There’s a moment in life that sneaks up on you. I don’t know exactly when it happened to me, but I know it did. Somehwere around turning fifty -give or take it hit me: I went from being current and up to date… to sounding more and more like my grandfather complaining about “kids these days.” And to be fair, some of this has been building for a while. For example: I still write my homilies on the computer program WordPerfect. For those who are under 30 years old, you’re thinking right now that I just said I carve homilies onto stone tablets. The few people who recognize “Word Perfect” usually laugh and say, “Wait… that still exists?” Honestly, I tried learning how to use Microsoft Word. I gave up about ten years ago.

Thank you for taking the time to read this homily for THE SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST -MAY 24, 2026 – Your support means a great deal to me, and I’m deeply grateful for the many who share these messages with their friends, families and social media followers. If you’ve found meaning in these words, I’d be grateful if you’d share them with others who might benefit.

And for those who prefer listening, you can find the audio version on SoundCloud HERE or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes HERE. Your comments, messages, and the way you’ve embraced these homilies continue to inspire me.   Sincerely in Christ -Father Jim

But recently something really drove home how out of touch I’ve become. I watched one of our college students take out his iPhone, tap the back of it twice, and suddenly the flashlight turned on. I stared at him like he had just performed witchcraft. “What was THAT?” I asked. “Oh, it’s called Back Tap” he said (Which to me sounded less like a phone feature and more like a disease.) So I naturally assumed this was some brand-new feature on the newest iPhone. Then he asked me which one I had. Turns out… mine was newer than his. Meaning: my phone had been capable of doing this all along – I just never knew it. Before I knew it, he started showing me all these other things the phone could do: shortcuts, gestures, hidden features – all these things that had apparently been sitting there for years. And honestly? I was frustrated. Not at him, but myself. Because I realized I had been carrying around something incredibly powerful without ever accessing most of its potential.

And while I was praying with Pentecost this week, that thought kept coming back to me. Because I wonder if a lot of Catholics live their spiritual lives exactly like that. We have received infinitely more than we realize…but we are functioning spiritually on “basic mode.”

Today we celebrate Pentecost — the conclusion of the Easter season. Think about the journey we’ve been on. Ninety days ago we entered Lent on Ash Wednesday. We walked into the desert with Jesus. We confronted our weakness, our sin, our distractions, our compromises. Lent was supposed to wake us up spiritually — to help us recognize not just that the world needs a Savior, but that I need a Savior. Those acts of prayer; fasting; giving; making sacrifices – going to confession… all of it meant to clear away the noise that keeps us spiritually numb… to wake up to how I may have grown indifferent to the Lord God who should be my single most priority.

Then came Holy Week. We stood before the Cross and saw what sin actually does. Not as an abstract concept. Not as “Mistakes were made.” But rather confronting the truth – Sin crucified love. And it still does…

Then Easter exploded into that darkness. For fifty days we’ve celebrated the risen Christ. Sin has been defeated. Death is not the end. Suffering does not get the final word. Jesus Christ is alive.

And now we arrive at Pentecost. It’s interesting that today’s story doesn’t come from one of the Gospels. It comes from the Acts of the Apostles. Because Pentecost is about what happens next. Jesus has ascended. The disciples are gathered together in that same Upper room – still waiting, still processing what has happened not just over the last 50 days of Easter but these years they have been following Jesus, still depending on something beyond themselves. Jesus has risen, they’ve seen Him, they’ve eaten with Him… and then He ascends. Now what? And then suddenly: Wind. Fire. Power. Boldness. The Holy Spirit descends upon ordinary people… and everything changes.

Peter — the man who denied Jesus three times — suddenly stands in public proclaiming Christ fearlessly. The Apostles go from hiding… to transforming the world. Same men. Same room. Same mission they always had. But now the Spirit has unlocked the potential that was already there.

That’s what Saint Paul is talking about in the second reading: “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” Not to a few elite saints. Not just priests. Not just mystics. To each individual. If you are baptized, the Holy Spirit has already been given to you. If you’ve received Confirmation, there’s even more “features” – gifts and graces poured out.

The problem is many of us never really “activate” the life we’ve received. We settle for a shallow Christianity. We treat faith like a background app running quietly behind everything else in life — something we open when there’s a crisis, something we check on Sundays. But the Holy Spirit was not given so you could become slightly more religious. The Holy Spirit was given to transform you into a saint. And that’s not just a nice meme or talking point – which sadly too many are treating it like. And too often, too many are hiding and cowering behind locked doors. Listening to the lies of the “ruler of this world” constantly telling us that your life is about curating an image. Increase comfort… Opt for safety, security. Don’t rock the boat. Stay ironic. Never be vulnerable. Never commit too deeply to anything.

But beneath all of that, there is an exhaustion in this generation that is impossible to ignore. Anxiety. Loneliness. Aimlessness. Constant comparison. People desperate to be known but terrified of being seen.

Into all of that confusion, Pentecost speaks with shocking clarity: You were made for more than survival. You were made for holiness. You were made to burn with the life of God.

The saints weren’t superheroes. They were people who stopped resisting the Holy Spirit. The difference between the Apostles before Pentecost and after Pentecost was not intelligence. Not talent. Not resources. It was surrender.

For example, Before Pentecost, Peter is afraid of a servant girl. In the early hours of Good Friday she sees him and asks “aren’t you with that guy Jesus, you have that same accent…” and that’s when he denies Jesus three times. After Pentecost, he stands before crowds ready to die for Christ… which eventually, he will. Same Peter. Different fire.

So maybe that’s the question Pentecost asks all of us today: What would happen if we actually surrendered to the Holy Spirit? What gifts remain unopened in your life? What courage have you been avoiding? What calling have you been running from? What healing does God want to accomplish in you that you keep resisting? Because some of us are carrying around a baptized soul the way I carry around my iPhone — barely aware of what it can actually do. The Spirit of God is already present. The power is already there. In the Gospel today, the Church gives us this scene from Easter Sunday Evening, Jesus breathes on the Apostles and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

That detail matters. Because in Genesis, God breathes life into Adam. Now Jesus breathes divine life into the Church. Pentecost is not self-improvement. It is new creation. The proof of the Holy Spirit is not emotional hype. It is transformation. Cowards become courageous. Addicts become free. Selfish people become holy. The wounded become merciful. The fearful become missionaries.

And the world desperately needs Catholics who are actually alive with the Holy Spirit. Not angry Catholics. Not cultural Catholics. Not Catholics who know arguments but radiate no joy. Saints. People whose lives make others wonder: “What is it that they have?”

So here’s the challenge: Do one thing to discover the feature. Every single day, pray this simple, dangerous prayer: “Come, Holy Spirit. Show me one gift in me that You want to activate this week. And give me the courage to use it.”

Then pay attention. Maybe it’s the courage to start a conversation with someone who looks lonely at work. Maybe it’s the patience to listen to your roommate instead of fixing them. Maybe it’s the creativity to serve this parish in a way no one else is doing. Maybe it’s simply the honesty to go to Confession and let the Spirit breathe forgiveness into a wound you’ve been carrying too long.

The apostles didn’t become perfect overnight. They still argued. They still messed up. But something was different The Holy Spirit had been activated. And the Church was born. My friends, the Church is still being born — right here, right now, through us. The same Holy Spirit is ready. The potential is already right within reach – in our very souls. All that’s left… is the tap.

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Because Christianity was never meant to be a lifeless routine. The Church was born in wind and fire, in boldness and transformation. And that same Spirit who descended at Pentecost is still capable of doing impossible things — even now, even here, even in us. Holy Spirit, show us the life we’ve been settling for. Unleash the gifts we’ve left unopened. Free us from the fears we keep hiding behind. And set our hearts on fire again.