Homily on Pentecost Day; 24 May 2026, Maryville Chapel, Talamban
Last week, our cook prepared Chicken Tinola for lunch. I sat down at table hungry but with no appetite since it was way past lunch time and the feeling of fatigue had weighed me down. However when I tasted the Tinola I immediately felt a sudden surge in my appetite and before I knew it I was taking another bowl of serving to satisfy my craving. It was the best Chicken Tinola I have ever tasted.
Oh… I’m sure by now you yourselves are craving for a serving of Chicken Tinola. Why don’t you prepare this soup dish for your next meal today? What would you need to cook your own Chicken Tinola at home? You need to have chicken, sayote, cabbage, salt, and to make it taste really good, you also need some spices like onions, ginger, onion leaves and sili espada. Wait, did I miss out anything? Yes, something is still missing. Can anyone tell what is missing? – the water. Yes, of course! We definitely can’t cook Tinola without water. There you are. I guess everything we need seems to be complete now, right? Say yeah!
You say yeah but I say no! There is still something lacking? Without this, one cannot have a good tasting Chicken Tinola. What is the most important element missing? It is the fire! Yes, the fire! Even if you have all ingredients complete, but if you do not have the fire you cannot have any Chicken Tinola at all.
Why am I sharing this with you? …because life is like preparing a Chicken Tinola? What would life be without the kindling fire of the Holy Spirit? What would family life be or what would community life be here in Maryville without the transforming and harmonizing fire of the Holy Spirit?
Brothers and sister, today fifty days after the Lord’s resurrection, we gather together to celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost. May I ask you? Have you ever experienced the Holy Spirit moving in your life? Was there a time when you felt an invisible power mysteriously enlightening you to dispel your doubts and confusion, at other times inspiring you to write, to pass an exam, to speak words of wisdom, or to do something inspiringly good? Has there ever been a time when you felt a sudden surge of courage moving you to face a difficult trial or accept an enormous responsibility or accomplish a super challenging task? If you have not experienced any of these probably the Spirit of God in you is not yet at work; maybe he is still sleeping just waiting to be awakened, or caged just waiting to be released. Or maybe you have not yet received the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Confirmation?
The Gospel passage we have heard today from the gospel of St. John the Evangelist (Jn 20:19-23) presents Jesus, risen from the dead, fulfilling his promise to his disciples. And what was that promise? …to send the gift of the Holy Spirit to them. And so, when Jesus the Risen Lord, appeared to his disciples at the upper room, he breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
We recall that last Sunday, we celebrated not only the feast of the Lord’s Ascension, but also the Apostles’ commissioning. This reminds us that we Catholics share the same salvific mission given by Jesus, who once said “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” Jesus knew well that his followers were only human and consequently had limited powers. And so he shared with them his super powers generously. And this empowerment includes us who are his followers today.
Do you know what this power enables us to do? According to St. Mark the power Jesus bestowed on us who believe in him enables us to heal the sick, to drive out demons, to speak new languages, to pick up serpents with their hands and drink any deadly thing without being harmed. In what way or by what means would all these be made possible? It is through the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised to send. The good news is that this promise of Jesus was fulfilled on Pentecost day.
Brothers and sisters, a Christian though already baptized is not yet fully a Christian if he has not yet been empowered to be a missionary to others. This requires going out of one’s comfort zone and self-centeredness. He may have received the gift of faith but, if he is just keeping that faith hidden – not lived fully and not shared spontaneously, that persons status would only be half a Christian or maybe one-fourth a Catholic.
The apostles were in fact like that in the beginning. They had been endowed with faith because they were able to see the risen Lord really present in their midst for a period of forty days. However, despite what they have seen, they continued to hide in the comfort and security of the upper room, the Cenacle. In other words, they remained cowards, afraid to face the Jews and proclaim the good news to them.
But the good news is, when the Holy Spirit descended upon each of them on Pentecost Day, just as the first reading (Acts 2:1-11) narrated for us, they finally awoke from their slumber, they rose from their cowardice, they abandoned the comfort and security of their room. And feeling empowered by the Spirit of the Risen Lord, they finally began proclaiming the Good News of salvation to everyone. Fearing no hardships, no trials, and no persecutions they shared their faith and preached Jesus everywhere. Today the Bosconians motto reflects this exceptional courage “Ardua non timeo.”
That is why we too need this Pentecostal empowerment today especially in this time of moral, political and economic crisis in our country. We need the gift and empowerment of the Holy Spirit so that we may have the courage to bear witness to the TRUTH, who is Christ, and to communicate his Gospel Values to the members of our family and beyond the confines of our homes, including the Senate and Congress Halls. For most of us gathered here, that Pentecost already took place on the day of our Confirmation. And today, as every year on Pentecost day, we renew the celebration of our confirmation so that those gifts of the Holy Spirit may come alive again in us to make us zealous missionary disciples to others.
This should also explain why young people who have not yet celebrated and received the Sacrament of Confirmation should really ask for this important sacrament, and not simply wait for their parents to drag them into receiving it. Through this sacrament we are super-empowered by the Holy Spirit in our spiritual battles, to fight every temptation and allurement to commit sin. By the power of the HS, we are helped to overcome the trials and tribulations, the problems and confusions in the twists and turns of our life’s journey; and above all we are transformed to become courageous apostles to others in the way that Jesus became the Apostle of the Father. Why? It is because through Confirmation we receive the outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are seven-fold as mentioned in Isaiah 11:1 – 2. Allow me to present them to you.
- The Spirit of Wisdom: the prevision to look to my last end by cooperating now to the Holy Spirit’s inspirations – all for the greater honor and glory of God;
- The Spirit of Understanding: the deepening of my grasp of the eternal truths, esp. the truths of our Catholic faith
- The Spirit of Counsel: the ability to prudently choose the best way of pleasing God;
- The Spirit of Knowledge: self-inspection regarding my fidelity to God’s laws and duties of my state in life; the ability to see and evaluate my life and whatever I do according to how God sees me;
- The Spirit of Fortitude: the ability to stand up fearlessly in opposition to evil; the virtue of the martyrs that allows them to suffer death rather than to renounce the Christian Faith;
- The Spirit of Piety: the inclination towards my divine Lover and His will rather than to earthly creatures; the willingness to worship and serve God in the liturgy and prayers of the community.
- The Spirit of Fear of the Lord: the desire not to offend God who loves us so much.
Now that we are aware of these spiritual gifts let us strive to make use of them daily. By doing so, we will have greater chances of becoming saints for the Church and heroes for society. Let us always keep in mind that the Christian faith, if it is kept for ourselves alone, makes us only half Christians and one-fourth Catholics. But once we share that same faith we can become 100 percent like Jesus.
At home you may have all the ingredients needed to make a good family but without the fire of the Holy Spirit everything will remain raw and tasteless; you may even have a mixture of different talents and personalities including strong characters and hot temperaments. But at the end of the day it is the fire of the Holy Spirit that melts and blends them all to produce not the best Chicken Tinola but the best Catholic family. It is the transforming Spirit of the Lord that makes the family, big or small, the best community of faith.
May Mary, Mother of the Church, who was present when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles, and whose feast we celebrated yesterday be present also in our daily life to obtain for us the seven-fold gifts of the Spirit. GiGsss!