Homily on the Solemnity of Pentecost, Year A

Connecting The Lord’s Ascension To Pentecost

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on the Solemnity of Pentecost, Year A

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, May 24, 2026

After his resurrection, Jesus existed in two dimensions. Sometimes he appeared to his disciples looking very much like an ordinary figure in our world. In one of the post-resurrection accounts, he says to his disciples, “Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have” (Luke 24:39). While they were joyful at seeing him, he asked, “Have you anything here to eat?” (Luke 24:41b), and he ate in their presence. Other times, he appeared as someone from another dimension. We see this when he appeared among his disciples, even though the doors were locked (John 20:19). When two of his disciples were walking to Emmaus, he joined them, but they did not recognize him until the breaking of the bread. What do all these descriptions mean? They tell us that, though the Risen Christ was still in this world, he is no longer completely of it. To put it blithely, he existed between the borders of this earthly dimension and the transcendent dimension we call heaven. The Ascension, therefore, was the day when Jesus stopped appearing, one day as an ordinary person in our world and another day in his super-glorified body from another dimension. It is the day that Jesus definitively moved into the higher dimension. 

Having left behind this ordinary dimension of space and time and ascended to the highest dimension we call heaven, what follows? He sends us the Holy Spirit. Through his Spirit, we experience the Risen Lord. Jesus, who roamed the hills of Galilee and could relate to a small group of people, can, after his ascension, relate to all people in the world. He can now be the Lord of all space and time. He is now directing the work of his Church. If he had not ascended and sent the Spirit, he could not be governing the Church as he does. In the Acts of the Apostles, we hear that before he ascended to heaven, his disciples asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). From the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God, which he himself embodied. So the disciples’ question was a fair one. Now that Jesus had risen from the dead, they wondered whether this was the moment of the restoration of the Israelite kingdom. What is Jesus’ response to their question? The Lord does not always give a direct answer to a question, but in this instance, he did. He says, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8). 

As I already said, throughout his public ministry, Jesus spoke about the coming of the Kingdom. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus says, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.” But what is the Kingdom? It is the definitive coming together of heaven and earth, when God’s way of ordering things is fully realized here, and this world is drawn up into the higher dimension. But when will that definitively come? It is not for the disciples to worry about, nor for us. Rather than worrying about that, Jesus tells them they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes, meaning they will be equipped and empowered to continue his work on earth. Don’t worry about when this and that will happen. That’s up to God. Your worry should be about receiving the Holy Spirit and then cooperating with that Spirit to do the Lord's work in the world. I tell you, this message is true for them and true for us. People are fixated on the end time. Please, don’t be. Rather, focus on the fact that we have a task to build and expand God’s Kingdom. Having been equipped by the Holy Spirit, there is something you can do, either here or elsewhere. Use your gifts of time, talent, and treasure to build God’s Kingdom here in St. Bridget. Look at the lives of the saints throughout the ages. The saints in our tradition come from different backgrounds, experiences, styles, and personalities. But guess what they have in common? In the course of their lives, they all discerned and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit wants me to do right now.” They were not particularly concerned about the definitive end of the world. To Francis, Jesus said, “Rebuild my Church.” And Francis replied affirmatively. To Thomas Aquinas, the Lord inspired him to think through the mystery of the faith, and he spent his life doing so. Mother Teresa of Calcutta believed she received a specific and direct calling from Jesus to feed and care for the poor, as did Mary Jo Copeland. This is also true for you. The Holy Spirit has something for you to do. Discern what that is and get on with it. 

I will close with this. In describing the coming of the Holy Spirit, St. Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles, writes: “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” The languages spoken by the early Christians were heard and understood by thousands of Jewish pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Weeks (Shavuot in Hebrew). As we celebrate Pentecost, what is that one language that can be spoken by all, heard by all, and understood by all? That language can be understood by those who talk and those who don’t. It can be understood by those who hear and those who don’t. It can be understood by those who see and those who don’t. It can be understood by all God’s people everywhere. On many occasions, you don’t even have to say a word. You just have to show it. It is the language of love. Some of us are more fluent in English; others are more fluent in Spanish, French, Igbo, or even signed language. But the language that everyone can speak, hear, and understand is the language of love. What is love? It is to will the good of others and to do something about it. I tell you, when you speak this language, even the deaf can hear it. When you speak this language, the blind will see it, and the mute can understand it. 

God bless you!