renew our openness to His presence and power. The Holy Spirit is not a relic of the past but a living Person in the Church today—guiding, empowering, sanctifying. Let us ask ourselves: Am I open to the surprises of the Holy Spirit? Do I use the gifts I have received to build up the Church? Do I witness to Christ in word and deed? May this Pentecost be not just a commemoration, but a new outpouring. May we, like the first Apostles, go forth with boldness, joy, and conviction, empowered by the Spirit to bring Christ to the world. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Amen.
