Solemnity of the Pentecost, Cycle C (2025)

There is so much that can be said about this feast day and what it represents in our faith. To speak of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, we simply do our best, even though it falls short. To do so, we use the images and symbols found in the Scriptures.

But one distinct way we understand the Holy Spirit is as one who unifies us. As we so often pray, “…in the unity of the Holy Spirit…”. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles speaks of how people of different languages and nations were drawn together into this one Spirit, in order to, therefore, share in Jesus’s mission. And that same Spirit was given to us, varied as we are, to draw out from us, our God-given gifts, all for the sake of this same Mission.

It so happens that this solemnity often falls close to the date of St. Ephrem’s feast day (June 9). He is sometimes called the Harp of the Holy Spirit, known for his lyrical and poetic writings, written for the purpose of teaching the faith.

He was born c. 306 in southeastern Turkey (Nisibis), near the Syrian border. He inherited the Christian faith from his mother. As a young man he began to live as a monk: a strict prayer life, virtually no possessions, and in community with like-minded individuals. In time, he was ordained a deacon.

Beginning in 338, Nisibis came under attack from Persian forces. After two decades of this assault, the people surrendered and were forcibly expelled. Many, including Ephrem, fled to another city, Edessa, roughly 140 miles west. By this time, Deacon Ephrem was in his late 50s. After 10 years of living in Edessa, Ephrem, caring for the sick and dying during a plague, he contracted the illness and on June 9^th of 373.

His writings—of which, more than 400 poems still exist—drew upon influences of Rabbinic Judaism, Greek science and philosophy, and Mesopotamian tradition. They are beautiful, powerful, and theologically informed.

This Solemnity of Pentecost calls us to bear in mind the unbridled power of the fiery Spirit of God, the sanctifying element that spiritually animates us as individuals according to our distinct gifts. In light of that, we consider the words of St. Ephrem, the Harp of the Holy Spirit, regarding the bread and wine, which in a moment, will be enlivened and changed before our eyes, by the descending Holy Spirit, to become our Eucharist, the means by which we are spiritually united and made sharers in God’s Divine Life:

“In your bread hides the Spirit who cannot be consumed; in your wine is the fire that cannot be swallowed. The Spirit in your bread, fire in your wine: behold a wonder heard from our lips.

The seraph could not bring himself to touch the glowing coal with his fingers, it was Isaiah’s mouth alone that it touched; neither did the fingers grasp it nor the mouth swallow it; but the Lord has granted us to do both these things.

The fire came down with anger to destroy sinners, but the fire of grace descends on the bread and settles in it. Instead of the fire that destroyed man, we have consumed the fire in the bread and have been invigorated.”

In this sacred food, may we receive the Pentecost fire. May it burn our sins away, leaving behind only what is of God…Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.