Lord, send out your Spirit

Father Leo Hausmann
Pentecost Sunday
June 8, 2025

Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost closes out this Easter Season and we enter into Ordinary Time of the liturgical year. Pentecost literally means fiftieth. It is a feast celebrated on the fiftieth day after the Passover feast by the Jews and a feast celebrated on the fiftieth day after the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus by the Christians.

Pentecost marks the end and the goal of the Easter season. For Christians, it is a memorial of the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the Virgin Mary in the form of fiery tongues. The Paschal Mystery of the passion, the death, the Resurrection, and the Ascension of Jesus culminates in the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father at the request of His Son on the disciples. 

The feast also commemorates the official inauguration of the Christian Church by the apostolic preaching of St. Peter. His preaching resulted in the conversion of 3,000 Jews to the Christian faith. Pentecost is, thus, the official birthday of the Church.

Today’s Scripture readings remind us that Pentecost is an event of both the past and the present. The main theme of today’s readings is that the gift of the Holy Spirit is something to be shared with others. In other words, the readings remind us that the gift of the Holy Spirit moves its recipients to action and inspires them to share this gift with others. 

During this year of Eucharistic Revival, the United States bishops have initiated an evangelization program they named “Walk With One.” This is a very simple method of evangelization anyone can do. The method consists of four steps or stages:

First, identify. Don’t just pick someone but ask God to point out you to the person he has in mind.

Second, intercede. As soon as the Holy Spirit lays someone on your heart, begin to pray for them. Ask God to remove whatever obstacles making it difficult for this person to draw closer to Christ and to His Church. Also, pray for yourself for the grace to accompany this person well.

Third, connect. Look for ways to build a deeper relationship with this person, such as getting together with them for coffee or lunch. Listen deeply for the promptings of the Holy Spirit as you get to know your friend’s joys and struggles. Share with them some of your own.

Fourth, invite. Follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit and when the time is right, invite your friend to take a concrete next step in fostering a personal relationship with Jesus and the Church. This might mean joining you for a Bible study or Mass on Sunday.

How beautiful is the thought that the Holy Spirit can use us to bring others to Christ who may not otherwise know Him! How beautiful is the thought that the Holy Spirit even lives within us!  

Saint Paul reminds the Corinthian community of this fact when he asks, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16).  

It is the Holy Spirit who develops our intimacy with God.  “God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, ‘Abba!’ which is Father” (Gal 4:6).  

“God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5).

“No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:3).  

Moreover, the Letter to the Romans tells us that it is the Holy Spirit who teaches us to pray. By the power of the Spirit, we also know the Lord Jesus through His Church. It is the Holy Spirit who enlivens, enlightens, guides, and sanctifies the Church. The Psalm refrain for this Sunday says it so well, “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.”  

We know Jesus through the sacramental mysteries of the Church, and the Holy Spirit is at the heart of the sacramental life of the Church. Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders are the sacramental mysteries through which people receive the seal of the Holy Spirit. It would be impossible for us to receive Jesus in the Eucharist without the descent of the Holy Spirit at the epiclesis of the Divine Liturgy.  

Even the forgiveness of sins comes through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit both confirmed the apostles in Holy Orders as priests and empowered them to forgive sins by His power, a work which He continues today in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Today, let us rejoice in the gift of the Holy Spirit.