Today (24th of May, 2026) is Pentecost
Sunday.
“Today
too, the Spirit sustains great and small acts of forgiveness and prophecy
in
the Church and gives life to ever new charisms and gifts, which attest to his
ceaseless
action in human hearts”.
Pope
Saint John Paul II
Pope Francis: Becoming restless
seekers of the Kingdom of Heaven - Vatican News
Homily of His Holiness John Paul II
Sunday, 31 May 1998, The Solemnity of Pentecost
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem:I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver
of life.
With the words of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan
Creed, the Church proclaims
her faith in the Paraclete; a faith that is born of the apostolic experience
of Pentecost. The passage from the Acts of the Apostles, which today’s
liturgy has offered for our meditation, recalls in fact the marvels worked on
the day of Pentecost, when with great astonishment the Apostles saw Jesus’
words come true. As was mentioned in the passage from St John’s Gospel
proclaimed a few moments ago, on the eve of his Passion he had assured them: “I
will pray the Father and he will give you another Counsellor, to be with you
for ever” (Jn 14:16). This “Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your
remembrance all that I have said to you” (Jn 14:26).
And the Holy Spirit, coming down upon them with
extraordinary power, enabled them to proclaim the teaching of Christ Jesus to
the whole world. Their courage was so great, their determination so sure, that
they were prepared to do anything, even to give up their life. The gift of the
Spirit had released their deepest energies, concentrating them on the
mission entrusted to them by the Redeemer. And it will be the Counsellor,
the Parakletos, who will guide them in preaching the Gospel to all.
The Spirit will teach them the whole truth, drawing it from the wealth of
Christ’s word, so that, in turn, they may communicate it to people in Jerusalem
and the rest of the world.
How can we not give thanks to God for the wonders
the Spirit has never ceased to accomplish in these two millenniums of Christian
life? Indeed, the event of grace at Pentecost has continued to bear its
marvellous fruits, everywhere instilling apostolic zeal, a desire for
contemplation, the commitment to live and serve God and our brothers and
sisters with complete dedication.
Today too, the Spirit sustains great and small
acts of forgiveness and prophecy in the Church and gives life to ever new
charisms and gifts, which attest to his ceaseless action in human hearts.
An eloquent proof of this is today’s solemn
liturgy attended by a vast number of those belonging to movements and new
communities, who in these days have held their World Congress in Rome.
Yesterday, in this same St Peter’s Square, we enjoyed an unforgettable, festive
gathering with songs, prayers and testimonies. We experienced the atmosphere of
Pentecost which made visible in a way the Spirit’s inexhaustible fruitfulness
in the Church. The movements and new communities, providential expressions of
the new springtime brought forth by the Spirit with the Second Vatican Council,
announce the power of God’s love which in overcoming divisions and barriers of
every kind, renews the face of the earth to build the civilization of love.
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