2026-05-24 Pentecost Sunday

Opening prayer from the Roman Missal Collect for Pentecost

    Let us pray.
    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.

Discuss practice of faith from last week

- Spend time in quiet prayer asking Jesus to open your eyes of your heart to his perspective

- Spend time thanking God for all things you know exist but cannot see

Acts 2:1-11

The Church celebrates Pentecost, the great feast when the risen Lord just as he had promised his disciples before ascending into Heaven, sends his advocate, companion and counsellor - the Holy Spirit - upon Our Blessed Mother, the Apostles, and his disciples - and to the Church unfailingly and forever. 

Following the Crucifixion and Ascension into heaven and before Pentecost, Jesus' followers were largely hiding, confused, and leaderless. Pentecost marks the moment when their hearts were set ablaze by the Holy Spirit empowering them to be unified and boldly proclaim the Word.

Fear gives way to courage, closed doors are opened, and the Church on fire is sent into the world. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Peter preached his first public sermon to a diverse crowd in Jerusalem. Scripture notes that about 3,000 people were baptised that day, marking the first massive expansion of the faith

The event is also famous for the "gift of tongues," where the disciples began speaking allowing Jews from various nations to understand them in their own language. At Babel, human pride led to division and confusion symbolised by the plethora of unintelligble languages; at Pentecost, God gathers the nations into communion without erasing their differences.

Acts describes the Holy Spirit coming with wind and fire. 

• Wind signifies the breath of God. 
• Fire signifies the dynamism of the Holy Spirit.   

The same Holy Spirit who descended upon the apostles is given to us in Baptism and strengthened in Confirmation. We are baptised and confirmed to be spirit-filled disciples of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34  

Psalm 104, along with psalms 8, 19, 65, and 148, are classified as creation psalms that celebrate the sovereignty of God over the created world.

When we read Psalm 104 in the context of Pentecost, it reminds us of our responsibility to walk with—rather than against—the Holy Spirit. The words of Psalm 104 remind all humanity that they are part and parcel of all creation. We find our proper place in the world when we recognise that we are part of God’s creation and uniquely responsible for its continued health.

Psalm 104:29 also acknowledges that when God takes away the creatures’ breath, “they die and return to their dust.” It’s a sobering reminder that all creatures depend on God for their continued existence

1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13

The Catholic Catechism reminds us that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are permanent dispositions that help us to listen and follow His promptings. There are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. 

The Spirit offers these gifts to every community so they can grow to fulfil the ministries to which God calls them and can meet needs in the community around them. This is not a buffet table and we do not actually get to choose the gifts, ministries, and activities meant for us. All we can do is to open ourselves to discernment from the Holy Spirit's transforming power, from which vitality and strength emerge. They grow within us “as the Spirit chooses”. Ten times in the passage Paul points us to the Spirit and to the centrality not of our own ways but of spiritual gifts, spiritual people, and the spiritual dimensions of our lives.

“We Are Many Parts” by Marty Haugen, which is heavily based on 1 Corinthians 12 and 13. 
We are many parts, we are all one body,
And the gifts we have we are given to share.
May the Spirit of love make us one indeed;
One, the love that we share,
One, our hope in despair,
One, the cross that we bear.

Paul’s letter to the people in Corinth speaks of the reality that we are all one in Christ Jesus.
Reflect on this image of one body with many members. What does it mean to you?
- If we are not doing our part then the body as a whole is suffering

John 20:19-23

This passage, often referred to as the Johannine Pentecost, encapsulates the truism, "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again". In this moment of witnessing death unambiguous and resurrection life unmistakable, Jesus will come again to them.

John's Gospel described how the disciples of Jesus are behind locked doors, in fear and grief. Their world has collapsed with the crucifixion of Jesus. Their sense of purpose is dashed. They’ve lost their beloved friend and teacher to a gruesome state execution. And they’re afraid they may be next.

In John, Jesus breathes the Spirit upon the disciples and says, Peace be with you. This action harkens back to the intimacy of creation, in which God breathed into the nostrils of the first human the breath of life (Genesis 2:7).

The Holy Spirit is not chaos, but divine peace, reconciliation, and mission. And Saint Paul reminds us that there are different gifts, different forms of service, and different workings, but the same Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not make us identical; He makes us one Body in Christ.

Jesus not only sends the Holy Spirit but institute the Sacrament of Reconciliation when he says, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained". This is similar to Matthew 16:19 in which Jesus tells the Apostle Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven".

Discuss practice of faith for the coming week

- Place your trials before Jesus and let him pray for you

- At mass prayer with everyone for strength as you share the sufferings of Christ

Closing prayer

Let us pray.

O Holy Spirit, Soul of my soul, I adore You.
Guide me, strengthen me, console me, and tell me what I ought to do.

As we leave this place, blow through our lives like a powerful wind. Set our hearts on fire with love for our neighbor, grant us the courage to witness to the truth, and help us to bring Your peace into a broken world. May the fruits of Your presence—charity, joy, and peace—be visible in everything we say and do this week.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen. Go forth, this faith sharing meeting is ended, alleluia, alleluia!