Discussion Questions

First Reading

Acts 2:1-11

F1. People from different nations were confused and amazed because everyone heard what the apostles were saying, but each perceived it in his own language. If you were completely open to the Holy Spirit, could you receive an understanding of what you hear? Did the miracle take place in the speaking or the hearing? How does the Holy Spirit use the miracle of hearing with you?

F2. How were the disciples different after the Spirit’s arrival? In your own life do you tend to see the Holy Spirit as dynamic and constant or only occasional? Rate your belief in the Holy Spirit as your constant companion on a scale of 1 to 10. Are you different when you are confident that the Spirit is with you?

Second Reading

1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Romans 8:8-17

S1. The gifts of the Spirit are knowledge, wisdom, understanding, reverence, courage, right judgment and awe and wonder in the presence of God. How do they create unity in the Church? Think about one of the worst problems in the world today (War in Ukraine, Climate crisis, Immigration, Racial bias) ... what small or large gifts has the Spirit given you to help with a problem that should be eradicated?

S2. Were Puccini and Shakespeare given gifts for their own pleasure? Then for what were these given? What gifts from the Holy Spirit are you aware of in yourself? Do you foresee yourself using them? Will synodality call you to use them?

Gospel

John 20:19-23 or John 14:15-16, 23b-26

G1. Compare God breathing life into Adam and Jesus breathing the Holy Spirit into the disciples. What is the significance for you? Is there a new creation? Do you have the courage to strike out on new paths that the Holy Spirit shows you, or to join them?

G2. Jesus told the disciples “The Holy Spirit … will teach you everything. … ” Is there a difference between that teaching then and now? What did Pope Francis say the Holy Spirit does that helps us keep from making a “museum piece” of our faith?

He said the following just a few years ago:

We can say that the Holy Spirit is a specialist in bridging distances, he knows how to bridge distances; he teaches us how to overcome them. It is he who connects the teaching of Jesus with every time and every person. With him Christ’s words are not a memory, no: Christ’s words, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, come alive today! The Spirit makes them alive for us: through Sacred Scriptures he speaks to us and guides us in the present.

The Holy Spirit does not fear the passing of the centuries; rather, he makes believers attentive to the problems and events of their time. Indeed, when the Holy Spirit teaches, he updates: he keeps faith ever young. We run the risk of making a museum piece out of faith: it is a risk! He, on the other hand, brings it up to date, always up to date, the faith up to date: this is his job. For the Holy Spirit does not bind himself to passing epochs or trends, but brings into today the relevance of Jesus, risen and living.

Pope Francis Pentecost Angelus
June 5, 2022

Anne Osdieck

**From Saint Louis University