Homily, Pentecost 2025
From The Pastor
Love gives life. Love is the source and origin of all life. Love heals, forgives, and transforms death into new life. New life may mean a new beginning after an act of forgiveness, recovery after a critical illness, restored hope after a period of depression, or a new relationship after a painful loss, eternal life with God after physical death.
The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, is the source of all love. We tend to limit the love of the Holy Spirit to religious or spiritual love. This would be a mistake. Relational and lifegiving love always has its origin in the Holy Spirit. It is said that the Holy Spirit is the least understood and the most difficult person of the Holy Trinity to know. Perceptively this feels true, but does not have to be.
Scripture, Tradition, and experience are the three pillars used to build mature religion that leads to an integrated spirituality. On this Feast of Pentecost, I suggest the role of experience is the most effective way to realize the evidence of the Spirit’s work in our lives. It is true that the Holy Spirit is a great mystery. It is also true the Spirit is ever-present and in full view for those with eyes to see.
As a person of faith redeemed in Christ, feel the love God has for you. Feel your self-love; the love others have for you, then the bonds of love you hold for others. Reflect on the love you share that gives you life, animates your day, inspires your generosity, goodness, surety, or peace. All of these are works of the Holy Spirit in you. Remind yourself of times you were forgiven or you forgave another and peace was restored. Times you went to confession and felt a renewal of mind and heart. Consider times you felt down, overworked, unappreciated, depressed, or insensitively harmed by another, times of crisis, loss, or loneliness. Did you pray at such times, feeling renewal or restored peace? That was the Holy Spirit. Recall times of illness, your own or another whom you prayed for and health was restored. Holy Spirit. Think of your daily prayer in the desire to praise, petition, or honor God with faith in the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit was there whether you had a warm feeling or not. The Holy Spirit is like the air we breathe; ever-present, rarely seen or heard. If the Spirit departed from you, you would know it immediately.
I cannot resist using the vision of Ezekiel in the story of the dry bones. The story has its own context, but the image is universal and timeless. Who doesn’t at times feel dry, hopeless, and without resources for a resolution? Historically, Ezekiel was carried into exile with the people of Israel to Babylon. The people are hopeless, lifeless, and in despair. God directs Ezekiel to call forth the Spirit to reanimate and restore the People of God.
You cannot miss the effectiveness of the imagery; dry lifeless bones scattered on the desert floor. Only a Divine action could restore and give new life to a people so dejected and feeling abandoned by God. Ezekiel is a man in the Spirit who has trust and a lively hope in the action of God. He acts as directed and life is restored through the breath and action of the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever felt this way in a time of loss, crisis, or waning hope? Call on the Holy Spirit. Remember who you are in Christ; that you belong to him who has given his life for you, and whose Spirit dwells within you. Looking beyond yourself, consider the millions of people in the world who are in fact suffering exile, oppression, hopelessness, starvation, and despair. How is God present in those circumstances today? As a person in the Spirit, how can your prayer or action be of service to them?
Consider the experience of those in the Upper Room when Jesus appeared. Can you place yourself in the room and imagine the tension and great relief at the same time? This was a lived experience for those present. Consider how they were transformed in the words and action of Jesus, “Peace be with you.” Breathing on them and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” And they did and everything was transformed. They were never the same. They received the power of Divine love in the Holy Spirit with the commission to give witness through acts of forgiveness, justice, and mercy in the name of Jesus.
You and I have the same Holy Spirit with the same call to give witness, forgive others, and accept forgiveness ourselves. This is why the Feast of Pentecost is an essential reality of the Christian life. Ponder your experience. Put a name and a face on the Holy Spirit in your life as you receive and offer love, goodness, and mercy to others. In the Holy Spirit you have the power to be transformed. You also have the power to help transform others with the witness of your love. Be an agent of the Holy Spirit in the world. Love more.
Father John Esper
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