Homily for Pentecost Sunday Vigil, delivered in St Patrick's Catholic Church, Calliope, Qld.

"Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. ‘Surely’ they said ‘all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; as well as visitors from Rome – Jews and proselytes alike – Cretans and Arabs; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.’" (cf. Acts 2).

"You take back your spirit, they die, returning to the dust from which they came. You send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth." (cf. Ps 104).

"There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose. Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ." (cf. 1 Cor 12-13).

"Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side... he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father sent me,
so am I sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit'..." (cf. Jn 20).

Artwork: Jesus reaching into the water to embrace Peter (and us!), retrieved from Pinterest.