Pentecost was one of many outpourings of the
Holy Spirit in the New Testament. The first was on Easter Sunday
evening, when Jesus came to the apostles in the Upper Room, as we
heard in our Gospel today and Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to the
apostles to forgive sins in his name. (John 20:19-23) Before the
changes in the liturgy in the 1960s, during the Ordination of
priests, after Holy Communion the bishop used to lay his hands on
each priest being ordained and say to him in Latin, “Receive the
Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven them and whose sins
you retain are retained.”
The gift of the Holy Spirit to the apostles at
Pentecost was for the inauguration of the mission of preaching the
Gospel to the entire world. To prove, as it were, that the Holy
Spirit did come upon them, it was accompanied by signs—wind and
tongues of fire. Every time in the Acts of the Apostles that the
Holy Spirit came on people, we see signs confirming the coming of
the Holy Spirit: first Pentecost; then the coming of the Spirit on
the Samaritans in Acts 8:14-2; the coming of the Holy Spirit on
Gentiles in Acts 10:44-48; and the coming of the Holy Spirit on
Ephesians in Acts 19:1-7. The visible signs of the Holy Spirit
during those occasions were a special gift to help the early Church
at its inauguration.
We received the Holy Spirit first at baptism.
At baptism we received the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the form of
seeds as it were, and a more complete form of the gifts of the Holy
Spirit at Confirmation. Just as when you sow seeds in your garden
you have to prepare for the sowing of the seeds, to receive the Holy
Spirit we have to prepare ourselves and we prepare ourselves to
receive every sacrament by prayer beforehand. So, schools and
parishes prepare the children for the reception of Confirmation.
After you sow the seeds in your garden you continue to care for the
developing plant and likewise, we continue to pray and nourish our
spiritual lives to enable the action of the Holy Spirit to continue
in us and bring us nearer to God and become the person God wants us
to be.
The action of the Holy Spirit can be seen in
many ways in the life of the Church. One of the gifts of the Holy
Spirit is fortitude. We see the gift of fortitude in the martyrs of
the early church who remained faithful to Jesus even when they knew
their fidelity to Jesus would cost them their lives. There were
thirty-two popes before the Edict of Milan in AD 313 when the
Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity. Different lists give
different tallies of the number of popes martyred, but each list
says about thirty were martyred. There is good evidence for the
martyrdom of about a dozen of those thirty-two popes. Apart from the
popes who had the gift of fortitude to remain faithful despite
persecution, historical records suggest an estimated 3,000-4,000
were martyred in the Roman Empire prior to the Edict of Milan. The
persecution of Christians before that edict was in waves, some years
were peaceful and some years full of persecutions depending on who
was the emperor. We see the gift of fortitude today in those, for
example in Africa, who are baptized and become Catholic during the
Easter Vigil despite knowing that it could lead to their martyrdom.
We see the gift of fortitude today in those who stand up to protect
and defend life.
The action of the Holy Spirit can be seen in
the early Church compiling the Bible. Because of the persecutions
and the growing length of time since Jesus, there arose the need to
have written records. So the Gospels were written and Paul wrote
back letters to the parishes he founded to offer them continued
assistance and guidance and those letters were accepted by the early
Church into the New Testament. We say the Bible is inspired. When we
talk of the Bible, the word “inspired” means the Bible was composed
under the influence and action of the Holy Spirit. When talking of
the Bible, the word “inspired” means that God has breathed his Holy
Spirit into these writings. The second letter of Paul to Timothy
says, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching,
for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every
good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17) In the original Greek of that letter,
the word “inspired” means “God-breathed,” that God has breathed his
spirit into Sacred Scripture. That is why, although written by
humans, we say God is the author of the Bible.
We see the action of the Holy Spirit in so
many other ways during the history of the Church. We see the action
of the Holy Spirit in missionaries spreading the Gospel to all parts
of the world. We see the action of the Holy Spirit in various Church
councils explaining the truth of our faith with greater clarity. We
see the action of the Holy Spirit in the rise of monasteries and
religious orders that renewed spirituality in the Church. We see the
action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the saints and the
writings they left us. Whenever there is something good in the
Church or even outside the Church, that is the action of the Holy
Spirit.
As we celebrate Pentecost, aware that seeds
need to have soil prepared for them to grow, and be looked after
while they grow, we can ask ourselves how much attention we give to
allow God’s Holy Spirit continue to work well in us.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2026
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for Pentecost Sunday
Confirmation: extension of Pentecost to us 2025
Pentecost: the Holy Spirit comes to us in the sacraments 2024
Pentecost: Proud to be Catholic 2021