May 24, 2026
Pentecost Sunday - Mass during the Day
Lectionary: 63
Reading 1
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven
staying in Jerusalem.
At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd,
but they were confused
because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
They were astounded, and in amazement they asked,
"Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?
Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?
We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene,
as well as travelers from Rome,
both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,
yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues
of the mighty acts of God."
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
R. (cf. 30) Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew
the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
How manifold are your works, O LORD!
the earth is full of your creatures;
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD be glad in his works!
Pleasing to him be my theme;
I will be glad in the LORD.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.
As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
Sequence — Veni, Sancte Spiritus
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.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, "Peace be with you."
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052426-Day
Commentary on Acts
2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; John 20:19-23
Today we round off more than seven weeks of celebrating the
Paschal Mystery: Passion and Death—Resurrection—Ascension, Exaltation—Coming of
the Holy Spirit. Although in the liturgy it is spread over seven weeks, all the
elements are actually there on the cross on Good Friday. At the moment of
death, Jesus passes to life, is exalted to the Father and breathes forth his
Spirit.
Today is also the birthday of the Church. What is the
Church? The Church is basically that community and complex of communities
spread all over the world which is continuing the visible presence of God and
his work by living openly in the Spirit of Jesus and offering its experience of
knowing Christ to the world.
…the Word became flesh and lived among us… (John
1:14)
These words apply not only to Jesus, but to all those who
are now the visible Body of the Risen Jesus. It is for each of us, individually
and in community, to incarnate the Word of God in our world.
Pentecost day
Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles gives us one account,
perhaps the most familiar one, of how the mission of Christ was transferred to
his followers. The scene is full of biblical imagery. There was “a sound like
the rush of a violent wind”. In Greek the words used here for “wind” and
“Spirit” are very similar. The whole house was filled with the very Spirit of
God.
Then “divided tongues, as of fire” were seen resting on each
person present. Fire, again, speaks of the presence of God himself. God spoke
to Moses from out of a burning bush. As the Israelites wandered through the
desert on their way to the Promised Land, a pillar of cloud accompanied them by
day, and a pillar of fire by night. God was with his people.
The fire here was in the form of tongues, as if to say that
each one present was being given the gift and power to speak in the name of God.
And in fact:
…all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Amazement
Because it was the Jewish feast of Pentecost, the city of Jerusalem was filled
with pilgrim Jews from all over the Mediterranean area. They were amazed to
hear the disciples speaking to them in their own languages:
And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native
language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and
Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of
Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds
of power.
In the Book of Genesis, men tried to build a tower to reach
right up to heaven. For such arrogance, they were punished by being made to
speak in different languages. No longer able to communicate, they could not
finish their project.
Now the time of the Tower of Babel is reversed. The disciples
have a message which is offered to and can be understood by people everywhere.
People are being called to be united again as brothers and sisters under one
common Father, revealed to them by his Son Jesus Christ.
A different account
The Gospel from John presents us with a different account of the coming of the
Spirit. It is Easter Sunday. The disciples are locked into the house, terrified
of the authorities coming to take them away as collaborators with the recently
executed Jesus.
Suddenly the same Jesus is there among them and greets them:
Peace with you.
It is both a wish and a statement. Where Jesus is, there is
peace. The presence of Jesus in our lives always brings peace and removes our
anxieties and fears.
He shows them his hands and side to prove it is himself: the
one who died on the cross and the one who is now alive. Then he gives them
their mission:
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.
Their mission and his are exactly the same. Our mission and
his are exactly the same.
He then breathes on them, just as God breathed on the earth
and created the first human being. In Christ, we become a new creation. The
breathing also symbolises the Spirit of God and of Jesus.
So he says,
Receive the Holy Spirit.
With the giving of the Spirit comes also the authority to
speak and act in the name of Jesus.
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them;
if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
This is not just a reference to the Sacrament of Reconciliation
and the power to forgive sin. Forgiving sin and reconciling people with God is
the very core of the work of Christ and the Christian mission. The disciples
are now the Body of Christ, the ongoing visible presence of Christ in the
world.
This Body will experience injuries and wounds and disease.
It will wander at times far from God. It will need healing and forgiveness and
reconciliation. It will also try to bring the same healing and reconciliation
to a broken world.
A body with many parts
Finally, the Second Reading speaks of the effect of the Spirit on the Christian
community. The Church and each community within it reflects unity and
diversity. We are not called to uniformity. We are not clones of Christ or each
other. Unity presumes diversity and a variety of gifts and talents and
responsibilities.
So, on the one hand, we are called to be deeply united in
our faith in Christ and in our love for each other. At the same time, each one
of us has a unique gift. It is through this gift or gifts that we serve and
build up the community. They are not just for ourselves, or for our families
and friends.
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the
common good.
We are like a body. Each body has many members, each with
its own particular function, yet they all are ordered to one purpose—the good
functioning of the body as a whole. So it is with the Christian community,
which is the Body of Christ. Each member is to be aware of his or her
particular gift. This gift indicates the role the member has to play in
building up the whole Body, the whole community.
Today let us ask God to send his Spirit into our hearts.
Filled with that Spirit, may we each individually make our contribution to the
community to which we belong. And, as a community, may we give clear and
unmistakable witness to the Truth and Love of God, revealed to us in Jesus our
Lord.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/ea081/
Sunday,
May 24, 2026
Pentecost
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us to read the
Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on the way to
Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, you helped them to
discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence and
death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them
the source of life and of resurrection. Create in us silence so that we may
listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people,
above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too,
like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your
resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of
fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who
revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
Reading
A Key to the Reading:
The disciples were gathered together,
and the doors were well closed. They were afraid of the Jews.
All of a sudden, Jesus stood in
their midst and said: “Peace be with you!” After showing them the hands and his
side, once again he said: “Peace be with you”! As the Father has sent me, I
also send you!” And immediately he gave them the gift of the Spirit so that they
could forgive sins and reconcile persons among themselves and with God. To
reconcile and to construct peace! Behold this is the mission which they
received and which endures up until today! Humanity is lacking peace more and
more: to put together the pieces of a disintegrated life, to reconstruct human
relationships, broken because of the injustices committed and because of so
many other reasons. Jesus insists on peace, and he repeats it several times!
During the reading of the brief text of the Gospel of this Pentecost Sunday, we
try to be attentive to the attitudes of Jesus as well as to those of the
disciples, and to the words of Jesus which he pronounces with such solemnity.
A division of the text to help the
reading:
•
John 20: 19-20: The description of the
experience of the Resurrection
•
John 20: 21: the sending out: “As the Father has
sent me, I also send you”
•
John 20: 22: The gift of the Spirit
•
John 20: 23: The power to forgive sins
Gospel Text - John 20: 19-23
19 In the evening of that
same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where
the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He
said to them, 'Peace be with you,' 20 and, after saying this, he showed them
his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord,
21 and he said to them again, 'Peace be with you. 'As the Father sent me, so am
I sending you.' 22 After saying this he breathed on them and said: Receive the
Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if you retain
anyone's sins, they are retained.
A Moment of Prayerful Silence
so that the Word of God may
penetrate and enlighten our life.
Some Questions
to help us in our personal
reflection.
•
What struck you most in the description of the
experience of the Resurrection?
•
Which are the characteristics of the Mission
which the disciples receive?
•
Which are the characteristics of the action of
the Holy Spirit which Jesus communicates to us?
•
How important is all this for the life of our
community today?
•
Jesus insists: “Peace be with you!” Which steps
should I take to reconstruct the peace and the broken relationships among
persons?
To Deepen This Theme
The Context in Which the Gospel of
John was Written:
The text of the Gospel of
John is like a very beautiful fabric, made with three threads of different
colors. The three threads are so well combined with one another that it is not
always possible to see when one passes from one thread to the other.
(i)
The first thread are the facts of the life of
Jesus, which took place in the year thirty in Palestine, preserved in the
memory of the Beloved Disciple and of many other witnesses (I Jn 1: 1-4). (
(ii)
ii) The second thread are the facts of the life
of the communities. Because of their faith in Jesus and convinced of his
presence, in their midst, the communities enlightened their life with the Word
and the gestures of Jesus. That influenced the description of the facts. For
example, the conflicts of the communities with the Pharisees towards the end of
the first century indicate the way in which are described the conflicts of
Jesus with the Pharisees.
(iii)
(iii) The third thread are the comments made by
the Evangelist. In certain passages, it can hardly be perceived when Jesus
finishes speaking and the redactor begins to knit in his own comments. (Jn 2:
22; 3: 16-21; 7: 39; 12: 37-43; 20: 30-31).
Comment on the Text:
•
John 20: 19-20: A description of the experience
of the Resurrection
Jesus becomes present in the community. Not even the
closed doors prevent him from being amid those who do not recognize him. Even
today, it is the same thing! When we are gathered, even if all the doors are
closed, Jesus is in our midst! And today, the first word of Jesus, will always
be: “Peace be with you!”
He shows the signs of the Passion on his hands and his
side. The Risen Lord is the Crucified Lord! The Jesus who is with us in the
community is not a glorious Jesus who had nothing in common with the life of
the people. But it is the same Jesus who came on this earth and who bears the
signs of his Passion. And today these same signs are found in the suffering of
the people. They are the signs of hunger, of torture, of wars, of sickness, of
violence, of injustice. So many signs! And in the persons who react and
struggle for life, Jesus resurrects and makes himself present in our midst.
•
John 20: 21: The sending out: “As the Father has
sent me, I also send you!” From this Crucified and Risen Jesus we receive the
mission, the same one that He received from the Father. And for us also he
repeats: “Peace be with you!” The repetition confirms the importance of peace.
To construct peace forms part of the mission. The Peace which Jesus gives us
means much more than the absence of war. It signifies to construct a human, harmonious
environment, in which persons can be themselves, with all that is necessary to
live, and where they can live happy and in peace. In one word, it means to
construct a community according to the community of the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit.
•
John 20: 22: Jesus gives the gift of the Spirit
Jesus breathed and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit”. And
therefore, it is with the help of the Holy Spirit that we can carry out the
mission which He entrusts to us. In the Gospel of John, the Resurrection
(Passover) and the effusion of the Spirit (Pentecost) are one same thing. All
takes place in the same moment.
•
John 20: 23: Jesus gives the power to forgive
sins
The central point of the mission of peace is found in
reconciliation, in the effort to overcome the barriers which separate us: “to
those to whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven and to those to whom you
do not forgive them, will not be forgiven”. Then this power of reconciliation
and of forgiving is given to the disciples. In the Gospel of Matthew, this same
power is also given to Peter (Mt 16: 19) and to the communities (Mt 18: 18). A
community without pardon and without reconciliation is not a Christian
community.
To Deepen More:
•
The action of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of
John
In Hebrew the same word is used to say wind and spirit.
The wind has in itself a goal, a direction: North wind, South wind. The same
for the Spirit of God (the wind of God) has in itself a goal, a project, which
manifests itself in many ways in the works which the Spirit of God fulfils in
creation, in history, and above all, in Jesus. The great promise of the Spirit
becomes present in the prophets: the sight of the dry bones which become alive,
thanks to the force of the Spirit of God (Ez 37: 1-14); the effusion of the
Spirit of God on all people (Gl 3: 1-5); the vision of the Messiah the Servant
who will be anointed by the Spirit to reestablish the right on earth and to
proclaim the Good News to the poor (Is 11: 1-9; 42: 1; 44: 1-3; 61: 1-3). The
prophets foresee a future in which the People of God is reborn thanks to the
effusion of the Spirit (Ez 36: 26-27; Ps 51: 12: cf. Is 32: 15-20).
In the Gospel of John these prophecies are fulfilled in
Jesus. As it happened in creation (Gen 1: 1), in the same way the Spirit
appears and descends on Jesus “under the form of a dove form heaven” (Jn 1:
32), It is the beginning of the new creation! Jesus pronounces the words of God
and communicates to us the Spirit in abundance (Jn 3: 34). His words are Spirit
and life (Jn 6: 63). When Jesus leaves, he says that he will send another
consoler, another defender whom he will leave with us. It is the Holy Spirit
(Jn 14: 16-17). By his passion, death and resurrection, Jesus wins for us the
gift of the Spirit. When he appears to the Apostles, he breathed on them and
said: “Receive the Holy Spirit!” (Jn 20: 22). The first effect of the action of
the Holy Spirit in us is reconciliation: “to those to whom you remit sins, they
will be remitted and to those to whom you do not remit them, they will not be
remitted!” (Jn 20: 23). Through Baptism we all receive this same Spirit of
Jesus (Jn 1, 33). The Spirit is like the water which springs from within the
person who believes in Jesus (Jn 7: 37-39; 4: 14). The Spirit is given to us to
be able to remember and understand the full significance of the Words of Jesus
(Jn 14: 26; 16: 12-13). Animated by the Spirit of Jesus we can adore God every
where (Jn 4: 23-24). Here the liberty of the Spirit is lived. “Where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is freedom”, Saint Paul confirms it (2 Cor 3: 17).
•
Shalom: the construction of peace
In the Gospel of John, the first encounter between the
Risen Jesus and his disciples is marked by a greeting: “Peace be with you!” The
peace which Jesus gives us is different from the Pax Romana, constructed by the
Roman Empire (Jn 14: 27). Peace in the Bible (shalom), is a word rich with a deep significance. It means
integrity of the persons before God and others. It means also a full life,
happy, abundant (Jn 10: 10). Peace is the sign of the presence of God, because
our God is a God of Peace “Yahweh
is Peace” (Jer 6: 24). “May the Peace of God be with you!”
(Rom 15: 33). This is the reason why the peace of God produces violent
reactions. As the Psalm says: “Too long have I lived among people who hate
peace. When I speak of peace they are all for war!” (Ps 120: 6-7). The peace
which Jesus gives us is the sign of a “sword” (Mt 10: 34). It is necessary to
have trust, to struggle, to work, to persevere in the Spirit in order that the
peace of God may triumph one day. And that day “love and truth will meet,
justice and peace will embrace” (Ps 85, 11). And then, “The Kingdom of God will
be justice, peace and joy, and these will be the fruits of the Holy Spirit”
(Rom 14: 17) and “God will be all in all” (I Co 15: 28).
Psalm 145
Description of the Kingdom of God
I shall praise you to the heights,
God my King, I shall bless your name
for ever and ever. Day after day I shall bless you,
I shall praise your name for ever and
ever. Great is Yahweh and worthy of all praise, his greatness beyond all
reckoning.
Each age will praise your deeds
to the next, proclaiming your mighty works. Your renown is the splendour of
your glory, I will ponder the story of your wonders.
They will speak of your awesome
power, and I shall recount your greatness. They will bring out the memory of
your great generosity, and joyfully acclaim your saving justice.
Yahweh
is tenderness and pity, slow to anger, full of faithful love. Yahweh is
generous to all, his tenderness embraces all his creatures. All your creatures
shall thank you, Yahweh, and your faithful shall bless you.
They
shall speak of the glory of your kingship and tell of your might, making known
your mighty deeds to the children of Adam, the glory and majesty of your
kingship.
Your kingship is a kingship for ever, your reign lasts from
age to age.
Yahweh is trustworthy in all his words, and upright in all
his deeds.
Yahweh supports all who stumble, lifts up those who are
bowed down.
All
look to you in hope and you feed them with the food of the season. And, with
generous hand, you satisfy the desires of every living creature. Upright in all
that he does, Yahweh acts only in faithful love. He is close to all who call
upon him, all who call on him from the heart.
He fulfils the desires of all who fear him, he hears their
cry and he saves them.
Yahweh guards all who love him, but all the wicked he
destroys.
My mouth shall always praise Yahweh, let every creature
bless his holy name for ever and ever.
Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to
understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit enlighten our actions
and grant us the strength to practice that which your Word has revealed to us.
May we, like Mary, your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word.
You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever
and ever. Amen.
