So much is going on right now in the world, making many people jittery about waking up and heading to the streets to work or do other things each morning. Our world is overwhelmed by fear, division, and uncertainty, while the deep-seated need in the human heart is for divine peace and loving unity. The episode of the disciples (John 20:19), hiding behind locked doors, mirrors our individual instincts to retreat when life becomes too difficult or dangerous. But Jesus breaks through, not with judgment, but with peace and the gift of the Holy Spirit, reminding us that only love, not fear, can move us forward. I imagine the joy on the faces of the disciples, recognizing the risen Lord, how we, too, can rediscover newness and joy when we allow God’s love to enter our most guarded spaces. Even though God’s peace is not the absence of trouble, it renews the presence of life’s purpose and connection in our hearts amid our challenges.
The feast of Pentecost is celebrated this weekend in many churches worldwide. During that Jewish feast (Acts 2:1-11), God’s most Holy Spirit came like a mighty wind, disruptive yet life-giving, to fill ordinary people, like you and me, with extraordinary courage and the agency of voice. In a time when communication is often distorted by misunderstanding, polarization, “fake news,” and social noise, the Spirit still enables us to speak and hear love in the language of the heart. I would like to remind you that the miracle wasn’t just in the speech but also in the listening, because people from every background recognized the same truth in their own tongue. That is the foremost miracle of the celebration of Pentecost, and it shows us that God’s love is universally relevant and that the Spirit equips us to bridge cultural and personal divides when we center our lives on Him. More than ever, we need this divine harmony in our fractured world.
In the second reading (1 Corinth 12: 3-13), St. Paul reminds us that unity does not always mean uniformity. We each have different strengths, perspectives, and roles, but we are bound by one Spirit and one Lord who works through all of us. This passage forewarns us that in today’s culture of competition and comparison, it is easy to forget that our unique gifts were never meant for self-glory, but for the benefit of others, which means that when we live as one body, inspired by the Spirit, we become channels of healing, and not harm, builders of community, and not silos of self. The message is that we can truly thrive only by honoring our shared belonging in Christ.
Finally, we must note that to live happily and meaningfully in this life, we must be guided by love. By letting God’s love saturate us through the Holy Spirit, we will be motivated to extend ourselves to others in service. Without letting go of selfishness and other weaknesses, we remain locked behind the doors of fear and mistrust. However, with love and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can speak truth to power, forgive, and build peace. This love is not merely a feeling; it is a decision to live for something greater than ourselves. This love from the Holy Spirit is the only path that leads to the joy that lasts and the peace that makes sense, even in the chaos.
