Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 28, 2023
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.”
We have traveled on a ninety-day journey that began on Ash Wednesday, pinnacled at Easter, and culminates today on Pentecost! Through it all, we are persistently invited to remain close to Christ in love.
This love is born in trust that the Lord is with us for all time in the form of the Holy Spirit. Jesus made that promise to the disciples in the Upper Room. He repeated the promise before he ascended to Heaven. And he delivered on that promise through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
We are eternally entwined together with the Father and the Son through this unbreakable bond. The Holy Spirit welcomes us into the world at our birth and draws us to the Father when we take our last breath. The Holy Spirit inspires us to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and bring others to faith. The Holy Spirit is with us and in us during our earthly life, in every relationship, and in every twist and turn.
Fr. Hesburgh shared his abiding reliance on the Holy Spirit and his favorite prayer, “Come, Holy Spirit” guided his thoughts, words, actions, and heart. His example of calling upon the Holy Spirit echoes in my own life to this day.
On Easter Sunday I was blessed with my last visit with my mother. In the early hours of Easter Monday morning the Holy Spirit ushered her across the bridge between earth and heaven.
I prayed “Come, Holy Spirit” before calling my brother, before FaceTiming with my husband and children, before visiting mom’s neighbors, before selecting the scriptures for her mass, and before offering her eulogy. The Holy Spirit sustained me through it all.
The tremendous gifts of the Holy Spirit—wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord—assure us that God is ever close and eager to guide our path. Today this truth of our faith is celebrated! Let us be glad and rejoice!
Prayer
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructed the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy your consolations, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day

Today is the birthday of the Church!
After Jesus rose, the disciples continued to meet every Sunday morning to pray together and to remember and celebrate the resurrection. Christ was present among them until his ascension. The disciples gathered in the upper room where they shared the Last Supper with Jesus, where he appeared to them after rising, and where Thomas touched his wounds. They were hopeful, but afraid—the factions that had killed Jesus were still in power and posed a threat to them if they were to continue Jesus’ work.
On the seventh Sunday after the resurrection, after Christ's ascension into heaven, as the disciples gathered for prayer, a supernatural wind filled the room, and tongues of flame seemed to flicker above their heads. These were signs of a divine reality—the sending of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:1-13).
Pentekoste, the Greek word for “fiftieth day,” was the name of a popular harvest festival in the region (crops in Palestine become ripe in May). Later, Israel adopted the feast to celebrate the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Sinai 50 days after Passover. Pentecost was one of the three festivals during which Jews from all nations were required to travel to Jerusalem.
When this crowd of people from all over the ancient world beheld the rush of wind, or heard about it from others, they gathered around the upper room. The disciples, empowered by the Spirit, went among them and spoke to them, and each heard them speak in their own native language.
It was a radical reorientation for that first community of Christians. They had been huddled around Jesus during his ministry, and were uncertain about what to do after Christ's ascension. Christ promised to be with them "until the end of the age" (Mt 28:20), but he was not with them in the way he had been before. At Pentecost, the young Church was strengthened for their mission. They were sent out into the city to proclaim Jesus’ good news—no matter the consequences—to people of every nation. More than 3,000 people who heard them that day accepted baptism as a sign of their new faith in the Lord, and they, too, received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This outpouring of the Spirit made the Church manifest to the whole world. It marked a new era in salvation history that continues to today—an era in which Jesus works to save the world through the ministry of the Church.
This stained glass window depicting the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary and the disciples stands in the east transept of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, and the woodcut of Pentecost comes from the chapel at Moreau Seminary. Fragments of the upper room and the table that stood in it rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. Read a fuller reflection on this feast day, and a description of how the Holy Spirit continues to move in our own lives, from a Holy Cross priest here.
On this feast of Pentecost, let us pray for the Holy Spirit to continue to direct us outwards to share the good news!