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Pentecost 2026
When Jesus was on earth, He spent His time doing things for us: He called us to repentance; He spoke to us of the Kingdom; He did miracles; He prayed for us and He gave Himself for our salvation. Now that He is in heaven, He rests but at the same time He is still at work: He intercedes for us to the Father and today He sends His Holy Spirit to our Church.
When the Spirit is given, it becomes our turn to work. As soon as Jesus has breathed on the disciples, they receive the Spirit of life which gives them the power to forgive sins in the name of the Lord. When the fire descends from heaven on the apostles, they begin to do all sorts of things they could not do before: they speak in many languages, they teach the people, they announce Christ’s resurrection, they celebrate the sacraments, they build the church, they announce the gospel to the extreme ends of the world; they are even ready to give their own lives as a supreme testimony to the truth of the gospel they are preaching.
All that a Christian does is done “in the Spirit”. “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit”. In a minute, we shall sing the Credo which expresses the faith of the Church; this we shall do “in the Spirit”. Without the Spirit, these words would just not make any sense. In the Spirit, I do not say that we understand the truths we proclaim, but we embrace them with the serene certitude of faith – which is a remarkable gift we owe entirely to the Holy Spirit.
Similarly, it is in the Spirit that we are gathered and celebrate the Eucharist which is the real enactment of Christ’s sacrifice for the salvation of the world.
In the Spirit, some of us exercise special gifts – sometimes called charisms – for the good of the Christian community. One knows how to sing well and, in the Spirit, exercises his gift for the beauty of our celebrations. Another one has a gift of compassion: she visits those who are lonely or sick and bring them joy and comfort. Another one is a strong witness: she stands for the teaching of the Church in the public forum, untroubled by contradiction and adversaries. This one lies sick on his bed of pain and has a special gift of offering and prayer which invisibly benefits the whole community.
These are outstanding examples. But let us not believe that we can get by in our daily and ordinary tasks without the Spirit. A Christian is someone who has learned to invite the Spirit in all that he or she has to do. We pray ‘Come, Holy Spirit’ in the silence of our heart each time we have a decision to make, an obstacle to overcome, or a difficult conversation coming up. We should not hesitate to invite the Spirit in all that turns up in our daily lives. Like the breath of life which Jesus breathes, the Spirit mixes with supreme flexibility and adaptability with all that we do: prayer, reading or work; relationships and daily duties; challenges of all sorts and ordinary tasks which, I suppose, make up the greater part of our ordinary lives. In the same Spirit, we relate to God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ, and we love our neighbour as a sister or a brother, caring for them, praying for them, helping them if we can, showing kindness and attention as much as we can.
Jesus did many things for us in the Holy Spirit – I would like to say, in the style of the Holy Spirit. We know this style, we, too, who are trying to do things and lead our lives in the Holy Spirit. It is not loud and troubled. It is simple, just, quiet; strong and peaceful, merciful and demanding; always kind, always loving, always filled with a unique and peaceful Joy. May this style be ours by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Our Lady, the perfect disciple of the Holy Spirit!