Let me start with a story that I read from an article by a good friend of mine, Fr Atilano Corcuera, SVD. A contractor was asked to make a building for homeless blind people.

Pentecost is a Feast of Hope. The conviction that God’s Resurrected Love is alive in this world, reflects Fr Nick de Groot SVD.

There is also the experience of the hunger by the people on the margins, not so much for doctrine and teachings, but for presence and dignity and walking together in this love of the Spirit.

On the Mount of Olives, just outside of Jerusalem, there is a small mosque. In the centre of this Muslim house of prayer is a flat rock a metre or so in diameter. In the centre of this rock are two foot-shaped indentations.

With the arrival of Pentecost Sunday, our Easter journey is almost over. The concept of Pentecost as a culmination of the spiritual journey from Resurrection to the gathering in the upper room, and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the reluctant disciples, rather than simply an awe-inspiring theophany, is intimated in John’s Gospel as the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to the disciples, that The Advocate will come and remain with the fledgling Church for all time.

As we prepare for the special feast of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit, I believe it’s more important than ever for us to be alert to the movement of the Spirit in our own lives and in the Church today.

For some time now I’ve been sensing the Spirit at work in the growing move towards synodality in our Church – that movement based on deep listening, discernment and sharing of gifts.

Since the celebration of Easter, the Church has invited us to reflect on the origins of the Christian community.

There has been a saying going around our Community that the Feast of the Ascension reminds us that Jesus decided thereafter “to work from home”. 

There has been a saying going around our Community that the Feast of the Ascension reminds us that Jesus decided thereafter “to work from home”.  But Jesus promised not to leave us orphans. 

We think of Pentecost as that special time when the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples in the upper room (Acts 2:1-13). Even though all the disciples were Galileans, they began to speak in many different languages which were, nonetheless, understood by the many people present. This came to be known as “speaking in tongues”. The Holy Spirit is indeed a Spirit of both diversity and unity, writes Fr Michael Knight SVD.

This is a very different outcome to a certain situation portrayed in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 11:1-9, in which people who speak the same language come together to build a tower (The Tower of Babel) that will supposedly reach heaven itself and make the people to be like gods.. To counter this sin of ego driven pride, God causes many languages to arise amongst those constructing the Tower and the result is that the whole project comes to an abrupt halt in complete and utter confusion.

After the resurrection of Jesus the disciples hid themselves behind locked doors for fear of the authorities. Now one can lock oneself in a room because one believes that the world is unfriendly and hostile, and so prevent the world from entering the room, but then one also can’t get out. Since the crucifixion the disciples had bunched together behind locked doors in fear and anxiety. It must have been like hell.

However there is a way out of this terrible fear. Into this room of trapped people comes Jesus with his gift of peace and he says, “Peace be with you”.