Texts taken from the missal “On Your Word” May-June 2025
Pentecost Sunday (solemnity)
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FIRST READING
From the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1-11)
When the day of Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all together in the same place. Suddenly a sound came from heaven, like a powerful wind sweeping through, and it filled the entire house where they were staying. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which separated and came to rest on each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to express themselves. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At that sound, the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in their own language. They were amazed and, in their wonder, said: “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that each of us hears them speaking in our native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; Romans residing here, Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, and we hear them speaking in our own languages of the great works of God.” – The word of the Lord.
Commentary on the first reading
The phenomenon, which was profoundly charismatic, did not subsequently recur in the Church. Although the “gift of tongues” is still present today, it is not the one described in the Acts of the Apostles. There, the apostles speak normally (presumably in their own language, Aramaic), yet everyone understands perfectly, even though they speak different languages. Something similar is told about Padre Pio, when a German man went to him for confession: the penitent spoke to him in German, and the priest understood everything; the priest spoke in Italian, and the man understood perfectly. This explosive event involving languages broke down every division based on culture, ethnicity, and race: through the Holy Spirit, everyone understood one another. But what is interesting is what was said and understood: people heard the “great works of God.” It follows, then, that this charismatic event was not given to amaze the crowds or to talk about just anything: they spoke about God so that, at last, God might be known, loved, and worshipped through his works. Therefore, those who receive the Holy Spirit make the great works of God known to the world, not the events of the day.
SECOND READING
From the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Rom 8:8-17)
Brothers and sisters, those who are dominated by the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not under the dominion of the flesh but of the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. Now, if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwells in you. So then, brothers and sisters, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to fleshly desires, because if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if, through the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. And you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry: “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself, together with our spirit, testifies that we are children of God. And if we are children, then we are also heirs: heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings so that we may also share in his glory. – The word of God.
Commentary on the second reading
There is a way of existing that leads to perdition, namely, living “according to the flesh.” Those who receive the Holy Spirit enter another dimension and, while remaining in the world, experience everything differently, “according to the Spirit.” This means that the force moving us inwardly is not corrupt but healthy, because it is God himself who gives us life. “Without the Holy Spirit,” writes Ignatius Hazim, Metropolitan of Latakia, “God is far away, the Gospel is a dead letter, the Church a mere organization, authority a form of domination, mission propaganda, worship an evocation, and Christian conduct a morality for slaves. But in him, the cosmos is raised up and groans in the travail of the Kingdom, the risen Christ is present, the Gospel embodies a Trinitarian mission, authority is a liberating action, mission is a Pentecost, the liturgy is memorial and anticipation, and human action is deified.” We wholeheartedly agree. Let us therefore ask, with all our might, for the Holy Spirit, so that we may truly enter into the new life and, in the Spirit, renew the whole world, allowing him to act as he wills.
GOSPEL
From the Gospel according to John (Jn 14:15-16, 23b-26)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: «If you love me, you will keep my commandments; and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you forever. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. I have told you these things while I am still with you. But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have told you.» - The Word of the Lord.
Commentary on the Gospel
The coming of the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of the divine incarnation and of God's highest desire: that human beings may be “like him,” not on the level of nature (God is God and we are mere creatures), but on that of love. If we are made in God's image and likeness, it means that we can rise to his level and somehow live his life. Sin had interrupted the communication of love; the Mosaic Law had prepared the way for the return to this communion, but it is only through the gift of the Holy Spirit that human beings can enter divine life and breathe his very love. The secret is to observe Jesus' words, obey him in everything, let ourselves be guided by him, and share in everything Jesus lived and did. Thus, with the Holy Spirit, we are no longer merely men and women who rise only slightly above animal nature, but are made “capable of God.” It is something immense. God desires this, because love - as Saint John of the Cross writes - either finds equals or makes equals. Thus God, by loving us, fills us with his Spirit and makes us capable of loving him as he wishes to be loved. Christianity is not even so much a religion as it is a love story.
