Pentecost Sunday – Year C
June 8, 2025
Gospel Lectionary Text
John 14:8-17, (25-27)
14:8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied."
14:9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.
14:12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
14:13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14:14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.
14:17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
14:25 "I have said these things to you while I am still with you.
14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.
14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
Context
Welcome to Pentecost Sunday. It’s tempting to think of the Holy Spirit as a kind of consolation prize — a divine stand-in now that Jesus is gone. But that’s not how Jesus sees it. In this week’s Gospel, he describes the Spirit as God’s Presence — no longer bound to one body, but dwelling within and among us forever, teaching us everything, and reminding us of all he said. In fact, “It is better for you that I go,” Jesus tells us elsewhere (John 16:7).
Pentecost isn’t a plan B. It’s the point. Jesus didn’t come simply to settle spiritual accounts, but to awaken a new kind of life — a Spirit-soaked way of being human, rooted in joy, peace, and forgiveness. He doesn’t just teach it. He makes it possible.
The Spirit is how God now gets through to us — within us, between us, and among us. And it’s wildly incarnational: “The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
The Spirit is expansive. It moves through the church walls — and beyond them. Pentecost is divine presence on the loose. The Holy One transcends the temple and goes global. No longer confined to sacred buildings or special people, the Spirit now speaks every language, rests on every head, and invites all to belong. This is how God makes a home in the world. This is Pentecost.
Question
Jesus promises to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. The Greek word is ekcheo — to “gush” or “run out greedily.” Where do you see the Spirit’s excessive love and generosity being poured out in your context today?
Reflections
Praying Eucharistically - Weekly Homily by James Alison:
Understanding the Bible anew through the Mimetic Theory of René Girard.
Poetry
Shaking Hands
by Pádraig Ó Tuama
Because what’s the alternative?
Because of courage.
Because of loved ones lost.
Because no more.
Because it’s a small thing; shaking hands; it happens every day.
Because I heard of one man whose hands haven’t stopped shaking since a market day in Omagh.
Because it takes a second to say hate, but it takes longer, much longer, to be a great leader.
Much, much longer.
Because shared space without human touching doesn’t amount to much.
Because it’s easier to speak to your own than to hold the hand of someone whose side has been previously described, proscribed, denied.
Because it is tough.
Because it is tough.
Because it is meant to be tough, and this is the stuff of memory, the stuff of hope, the stuff of gesture, and meaning and leading.
Because it has taken so, so long.
Because it has taken land and money and languages and barrels and barrels of blood.
Because lives have been lost.
Because lives have been taken.
Because to be bereaved is to be troubled by grief.
Because more than two troubled peoples live here.
Because I know a woman whose hand hasn’t been shaken since she was a man.
Because shaking a hand is only a part of the start.
Because I know a woman whose touch calmed a man whose heart was breaking.
Because privilege is not to be taken lightly.
Because this just might be good.
Because who said that this would be easy?
Because some people love what you stand for, and for some, if you can, they can.
Because solidarity means a common hand.
Because a hand is only a hand; so hang onto it.
So join your much discussed hands.
We need this; for one small second.
So touch.
So lead.
Excerpt
by Luis Alberto Urrea
“Laughter is the virus that infects us with humanity.”
Prayer
This week, the call to prayer comes from the Street Psalms Centering Prayer:
Come, Holy Spirit, wild and free. Do as you please. Shine your light on me that I might see things as they are, not as I am. Free me to act in your name with courage, creativity, and compassion.
