Homily for Pentecost Sunday
8 June 2025
I still remember my Confirmation very vividly. It was at Christ the King parish in Pinelands and Cardinal Owen McCann was the officiant. Cardinal McCann was tall, solemn, and grandfatherly. At the time of the homily, he sat in the presidential chair, which was placed in front of the altar, crozier in hand, and described how the Holy Spirit is like electricity. He said the Holy Spirit is invisible, except in his effects; he taken for granted and yet is powerful.
It is said that all analogies limp, that is, they are insufficient to really convey the full meaning of what they are meant to describe, but perhaps this is especially true of the Holy Spirit, who is so mysterious. At best, likening the Holy Spirit to electricity might help us to grasp the unseen, potent nature of the Holy Spirit, that he is the “power source” for Christian living and mission.
The crucial limitation of the electricity analogy is that it can easily overlook the personal dimension of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is personal. The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, co-equal with the Father and the Son. So, the Holy Spirit is not just an impersonal force or energy. We can have a relationship with the Spirit. He guides us, comforts us, teaches us, and intercedes for us. We can grieve the Spirit, and we can be filled with the Spirit.
We see this personal nature of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. The Holy Spirit speaks, teaches, testifies, guides into all truth. He gives gifts, and he loves. He is God, just as the Father and the Son are God. This means the Spirit possesses intellect, will, and emotions, which are attributes of personhood, not merely power.
So, while the analogy to electricity can be a helpful starting point to explain the effects or power of the Holy Spirit, it’s essential to quickly move beyond it to fully appreciate the Holy Spirit as a divine Person with whom we can have an intimate and transformative relationship. The Holy Spirit is a powerful force, yes, but one that loves, comforts, and communes.
The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells the familiar story of the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. At the Jewish feast of Pentecost, 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus, his disciples were gathered together in Jerusalem. A strong driving wind filled the house where they were; and tongues of fire rested on each of them; and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Consider that, as we are gathered here for Mass today, we are like the first Church community on the day of Pentecost. We are intimately linked with the beginnings of the Church as it is described in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. They were gathered around Mary, in the Upper Room, the place of the Eucharist. They were in prayer, preparing for the coming of the Holy Spirit, as we are here, now.
As the Holy Spirit came upon that first small community in the Upper Room, making them the Church, the Holy Spirit comes to us again today, to renew us and recreate us. This Holy Spirit is given to us again today, to us as individuals, as a community and as a whole Church. If we are open to the Holy Spirit, we too can experience a profound transformation, not unlike that of those first disciples.
In the Gospel reading from Jesus’ farewell discourse at the Last Supper, Jesus speaks of his returning to the Father and the sending of the Holy Spirit in his name. He says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to help you and be with you forever. In fact, in this same sermon at the Last Supper, Jesus makes it quite clear that the Holy Spirit will not be sent unless he returns to the Father.
When Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit from the Father, he said that this Holy Spirit will teach us everything and remind us of all he has said to us. The Holy Spirit helps us to know Jesus and live in relationship with him. The Spirit reminds us of what Jesus said, and can explain all about Jesus.
Remember the theological maxim goes that the Father sent his Son to give us his Spirit. The Father sent his Son, Jesus, that through his death, resurrection, and ascension, we might be given his Spirit. This maxim shifts the emphasis and importance on the role of the Spirit.
We see that God has gone to extraordinary lengths to give us the Spirit. We who have been baptised have received the Spirit. We who have been confirmed have received the fullness of the Spirit. We have been confirmed to strengthen our relationship with Jesus, to be active members of the Church, to defend the Christian Faith and to be missionaries of the Gospel.
Consider that the Holy Spirit is the greatest possible gift that God can give us. In the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son come to make their home in us, as Jesus says in the Gospel today. And this Holy Spirit within us prompts us to pray, prays in us and for us and with us. In all our prayers, each time we intentionally raise our hearts and minds to God, the Holy Spirit is praying with us and in us. St Paul says that when we do not know how to pray the Holy Spirit prays in us with sighs and groans too deep for words.
The Holy Spirit, our Counsellor, is the one who dwells in our hearts and gives us the strength to follow the Lord. The Spirit, as St Paul says in the second reading today, is given to each of us for a good purpose and is the source of our unity as Church. St Paul says it is the Spirit who makes it possible for us to acknowledge Jesus is Lord.
We need to allow God’s Spirit to animate us, energize us, drive us, awaken in us a deep longing for God and the things of God. We need to make room for the Spirit and allow him to challenge us, teach us and guide us. He will empower us and equip us for mission.
As the gift of the Spirit is renewed in us on this Solemnity of Pentecost, we ask him to enter our lives more fully. From today on we ask to be animated by the Spirit as those first disciples were after Pentecost. We need to live and move in the Spirit. Today we are invited to be “pentecosted”, to renew our appreciation and reliance on the Holy Spirit. We can invite the Holy Spirit into our lives each day, cooperate with his saving work within us, and give him control of our whole life: our thoughts, our work, our hearts. +++
