Pentecost Sunday

June 8, 2025

GOSPEL MEDITATION

When I was a seminarian almost 20 years ago, a bank vice president taught us etiquette classes. She said, “Gentlemen, please make sure your breath isn’t bad. Take some breath mints before you hear confessions, okay?” We nervously laughed because the proximity that makes breath noticeable (whether pleasant or not) can be a bit awkward.

When Jesus breathes on his Apostles (John 20:22), he must have been within inches of at least some of them. This closeness of his breath has a purpose: the purpose of forgiveness of sins. “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them” (John 20:23). Why in the world would the almost uncomfortable closeness of his breath forgive sins?

In the Bible, breath is spirit or wind. It comes from above and makes that which is below to have identity. To not have a single identity is to be multiple, divided. The word “sin” comes from an ancient word that means “to split” or “render asunder.” Sin divides us sinners and the world around us; our spiritual “breath” leaves us and our identity splinters. Only breath from above restores. For example, a shattered vase is rendered whole because the craftsman breathes the spirit of the vase back into it when he repairs it. A human being shattered by sin is made whole by the breath of God, breathed by Jesus through his priests. His breath alone forgives sins. It’s
always done with his gentle, loving closeness.

–Father John Muir

 

EVERYDAY STEWARDSHIP

Today we reach the finale of the Easter season with the celebration of the great Feast of Pentecost. Reflecting on today’s readings inspires a sense of awe as we consider the mighty power of the Holy Spirit at work giving birth to and sustaining our Church. Just as awesome – the same Spirit is calling to us this day to take up our part in the Church’s saving work.

Each one of us, young and old alike is personally called today by the Holy Spirit into the same mission as that of the first Apostles, whom began to speak in different tongues – to advance the Kingdom of God in our corner of the world. Just as He did on that Pentecost day, the Holy Spirit speaks to us in our “own language” to give us the Good News of the Gospel and urges us to share it. We can think of our own language as the particular gifts, talents and passions we possess. Each of us has a personal mission to fulfill through the use of our personal gifts and talents in grateful service to the Kingdom of God.

When we live in grateful dependence on the Holy Spirit, we can count on not only adventure, but peace – the peace that cannot be found in a “worldly” way of life. Rather, it is the peace that Jesus brings to us as we commit ourselves to Him. As we celebrate the birthday of the Church today, let’s give thanks to God for calling us, His stewards, to the adventure of a lifetime!

2025 Catholic Stewardship Consultants

 

PRACTICING CATHOLIC – RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS

I was a full-grown adult before I realized that Pentecost is known as “the birthday of the Church,” and it only resonated with me because someone showed up to a church function with cake and candles. Leave it to buttercream frosting to drive home a theological reality I had been missing for 25 years.

I knew what Pentecost was, of course. It simply went over my head that, despite all the incredible, world-changing things that had come before the moment of Pentecost, prior to this day, the Apostles were just a group of guys in a room. It wasn’t until Pentecost that they became the Church.

So what makes the Church…well, the Church, capital C? What makes it more than just a group of guys in a room?

It’s true, they were a very special group of guys. They had the Truth — capital T. They had borne witness to Christ’s miracles, to his life and to his passion and death. But they were still in that room. When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they received graces and gifts that made them fit to carry out the Great Commission. The Truth wasn’t enough, even with a capital T. They needed the Spirit — capital S — and more than that, they needed to receive it with the courage and faith necessary to do what needed to be done. To get up and leave the room.

Because what good is any of it unless they leave the room? What does it matter, the tongues of fire and the miraculous bilingualism and, frankly, the coming of the Spirit, if no one ever hears about it? The mission is what made them the Church. It’s
what makes us the Church. Without it, we’re just a bunch of guys in a room.

– Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman