A homily for Pentecost Sunday, May 24, 2026
Readings for the Mass During the Day
Acts 2:1-11, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13, John 20:19-23
Just for a moment, let’s imagine that today is the first Pentecost, and we are Christ’s disciples, all gathered together.
Which we are.
The Holy Spirit descends on us, and gives us … what? Tongues as of fire floating above our heads? Every one of us who ever learned “stop, drop and roll” would probably do our best to extinguish them before they set our hair on fire.
No, in 2026, we’d have little light bulbs over each of us, those little symbols of — DING! — I’ve just had a brilliant idea.
We’ve just been inspired.
Now, when we 21st-century people say we’ve been inspired by someone or something, we’re usually talking about a recipe or a photo or painting or a story or a poem. We might be talking about an invention or a better-cheaper-more efficient way of picking Jersey sweet corn.
Something that affects our everyday lives.
We’ve had an aha moment, a bolt out of the blue. We’ve been struck by lightning. We’ve had a brilliant idea, all by ourselves.
Not exactly.
We’ve been touched by the Holy Spirit.
Again.
Always.
We’ve had a brilliant idea, with God’s help.
We’ve had a brilliant idea, on any subject from A to Z, including some new letters we’ve just invented, with God’s help.
We’ve had a personal Pentecost. We’ve been inspired.
When the word “inspire” was coined, it referred to a divine force being breathed into someone. Divine, as in the Holy Spirit. In fact, the word “inspire” shares its roots with the word “spirit.” And there’s still a divine element to inspiration.
All too often, we fall into the trap of pushing spiritual things to one side of our lives and worldly things to another. What do prayer and meditation have to do with sports or mathematics?
Then again, players do bless themselves before a free throw or a 3-2 pitch. Students do ask for divine guidance before their calculus final. Yes, Virginia, there is prayer in schools.
The Holy Spirit who descends on Pentecost and in the Sacrament of Confirmation connects every aspect of our lives, because there are no such things as home life vs. spiritual life vs. work life vs. leisure life. We have lives: kaleidoscopic, ever-changing, sometimes dull, often brightly colored, unified lives. We have routines, and we have new experiences and surprises.
We have inspirations of every sort, because the Spirit is always with us, just as Jesus promised. We have inspirations of every sort, because the Spirit is woven into every aspect of our lives.
Not merely when our heads are bowed in prayer.
Divine grace and inspiration via the Holy Spirit have a twofold role in our lives.
Divine grace and inspiration supply us with ideas and creativity, which we know as our skills and talents and intellects. And grace and inspiration are a call to action, a kick in our backsides to get off our couches and make the Earth better than we found it, by using those skills and talents and intellects.
Maybe we can speak in tongues like French or Farsi, to help strangers in a strange land be understood. Maybe we can speak words of kindness and support when people are sad or fighting with each other. Maybe we can speak truth to power. God’s truth, as proclaimed by Christ Jesus.
Maybe we are inspired to heal the sick, feed the hungry, shelter the unhoused, defend and uplift the oppressed. Maybe we can care for a child or a senior citizen long enough to give their primary caregivers a chance to rest and catch their breath.
Maybe we can dig in the earth and grow food, remove tainted soil, find water in the desert.
God’s Spirit gives us the tools to recognize in ourselves the best ways we can serve and not be served: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and awe of God.
God’s Spirit gives us the strength and energy to pull ourselves back up any time we stumble.
God’s Spirit is palpable. We feel the Spirit, we hear the Spirit. We can — and do — lean on the Spirit.
The Spirit floods us with hope and joy.
Yes, if Pentecost were today, on this May day in 2026, we’d recognize inspiration if we saw little light bulbs shining instead of flames flickering.
But like 2,000 years ago, we can and should feel the fire.
