[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, May 24, 2026, the Solemnity of Pentecost.
This week's episode is entitled: Wind and Fire, and in these readings, we will marvel at the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and feel the excitement heralding the birth of the new Church.
As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
The Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus descended upon the disciples in dramatic fashion, accompanied by a driving wind and the appearance of tongues of fire. Jesus promises us the same Holy Spirit… not in quite so dramatic a fashion, but as a gift that can be used to benefit others or as a form of service we can perform for others. It is up to us to recognize our gifts so that we can benefit our families, our communities, and the church.
[00:01:14] So let's begin in prayer:
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for this Feast of Pentecost. Through your great goodness, shower the gifts of your Holy Spirit across the face of the earth, thereby enabling all people to pursue lives of compassion, justice, truth, and love. We ask this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's dive into this week's episode.
Normally I would go right into the Gospel, but before I do that, I want to clarify something about the Feast of Pentecost itself. The Church opens the Easter season with the Great Vigil of Easter on the evening before Easter Sunday. The Easter Vigil often seems daunting to people because of its length, but it is truly one of the most magnificent liturgies of the entire year, and certainly one of my favorites. I mentioned that because Pentecost, which brings the Easter season to a close, also has the option of an extended Vigil liturgy, although not every parish embraces the fullness of that liturgy. It is a bit shorter than the Easter Vigil, to be sure, there are just four Old Testament readings in the Pentecost Vigil compared to the seven Old Testament readings in the Easter Vigil. But regardless of whether your parish observes the entirety of the extended Pentecost Vigil or chooses to celebrate a slightly simpler version, there are still different readings assigned to the Vigil than are assigned to Mass During the Day. This year my home parish is planning to initiate a regular yearly observance of the Extended Vigil of Pentecost. We've celebrated the extended Vigil only once before, and that was during the COVID Crisis. This podcast episode, however, will only cover the readings for the Mass during the Day of Pentecost, not the Vigil readings.
[00:03:27] One other thing I want to cover before we get to the readings is the Pentecost Sequence. If you remember back to the Easter episode, I presented a brief history of sequences and said that the Church continues to allow the use of two medieval sequences to bookend the Easter season. We heard the first - Victimae Paschali Laudes - on Easter Sunday, and now we have the second – Veni, Sancte Spiritus - on Pentecost. The Sequences are sung in a call and response format between the cantor and the congregation, and they take place before the Alleluia. I will read through the text of the Pentecost sequence in English, but please remember that it was written in Latin, so the rhyme scheme in the English translation doesn't always hold up perfectly and can seem a bit clunky or awkward. Basically, each stanza contains two phrases that rhyme with each other and a third phrase that concludes the stanza and in turn rhymes with the concluding phrase of the next stanza. So here goes…
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come within our bosoms shine,
You, of comforters the best;
you, the soul's most welcome guest;
sweet refreshment here below;
in our labor, rest most sweet;
grateful coolness in the heat;
solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
shine within these hearts of yours,
and our inmost being fill!
Where you are not, we have naught,
nothing good in deed or thought,
nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
on our dryness pour your dew;
wash the stains of guilt away;
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
melt the frozen, warm the chill;
guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful, who adore
and confess you, evermore
in your sevenfold gift descend;
Give them virtue’s sure reward;
give them your salvation, Lord;
give them joys that never end. Amen. Alleluia.
[00:05:56] Now that we've covered the Sequence, it's time to listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures. Our Gospel this week is from John 20: 19-23.
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”
This passage may sound quite familiar - and that's because we hear it every year, as part of a longer Gospel, on Divine Mercy Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter. That passage includes a number of verses about Thomas that this passage does not. For the occasion of Pentecost, the most important detail we hear is when Jesus breathes on his disciples! That is Jesus conferring the Holy Spirit upon his disciples… that is John's version of Pentecost. So, let's begin…
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week,”
When we hear the word evening, we think - rightly so - of darkness… but not just the darkness left behind by the setting of the sun. This darkness reminds us that the Apostles are in a very emotionally dark place themselves as they try to comprehend the enormity of Jesus’ Death on the Cross. Remember, this is the day of the Resurrection… they haven't yet experienced the joy of the Risen Christ.
[00:08:03] “the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews,”
And when John says Jews, remember, he means the Jewish religious authorities because they are all Jews… and the fear they're experiencing is a reasonable one at this point. Jesus, their leader, is dead and they're afraid that the Jewish religious authorities will come after them next. Not only that, but we also have to keep in mind that all of the disciples deserted Jesus when he was Crucified (except John) and they have to be asking themselves, what will happen if Jesus does return as he promised… will he be angry? Will he be disappointed? Lost and uncertain, the disciples can't possibly predict what will happen next. And what happens certainly isn't anything they expected. Since we already know the story, we know that a mere locked door can't keep Jesus out!
[00:09:04] “Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”
That is a typical greeting whenever one who is divine encounters those of us who are only human - they offer peace (shalom in Hebrew). And that is a particularly appropriate gift because with those words, Jesus offers his disciples peace, certainly, but he also offers them the forgiveness they need to calm their hearts and their minds… the peace and forgiveness that only Jesus can give them.
“When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.”
[00:09:51] Jesus proves to his disciples that he is the same person they saw hanging on the Cross, even if it was from a distance. And that he has the same wounds in his hands and his side - transformed and glorified, to be sure - but the same wounds. The wounds he still bears in his flesh in the kingdom of heaven today… the wounds he will always bear because they represent his triumph over sin and death.
“Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.”
If we think back to John 16, Jesus promised his disciples that they would experience sorrow, but that their hearts would rejoice when they saw him again. He is fulfilling that promise!
“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’”
Meaning it is now their time! Jesus spent three years preparing the disciples for this day, for this time, and they are now ready to carry out the mission he set before them.
“And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’”
Remember, this is John's version of Pentecost. That's why we hear this every year.
“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
This power to forgive or retain sins is the same power that Jesus bestowed on Peter at Caesarea Philippi in Matthew 16, when Jesus declared that Peter was the rock upon which Jesus would build his Church. Jesus forgave sins and dispensed divine mercy throughout his public ministry - now he is bestowing, upon his disciples, a share of his power and authority so that they can continue his mission on earth. And we know that Jesus’ mission is ongoing… that it will continue until the Second Coming. So, that sharing of Jesus’ authority - given to Peter and the Apostles - has been passed down through the centuries and will continue to be passed down until Jesus comes again.
There is still work for the Church to do, therefore, Jesus’ authority is still needed here on earth. That is why Pentecost is considered to be the birth of the Church. The way John records Jesus' conferral of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples is much less dramatic than what we will hear from Luke in our passage from Acts - which may not be such a bad thing. Because it reminds us that God doesn't always act in extraordinary or sensational ways! As much as we would love to experience the thunder and lightning that Moses did on top of Mount Sinai… as much as we would love to encounter God in a burning bush… sometimes, and let's face it, probably most of the time, God reaches out to us in times of quiet, gentle stillness. But he always bestows upon us something that changes us… some gift, some form of service, some power or talent, that we must recognize, develop, and use to benefit others. Sometimes it's our family, sometimes it's our community, sometimes it's the Church, and sometimes it's the entire world.
[00:13:59] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from Acts 2: 1-11.
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered, saying, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Par’thians and Medes and E’lamites, and residents of Mesopota’mia, Judea and Cappado’cia, Pontus and Asia, Phryg’ia and Pamphyl’ia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyre’ne, and visitors from Rome, both Jew and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.’”
Last week on the Feast of the Ascension, we heard the first eleven verses of Chapter 1 of Acts, this week we hear the first eleven verses of Chapter 2. What we missed in the verses that separate those two passages, was that the Apostles decided to restore their number to 12, since that was the number of disciples initially called by Jesus. In order to accomplish that, they chose two men from among Jesus’ followers… men who had been with them for the entire three years of Jesus’ public ministry, and they cast lots to choose between the two. The choice fell upon a man named Matthias, and he replaced Judas Iscariot. So, let's find out what the now Twelve Apostles are up to…
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.”
Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks, was a Jewish pilgrim feast that took place 50 days (or about seven weeks) after Passover and commemorated the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. It is THAT Pentecost that the disciples had gathered together to celebrate.
“And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.”
Since this feast was intended to commemorate the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai, the mighty wind rushing through the house where they were gathered would certainly have reminded the disciples of the thunder and lightning seen at the top of Mount Sinai by the Israelites. That is not a coincidence! God is letting them know that something momentous is about to happen.
“And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them.”
Again, this is no coincidence… God descended on Mount Sinai as fire in Exodus 19, so the disciples would have recognized this as a manifestation of God.
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
This dramatic account of the descent of the Holy Spirit is commonly considered to be the birth of the Church, because this is the moment that, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, the Apostles now courageously, boldly, and openly take up the mission entrusted to them by Jesus.
“Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.”
Back at the beginning of this episode, I talked a bit about the Pentecost Vigil, which can either be celebrated in its entirety or it can be celebrated in an abbreviated form. If parishes choose the simplified version of the Vigil service, the Old Testament reading proclaimed at that Vigil Mass is usually the story of the Tower of Babel from Genesis 11. In that reading, we hear that God confused the language of mankind because of their presumption and their hubris in attempting to build a tower to reach heaven by their own power. This passage in Acts counteracts the effects of Babel, allowing the disciples to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to the crowds gathered for the Jewish feast of Pentecost, despite their varied languages.
“And they were amazed and wondered, saying, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?’”
We need to understand… that comment was intended as an insult. Calling the disciples Galileans was akin to saying they were uneducated, unsophisticated, rustics or bumpkins. And those questions are then followed by one of the single most difficult passages that any Lector has to face throughout the entire year!
“Par’thians and Medes and E’lamites and residents of Mesopota’mia, Judea and Cappadoc’ia, Pontus and Asia, Phryg’ia and Pamphyl’ia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyre’ne, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
The word “proselyte” in the RSV translation simply means a convert… in this particular instance, it means a convert to Judaism. All of the countries named in that section were nations that surrounded Israel… but despite their different countries of origin, they were all Jews, and they were all gathered for the Jewish festival of Pentecost. And when Jews from other nations traveled to Jerusalem, they didn't leave behind their cultural identity… they remained people of different backgrounds, different languages, and different traditions yet on that day, they all heard exactly the same message!
The Feast of Pentecost marks the birth of the Church – absolutely - because it was the day the disciples received the Holy Spirit promised to them by Jesus, the day they were clothed with God's power enabling them to boldly preach the good news of Jesus. But the Church was not born until the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples… because the Holy Spirit animates the Church.
Saint Augustine (4th century bishop, author, and Doctor of the Church), wrote: “What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church.” The Holy Spirit that was with the original disciples is the same Holy Spirit that is with the Church today - just not always in quite such a dramatic fashion. Most often, the Spirit works in ways we don't always comprehend or recognize… in gentle nudges, in suggestions from friends, in words from a homily, or in Scriptures that remain on our hearts and in our minds long after the Mass in which we heard them has ended. And the Spirit doesn't speak to us just once in our lives! We have to always be ready to listen because the Spirit is always ready to speak to us. It is up to us to listen when the Spirit speaks to us, to recognize the gifts the Spirit is bestowing upon us, and to follow the promptings of the Spirit so that who we are and what we do will benefit our families, our communities, and the Church.
[00:22:57] That takes us to our Responsorial Psalm, which this week is Psalm 104, and the refrain is:
“Lord send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.”
This refrain, like so many Psalm refrains, is actually paraphrased. The original text is: “When you send forth your Spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.”
And here are the verses:
“Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD, my God, you are very great! O LORD, how manifold are your works! The earth is full of your creatures.”
“When you take away their spirit, they die and return to the dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.”
“May the glory of the LORD endure for ever, may the LORD rejoice in his works. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.”
This Psalm is a Hymn of Praise to God. The Psalmist marvels at the vast and varied assortment of living creatures created by God that all fit, function, and work together so seamlessly. The Psalmist sees God's glory reflected in his works of creation and offers prayers of thanksgiving and gratitude, hoping they will be acceptable to God. This Psalm challenges us to see and recognize the gifts of God's glory present in our world today… in a sunrise or a rainbow, in a waterfall or waves breaking on the beach, in the hoot of an owl or the cry of an eagle, in the laughter of children or the stillness of a starry night. Because if we can recognize and appreciate those gifts, then perhaps we can recognize the Spirit prompting us to help others.
[00:24:55] That takes us to our Second Reading, which is from 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-7, 12-13.
“[Brothers and sisters:] No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
You may remember that 1 Corinthians is an Occasional Letter written by Saint Paul to address several problems that had developed in the Christian community in Corinth. In this particular passage, Paul focuses on arrogance and conceit that were developing within certain factions in the community.
[00:26:22] Some individuals felt that they deserved greater respect than others because they had decided - on their own - that the gifts they had received from the Holy Spirit were more important than the gifts given to others. But Paul says - NO, that attitude is never appropriate! And as he opens this passage, he reminds the Corinthians that everything begins and ends with God.
“[Brothers and sisters:] No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
Now obviously Paul isn't suggesting that people aren't free to speak openly about whatever they want. What he's saying, however, is that people cannot effectively proclaim anything about Jesus without first possessing the gift of faith… and it is the Holy Spirit who empowers everyone to witness that faith to others. Then Paul goes on to address the nature of this particular problem. He says…
[00:27:26] “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one.”
In that sentence, Paul - for the first time - uses a specific Greek word (charismata) to describe the gifts bestowed by the Holy Spirit. And that Greek word has come down to us in a word we still use in the Church today… ad that word is charisms. And it describes the gifts people place at the service of the Church, either locally or globally. And our focus here is on the Holy Spirit - not on the variety of gifts. Although Paul does point out that there are different gifts, however, he reminds his listeners that they all originate with the same Holy Spirit; he also says that there are different services rendered, but that they are all rendered to the same Lord. And then he says there are different works done to benefit others, but that God chooses who performs those works and whom they are to benefit… because everything begins and ends with God!
“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
In other words, every gift bestowed by the Holy Spirit is given specifically so that it can be given BACK… for the common good. Gifts are not for individual gain or for personal pride. Every gift originates with God and must be returned to God through service to his people. At this point in the passage, the Lectionary omits the verses that cover the recitation of gifts because, especially for Pentecost, the gifts themselves are not the focus… God is!
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”
Jesus Ascended into heaven where he is seated at the Father's right hand - we heard the accounts of that event last week on the Feast of the Ascension. What Paul is referring to here is the unity of the Mystical Body of Christ… the Church.
[00:30:05] And in the verses that follow after this passage, Paul presents that masterfully reasoned argument about the different parts of the body, right? He says… not every part of the body can be an eye or a foot, an ear or a hand, yet every part is necessary and has its own unique place and function. And he reminds the Corinthians that God arranged everything according to HIS plan, not ours.
So, it's not up to mankind to decide that one part is more or less important than another. It's not up to us to decide that one person is more or less important than another, and by extension, that one gift is not more or less important than another. And why is that? Well, Paul says…
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
That one Body that Paul says we were all baptized into is the Mystical Body of Christ - the Church… and the head of that Mystical Body is Christ himself. And regardless of who we are, where we originate, the position we occupy in the Mystical Body, or the gifts we receive as part of that Mystical Body, every single one of us is nourished by the Holy Spirit.
No individual who receives a gift - a charism from God - deserves that gift… no one is entitled to those gifts, not one of us! It is only our own human arrogance that leads us to think so, just as it was the arrogance developing within the Corinthian community that led them to the same erroneous conclusion. We are all sinners and yet God loves us and gives us gifts anyway - in spite of ourselves.
[00:32:18] No gift is either inferior or superior to another - they are just different - and each gift originates with God and is bestowed by the Holy Spirit. To devalue any one gift is to devalue the Holy Spirit who bestows that gift… and to devalue the Holy Spirit is to devalue all of God!
In the same way, no person is inferior or superior to another person - we are all precious in God's eyes and beloved of his heart. To devalue any individual is to devalue God who created that person. And it is the love of God and the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit that will, hopefully, allow every human being to come to know and understand that reality. In the Holy Spirit prayer, we ask the Spirit to fill our hearts with the fire of love and give us true wisdom…
The wisdom needed to recognize the gifts we are given and the love necessary to place those gifts at the service of our families, our communities, our world, and our Church.
[00:33:43] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain, and may he hold you safe and secure in the palm of his hand.
From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with the permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis of this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening and God Bless.
