They Were All Filled with the Holy Spirit!
Introduction: May you continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that you may use the gifts (charismata or charisms) that God has given you for the edification of the community of believers.
In the past on Pentecost Sunday, the worshiping parish community gather as a whole to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is a visible sign of our unity in the Spirit. It reminded that we are one and that we have all been given gifts which will enhance and build up the other members of our community. The First Reading of the first Pentecost is proclaimed in multiple languages at the same time. It is an appropriate time to worship together and realize that even in our diversity, we are one in the Lord Jesus in the unity of the Holy Spirit. We are called to unite and pray together so that we can enrich each other with the various ministries we share for the common Good of all.
Today we celebrate Pentecost – the coming of the Holy Spirit, the birthday of the Church, the end of the Easter Season. Our readings speak of the gift of the Holy Spirit and what that means for the Church, i.e., us. Today is all part of the paschal (Easter) mystery. In fact, the Gospel reading comes from a Resurrection appearance on Easter Sunday afternoon.
First Reading: Acts 2:1-11: ‘They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak.’
Commentary: The ministry of Jesus starts with the coming of the Spirit at his Baptism, and so the ministry of the Church begins with the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. There can be no witness to Jesus or to his message, no spreading of the Kingship of God, without the Spirit of Jesus. Another lesson from this parallelism is that the task of the Church and the life of the Church are the same as those of Jesus himself: to bring God’s kingship to its fulfilment by bringing healing, love and joy through the message of the Risen Christ. The rushing wind and the tongues of fire are an allusion to the coming of God’s Spirit in the Old Testament upon Moses and the elders. So the new message is the fulfilment of the Old Testament, breaking out beyond the borders of Judaism to include all peoples of the world. The union of all these peoples, all understanding one language in their own way, is a deliberate contrast to the scene at the Tower of Babel, when all the peoples of the world were split up by their inability to understand one another’s languages. The list of unpronounceable peoples is itself a witness to the universality of the Church!
Responsorial Psalm 104:1ab, 24ac. 29b-30. 31, 34: Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.
Psalm 104 is a magnificent hymn of praise that celebrates God as the Creator, Sustainer, and Lord of all creation, inviting the believer to bless the Lord with awe and gratitude. Verse 24 marvels at the wisdom of God manifested in the diversity and abundance of creation, revealing that the world is not a product of chance but of divine intelligence and loving care. Verses 29–30 highlight the absolute dependence of every creature on God: when He withdraws His breath, life ceases, and when He sends forth His Spirit, creation is renewed, emphasizing God's continuous and life-giving presence in the world. These verses also point to the renewing action of the Holy Spirit, who sustains creation and brings new life, a theme fulfilled in the new creation inaugurated by Christ. Finally, verse 34 expresses the psalmist’s desire that his meditation and praise may delight God, reminding us that true worship arises from a heart filled with wonder, gratitude, and joyful contemplation of God's works.
Second reading: 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13: ‘In one Spirit we were all baptised into one body.’
Commentary: The slightest glance round a churchful of people is enough to show the variety within the Christian community. But it needs the hints given us by Paul to remind us that every member of that community has his or her own special gift to contribute. Mercifully, these gifts are all different. It is valuable to reflect on the natural gifts that we find all around us. It is also valuable to reflect how dull, or even intolerable, life would be if I lived with a lot of clones of myself, all with the same gifts and the same faults as myself! Every one of us contributes something different and valuable in its own way, whether it is the baby squeaking as a sign of new, developing life or the older person contributing wisdom, experience and even the suffering of Christ. The other inspiring thought is that all these varied and diverse people go to make up the Body which is Christ. We all have experience of various corporate bodies, organisations and companies, but none of these other bodies makes up a person. That Person is Christ, since as Christians we all live and operate through Christ’s Spirit.
Gospel: John 20:19-23: ‘As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit.’
Commentary: At first sight this is a surprising gospel reading for Pentecost, but of course the event of Pentecost came too late to be a subject for the gospels, and we read the account of another incident where the Risen Christ gave the Spirit to his disciples. There are two emphases in the account. The first is peace. Christ brings peace to his disciples with the double greeting of peace, and peace is a Christian watchword. Peace was the song of the angels at Jesus’ birth. Each of Paul’s letters opens with a greeting of peace. The letter to the Ephesians proclaims that Christ is our peace, the reversal of all worry, strife, envy, jealousy, self-seeking ambition. ‘Go in peace’ is Jesus’ dismissal of those he cures, and also the dismissal at the end of Mass. Peace was Jesus’ bequest to his disciples after the Last Supper. The second watchword is forgiveness, for God was always known as a God of mercy and forgiveness, as Jesus came to show by his constant approach to sinners. But the Lord’s Prayer shows that if we do not ourselves forgive, we block God’s forgiveness of ourselves too.
Reflection: Do you know and experience in your own life the gift and power of the Holy Spirit? After his death and resurrection Jesus promised to give his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit. He said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit! (John 20:22) Jesus knew that his disciples would need the power of the Holy Spirit to carry out the mission entrusted to them. The gift of the Holy Spirit was conditional upon the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of the Father. That is why Jesus instructed the apostles to wait in Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49). Why did they need power from on high? The Gospels tell us that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit when he was baptized at the Jordan River:
"And John bore witness, 'I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him... this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit'" (John 1:32,33; Mark 1:8; Matthew 3:11).
"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness... and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee" (Luke 4:1,14).
Just as Jesus was anointed with the Spirit at the beginning of his ministry, so the disciples needed the anointing of the Holy Spirit to carry out the mission entrusted to them by Jesus. The Holy Spirit is given to all who are baptized into Jesus Christ to enable us to live a new way of life - a life of love, peace, joy, and righteousness (Romans 14:17). The Holy Spirit fills our hearts with the love of God (Romans 5:7), and he gives us the strength and courage we need in order to live as faith-filled disciples of the Lord Jesus. The Spirit helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26), and enables us to grow in spiritual freedom - freedom from doubt, fear, and from slavery to our unruly desires (2 Corinthians 3:17; Romans 8:21). The Spirit instructs us in the ways of God, and guides us in living according to God's will. The Spirit is the source and giver of all holiness. Isaiah foretold the seven-fold gifts that the Spirit would give: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2).
The gift of Pentecost - the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the spiritual gifts and blessings of God - are made possible through the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus. After his resurrection Jesus "breathed" on his disciples and gave them the Holy Spirit. Just as God breathed life into Adam, so the gift of the Holy Spirit is an impartation of "new life" for his people. With the gift of the Holy Spirit a new creation begins. God recreates us for his glory. Jesus' gift of peace to his disciples was more than an absence of trouble. His peace included the forgiveness of sins and the fullness of everything good. Do you want power to live a faith-filled life as a disciple of Jesus? Ask the Father to fill you with the power of his Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13).
Basil the Great (329-379 AD), an early church father, explains the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives:
"The Spirit restores paradise to us and the way to heaven and adoption as children of God; he instills confidence that we may call God truly Father and grants us the grace of Christ to be children of the light and to enjoy eternal glory. In a word, he bestows the fullness of blessings in this world and the next; for we may contemplate now in the mirror of faith the promised things we shall someday enjoy. If this is the foretaste, what must the reality be? If these are the first fruits, what must be the harvest?" (From the treatise by Basil on The Holy Spirit)
The Lord Jesus offers each one of us the gift and power of his Holy Spirit. He wants to make our faith strong, give us hope that endures, and a love that never grows cold. He never refuses to give his Spirit to those who ask with expectant faith. Jesus instructed his disciples to ask confidently for the gift of the Spirit: "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13). Do you thirst for God and for the abundant life he offers through the gift of his Spirit?
"Lord Jesus, I thank you for the gift of Pentecost and for the new life you offer in the Holy Spirit. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and set my heart ablaze with the fire of your love that I may serve you in joy and freedom."
fiery tongues
“Tongues as of fire appeared, which parted and came to rest on each of them.” —Acts 2:3
Can you imagine a big batch of flying, fiery tongues entering the room? Why not a group of flying noses or fiery gall bladders? Why did God send fiery tongues at the first Christian Pentecost?
Fiery tongues are a Jewish tradition associated with the renewal of the covenant. Fire is the most powerful means of purification. So fiery tongues express the covenant with Yahweh to love Him alone with all our hearts — with hearts purely, exclusively committed to Him (see Mt 5:8).
At the first Christian Pentecost, Jesus’ disciples spoke not only in the fiery tongues of the covenant but also in foreign tongues. The disciples spoke in languages they didn’t know (Acts 2:4, 6, 8). This was a sign of the reversal of the division from the tower of Babel (see Gn 11:6-8). These foreign tongues were also fiery in that they began to purify us of the pride that divided us.
St. Peter continued to speak in fiery tongues when he prophesied and preached in the fire of the Spirit so as to lead three thousand people to the purifying waters of Baptism (Acts 2:41). Sts. Peter and John spoke in fiery tongues when they healed the man lame from birth (see Acts 3:6ff). Fiery tongues are the way in which the Spirit is renewing the face of the earth (see Ps 104:30).
Do you speak in fiery tongues? Do your words purify, transform, and unify? On this Pentecost, ask for the fiery tongues of the Spirit.
Prayer: Father, may I speak in my native fiery tongue and in foreign, fiery tongues. Come, Holy Spirit! “Then [Jesus] breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ ” —Jn 20:22. Alleluia! The Holy Spirit, God Himself, lives in me! (1 Cor 6:19; Jn 14:17) Alleluia!
The personal question for today: When have I experienced the Holy Ruah–Spirit of God breathing life into me? How did I feel at that moment? What was the result of God’s Spirit being made evident in my life? What gift do I wish to receive from the Holy Spirit at this time in my life? How can I make use of this gift in the spread of Gospel (Good News)?
Pentecost: Pentecost in the Catholic Church is the glorious feast celebrated fifty days after Easter, commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles gathered in prayer in the Upper Room (Acts 2:1–4). It fulfills Christ’s promise: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8), marking the completion of the Paschal Mystery. On this day, a mighty wind and tongues of fire symbolized God’s divine presence, purifying and empowering the disciples for mission. The fearful Apostles were transformed into courageous witnesses, boldly proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to all nations. Catholics recognize Pentecost as the “Birthday of the Church” because it was the moment the Church publicly began her mission of evangelization. Through Peter’s preaching, about three thousand people were baptized, showing the Holy Spirit’s power to convert hearts and build Christian community (Acts 2:41). Pentecost reverses the division of Babel (Genesis 11) because people of many languages understood the Gospel, revealing the Holy Spirit as the source of unity in diversity. The Holy Spirit bestowed gifts such as wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord, which continue to sanctify believers today. In Catholic life, Pentecost is not merely a historical event but a living reality renewed in the sacraments, especially Confirmation, where believers receive the Spirit for Christian witness. Liturgically, priests wear red vestments symbolizing the fire of divine love, and the Church prays, “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.” Pentecost ultimately reveals that the Church does not live by human strength alone but by the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, who guides, renews, and sends her into the world.
