May 24, 2026 Pentecost Sunday Gospel: John 20:19-23
Today, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Pentecost. The passage from the Gospel of John describes Jesus’ first appearance to His disciples after His Resurrection. In this manifestation, Jesus bestows upon them the Holy Spirit.
If we attend to John’s description of the room where the Apostles were gathered, we notice that while the doors were locked, Jesus stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you!” He then imparted to His disciples the breath of the Holy Spirit. To us, this seems contrary to common sense; yet for the Lord, risen from the dead, all things are possible.
By reason of Original Sin, we are conceived and born into a state of sin, and the wage of sin is death. Bound by this sin, we cannot, like Christ, pass through walls without disturbing the order of the material world. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, by His holy Cross, conquered death. Through His sacrificial offering, He presented an atonement for the sins of the world to the Father, reconciling us to God and restoring creation. The Risen Lord, glorified in His Resurrection, manifests His divinity by transcending all spatial limitations, moving freely according to His divine will.
Jesus, using a form intelligible to the Jews—breathing upon them—causes the Apostles to receive the Holy Spirit, so that this divine breath might rest upon each of them. Through the Sacrament of Confirmation, we receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit from the hands of the successors of the Apostles, becoming adopted children of God. Our priests, who have received Holy Orders from these successors, share in the authority granted to the Apostles to forgive and retain sins. Whenever we approach the confessional to seek reconciliation with God and the world, our priests, hearing our confession, absolve us of our faults. They admonish us, urging us to form a firm purpose of amendment, to renounce all occasions of sin, and to make reparation for our offenses—and those of the whole world—through penance and prayer. By uniting our sufferings to the Passion of Christ, we seek to become true children of God.
O God, who by the mystery of today’s great feast sanctify your whole Church in every people and nation, pour out, we pray, the gifts of the Holy Spirit across the face of the earth and, with the divine grace that was at work when the Gospel was first proclaimed, fill now once more the hearts of believers. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
May 23, 2026 Evening Liturgy: Vigil Mass for the Solemnity of Pentecost Gospel: John 7:37-39
Today is Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter. According to the ancient tradition of the Church, this evening the Vigil Mass for the Solemnity of Pentecost will be celebrated. As per the newly published Roman Missal, the Pentecost Vigil may be celebrated in a shorter form or an extended form, though the Gospel reading remains the same. In light of pastoral needs, this year we provide reflections for both the Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter and the Pentecost Vigil.
The Gospel reading for the Pentecost Vigil is also taken from the Gospel of John. In this very brief passage, Jesus reveals a profound truth through mysterious words: He is the source of life, and all shall recognize the rivers flowing from His Sacred Heart through the reception of the Holy Spirit. Let us attempt to reflect on this.
Today, those whom Jesus calls the “thirsty” (cf. John 7:38) do not refer to physical thirst, but to the thirst of our souls. Due to Original Sin, we lost our dignity as adopted children of God and our intimacy with the Lord. This sense of loss and unrest causes our souls to be unable to find God, preventing us from approaching the Lord of Life and the Risen Lord to receive the graces He bestows. Deprived of divine grace, our souls gradually lose their vitality and often feel hunger and thirst.
How then can we quench such hunger and thirst? It is by being united to Him through Baptism and receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit, thereby becoming His children. For only thus can we be reborn in Christ (cf. Romans 6:3-4). For at that moment, through the waters of Baptism, we are joined to Him; He cleanses us of Original Sin through the water flowing from His sacred side, restoring vitality to our souls which had lost their strength.
Almighty ever-living God, who willed the Paschal Mystery to be encompassed as a sign in fifty days, grant that from out of the scattered nations the confusion of many tongues may be gathered by heavenly grace into one great confession of your name. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
May 23, 2026 Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter Gospel: John 21:20-25
Today is Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter. According to the ancient tradition of the Church, this evening the Vigil Mass for the Solemnity of Pentecost will be celebrated. As per the newly published Roman Missal, the Pentecost Vigil may be celebrated in a shorter form or an extended form, though the Gospel reading remains the same. In light of pastoral needs, this year we provide reflections for both the Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter and the Pentecost Vigil.
The Gospel for the Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter is taken from the final narrative of the Gospel of John. I wish to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.
Perhaps we find John’s description of the disciple “reclining at Jesus’ bosom” (cf. John 21:20) somewhat peculiar, or even subject to wild imagination. Therefore, it is necessary to explain this expression.
Let us turn our gaze back to the scene of the Last Supper. All the Evangelists describe them as reclining at table. What is the significance of this posture? It signifies that those partaking in the Passover meal considered themselves to be free men. John specifically highlights “reclining at Jesus’ bosom” to indicate that this disciple, who understood the heart of Jesus, was deeply loved by Him. John was truly blessed, for God specially granted him to behold with his own eyes the Passion of Jesus Christ, and further granted him the Virgin Mary, making him a brother of Jesus and a son of the Mother of God.
Another point requiring our special attention is the dialogue between Peter and Jesus (cf. John 21:21-23). Peter was concerned about the fate of another, rather than concerning himself with his own calling. The same thing happens to us; we often fixate on others, thereby neglecting what Jesus says to us: “Follow me.”
Today, the Lord Jesus Christ, rich in mercy, entrusts each of us with a unique mission. He desires to give us His Holy Spirit, that the Spirit may abide with us always, instructing and enlightening us. On this final ferial day of the Easter Season, let us pray together:
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we, who have celebrated the paschal festivities, may by your gift hold fast to them in the way that we live our lives. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
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