Most Reverend José H. Gomez Archbishop of Los Angeles
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels May 20, 2018
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,1
Today we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. They have waited with our Blessed Mother for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And now, the Spirt has come. Just as Jesus promised, in fire, in a strong and driving wind.
The mighty Spirit of God is with us today, just as it was with Mary and the apostles on that first Pentecost.
As we heard in that first reading today: “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit!”
As the apostles were filled with the Spirit, so are we. This is who we are.
Today again Jesus comes to stand in our midst. And as we were hearing in today’s passage of the Gospel, he passes through the locked doors of our hearts — the doors that we lock to keep others away from us. Sometimes, sadly, to keep God at a distance.
Jesus knows that like those first disciples, sometimes we are afraid of what God is calling us to do; sometimes we are afraid to go out and encounter the pain of our neighbors, their loneliness and their need for God.
But Jesus will not leave us alone. He does not allow us to lock ourselves away from the world. So, he comes again and again into our lives.
In the Gospel today, he comes to his disciples and he shows them his hands and his side.
And the wounds of the risen Christ tell a story. When we look at his hands and his side, we see the story of how much God loves us — so much that he suffers and dies for us.
In his wounds we see that we have been forgiven and healed, our guilt washed away!
This is why the disciples rejoice in the Gospel today. And this is why we should rejoice, too. Our life should be a life of joy!
St. Paul, in the second reading today tells us that the Spirit makes us one — one heart, one love, one life!
Jesus is sending us into the world to spread the fire of his love wherever we go. In our conversations at home and at work. Everywhere.
Like those first disciples, we need to open people’s hearts to the love of God. We need to speak to them of the great things that God can do in their lives.
The mission of Pentecost, the mission of the Spirit, continues today — again, in your life and my life.
We need to rely more on the Holy Spirit. We need to pray to the Holy Spirit every day.
Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
Let us ask our Mother Mary to pray for all us and to pray for the Church.