Monthly Archives: May 2026

Reflecting on 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

One of the many touching things I’ve learned through the years of writing this weekly column is how seriously Catholics take the gift of their faith.

Catholics today read, and pray, and are constantly learning about the faith they love. When we arrive at the Solemnity of the Trinity, for example, I’m always inspired by the deep and intuitive reflection in which today’s Catholics have invested in order to come to their own understanding of what it all means.

For example, if you asked an adult practicing Catholic today what the first part of that closing blessing St. Paul offers in today’s second reading—“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ”—means to them, you’ll get a rich reflection on the ways grace has directed their lives.

The second half of the blessing—“the love of God”—is probably the easiest, because all Catholics can tell you how the love of God is living and active in their lives.

The third part of the Trinitarian formula—”and the fellowship of the Spirit”—will be easy too, especially since we are smack in the post-Pentecost octave. I can’t imagine active Catholics who can’t relate the ways in which the Holy Spirit lives in their hearts and spirits.

We don’t need theological explanations for what we’ve experienced through lifetimes of prayer and attentiveness to the liturgy and scripture. Grace, and love, and intimacy. That’s the meaning of the Trinity.

Why do you think one of the Persons of the Trinity might attract you more than the Others?

Kathy McGovern ©2026 

Pentecost Sequence, 2026

Reflecting on Acts 2: 1-13

At first we understood them not at all.

      What were these utterances―

         This glossolalia pouring off their tongues

                  And into the street                  

And into the world?

In time, though, our clogged ears opened.      

We saw enemies begin to speak to one another

            And those who were estranged                  

Join hands in friendship.

We saw hospitals built, and the sick healed.     

We saw Francis and Clare, Vincent and Louise,

Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal, Benedict and Dominic

and Ignatius, Catherine and Jeanne and Elizabeth,            

The contemplative Johns and the powerful Teresas,

And ourselves―yes, ourselves! ―Radically forgiving

Radically listening

Radically understanding 

           Those who don’t see things the way we do.

And then, like a mighty wind, a new heaven and earth began to take shape.      

And from then on there were no “foreign” languages.                     

From then on we all spoke just one language

           The Holy Spirit’s language                        

The first language, the only language

The language of Love.

Kathy McGovern ©2026 

Reflecting on 1 Peter 3: 15-18

Last year we resolved to begin our Pentecost novena either last Thursday, or today. Imagine that all the readers of this column around the country are praying together, right now. Our prayer is that we would be ready to give a reason for our HOPE.

It’s hard to find HOPE at times, I know. As I read back on last year’s novena, I see heartfelt prayers for a swift end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. We prayed that Vladimir Putin would have a conversion experience. We prayed that those who were trapped in Ukraine would find a safe way out.

We prayed this novena for nine days, right up to Pentecost of last year. I’m going to pray it again this year, and for as long as it takes. But I want to suggest another novena that’s closer to home this year.

It was so inspiring—so HOPEFUL—to see the lines of cars lined up last month in our parish parking lot. They had come to surrender any weapons from their homes. We recovered 108 guns, several of which were assault weapons. It’s a drop in the bucket, of course, but there’s no stopping a moment whose time has come. And so, I offer this Novena Prayer:

O God of peace, save us from ourselves.

This year has brought another terrible war, and so much suffering.  But this is the reason for our HOPE: hearts can be changed. Change our hearts this day. We pray in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.

Who are you praying for in your Pentecost novena?

Kathy McGovern ©2026

Reflecting on 1Peter 3: 15-18

Remembering the Pandemic.

How often do you cry these days? I admit that I cry nearly every day, always in response to some heroic act I see featured on tv. When I hear the first responders—the ambulance drivers and EMTs, especially–describe desperately trying to get a patient to the hospital before they die, I can barely watch.

But when they interview the exhausted nurses and doctors, and hear their answers to the inevitable questions about how they are getting through their shifts without breaking down, I long to hear just one of them reference that scripture text we have today from I Peter: Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.

In Catholic New York, I Iong to hear at least one baptized and confirmed health care hero say, “Well, I’m Catholic. That means I’m never alone. I bring the whole Body of Christ with me when I put on my protective equipment and enter the ward. And, of course, I have all the angels and saints holding me through my shift every day.”

In my daily prayer I picture those angels and saints holding parents tight, giving them patience and strength as they face another ALL KIDS ALL DAY marathon. I picture angels guiding and holding every kind of First Responder . The reason for our hope, right in the middle of this terror, is that the Holy Spirit is guiding the researchers and every person placing their precious lives on the line. Where is God in all of this? Right there in the ambulance, right there in the ventilator. God did not make death. That is the reason for our hope.

Do you ever share with anyone the reason for your hope?

Kathy McGovern ©2026 

Reflecting on Acts 6: 1-7

That first reading from Acts always makes me cringe. It’s at the very beginning of the section, where it says, “…the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.”

That’s so evocative of the cultural blindness that continues to plague the Church and society. Can you imagine this? It’s just months, or a very few years, from the resurrection of Jesus. Communities of faith have joyfully sprung up all over Jerusalem and parts of Asia. They are so on fire with Jesus that they even share everything in common. Except, apparently, when the members of the community are Greek (not Jewish) women. Then it’s okay to ignore them at the distribution of food. I’ll bet it was less being ignored and more just not being seen at all.

Thank God for Rosa Parks, who sat in the “White’s Only” part of the bus until she was “seen.” Her courage and witness paid off fairly soon. It was exactly one year later that the Supreme Court ruled the law allowing racial segregation on buses to be unconstitutional.

I remember a sad scene from my years as an elementary school teacher. Taking my turn on lunch duty, one day a group of distraught little girls came to me and said, “Miss McGovern, Elliot is crying!” Sure enough, there was little Eliott, crying, while his “friends” were utterly oblivious, throwing their lunch bags around and doing the things fourth-grade boys do. It took the girls from a table across the cafeteria to see this poor child in his misery.

Good for those Greek husbands who stood up for their wives. Who should we “see” today?

Do you feel seen by everyone in your life?

Kathy McGovern ©2026