Pentecost Sunday
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