Pentecost 2025
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit enables people of different nations to understand one another, reversing the division of Babel and forming one united family of God. Through Confirmation, we are anointed to speak Christ’s language of peace—a language that transcends words and is expressed through love, understanding, and service. In a world marked by division and conflict, we are called to be people who embody and share this peace.
Listen to homily here:
Language is such an important thing. Consider for a moment if you've ever had to learn a new language—how difficult it can be to communicate, how easy it is to experience misunderstandings, and how excluded you can feel when you're in a place where you don’t speak the language.
For some years, I lived in different places while studying or doing pastoral work in Mexico and Italy. I had a little trick I thought was clever when I was learning the language. I’d be speaking with someone—often an elderly woman at a parish—and if I didn’t understand what she was saying, I’d just nod my head and say, “Sí, sí,” over and over. That worked a few times—until one day, the woman stopped and said, “You haven’t understood a word I’m saying, have you?” She was absolutely right. It happened more than once, I’m ashamed to say!
Language is powerful. When we struggle to speak it, it can create barriers. But when we share a language and can communicate with one another, it creates unity. It brings us together.
This theme of language is central to today’s celebration of Pentecost. Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, tells us that the Holy Spirit descended upon the followers of Christ in the form of tongues of flame. Tongues, of course, are what we use to speak. The imagery is intentional. At Pentecost, the gift of the Spirit is given in a form that represents communication.
In fact, Pentecost reverses an earlier event in Scripture that also involved language: the Tower of Babel in the Book of Genesis. There, humanity had been united in one language but turned away from God. In response, God confused their speech, and they could no longer understand one another. This ancient account—more a theological reflection than historical report—suggests that division in language led to disunity, miscommunication, and even conflict.
Now, look at what happens at Pentecost. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, begins to preach. He still speaks his own language, yet everyone gathered—Jews from every nation—can understand him. Pentecost was a major pilgrimage feast for the Jewish people, who came to remember how God gave the Law through Moses and formed them into one people. Now, Peter proclaims a new covenant through Christ, and the Holy Spirit forms an even larger family of God.
The division of languages is no longer a barrier. The Holy Spirit unites all who hear. Everyone understands. The message is clear: the Holy Spirit creates unity, forms communion, and builds one family across every boundary.
We could go even further and say: when we receive the Holy Spirit, we all begin to speak a common language—the language of Christ. And the language of Christ is peace and love.
This comes across clearly in today’s Gospel. Jesus appears to his disciples in the upper room—where they are fearful and anxious—and his first words are: “Peace be with you.” He says it again. Peace is the language Jesus speaks.
But this peace is not simply the absence of violence. It is much deeper. In Hebrew, shalom means wholeness, harmony, completeness. It is the peace that begins in the human heart. It spreads to our relationships, our families, our workplaces, our parishes. It allows us to listen to one another, understand each other, and work together. It is a peace expressed in kindness, service, and love.
This is the peace that we are sent to speak in the world. At our Confirmation, we are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The bishop or priest says, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit,” and then adds, “Peace be with you.” Our first words as newly confirmed Christians are words of peace.
We are also anointed with chrism oil, a mixture of olive oil and fragrant balsam blessed at the Chrism Mass. This perfumed oil is a sign of the Spirit’s presence and mission. In the Old Testament, those who were anointed—prophets, priests, and kings—were always sent out for a purpose. In the same way, our anointing at Confirmation is a sending. We are called to go into the world and speak the language of Jesus.
And this language is so desperately needed today—in a world filled with violence, polarization, misunderstanding, and division. We are called to be people of peace, people who listen, who build bridges, who foster unity with gentleness and strength.
As we celebrate Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit, let us remember our own Confirmation. We have been sealed. We have been sent. Let us speak, wherever we are and in whatever language we use, the language of Christ: a language of peace and love.
This is the language the world is yearning to hear.
