Illustration: Depiction of the Christian Holy Spirit as a dove, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini,
Pope Leo’s Homily for Holy Mass on Pentecost Sunday
St Peter’s Basilica – Sunday, 24 May 2026
John 20:19-23
In the evening of the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.
‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.
For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’
Pope Leo’s Homily
Dear brothers and sisters,
The Easter season culminates today on the Solemnity of Pentecost.
To highlight the continuity of this salvific event, the Gospel takes us back to the “first day of the week” (John 20:19), the day on which the risen Jesus appeared to the disciples and showed them “his hands and his side” (v. 20).
The Lord reveals his glorious body, specifically the wounds from the crucifixion.
These signs of the Passion are now transfigured; he who was dead lives forever.
Upon seeing the Lord, the disciples were also restored to life.
Overcome by fear, they had shut themselves in the Upper Room, but Jesus came and stood among them despite the closed doors, filling them with joy.
He passes through our “death,” opening the tomb and providing an exit when there was no way out. Christ accompanies his actions with the words: “Peace be with you” (v. 19), and he immediately breathes the Holy Spirit upon the disciples.
The risen One is full of life. After proving that he had been restored to life as a true man, he gave them the life of God as the beloved Son of the Father, who became our brother and Redeemer for our sake.
In the same upper room where he established the new and eternal covenant, Jesus pours out the Spirit. The place of the Last Supper and betrayal is transformed; the apostles’ tomb becomes the womb of the resurrection for the entire church.
Therefore, Pentecost is a Paschal feast and a feast of the Body of Christ, by grace, which is all of us.
In celebrating this mystery, I would like to focus on three aspects.
First of all, the Spirit of the risen One is the Spirit of peace.
Indeed, through the Paschal Mystery, Christ restores peace between God and humanity. The Holy Spirit then pours this peace into our hearts and spreads it throughout the world.
This peace stems from forgiveness and leads us to forgive others.
It begins with the forgiveness given by Jesus himself, whom we betrayed, condemned, and crucified. The risen One surprises us with his love when he says, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven” (John 20:23).
With these words, Jesus involves us in divine work because only God can forgive sins (Matthew 9:7).
This authority is bestowed as a sign of universal reconciliation. The Lord pours out his Spirit of peace from one end of history to the other because he who has redeemed everyone from death excludes no one. Indeed, the Holy Spirit has been Lord and giver of life since the beginning of creation, when he hovered over the waters (Genesis 1:2). Now, in renewing creation, he transforms the history of the world.
Pentecost truly appears as the feast of the New Covenant between God and all the peoples of the world.
The roaring sound, wind, and tongues of fire in the Upper Room are reminiscent of the ancient signs at Sinai (Acts 2:2–3; Exodus 19:16–19). God’s holy law is inscribed in our hearts and engraved by the Spirit with letters of love in the flesh of Christ and his body, the Church.
This law is the rule of peace. It is the twofold commandment of love that the Spirit reminds us of with every heartbeat.
Therefore, with our hearts, we can pray, “Veni Sancte Spiritus,” for he has already been given to us.
We can long for him because he has been promised to us. We can welcome him because he is the sweet guest of the soul.
Second, the Spirit of the risen One is the Spirit of mission.
“As the Father has sent me,” says the Lord, “so I send you” (Jn 20:21). Consequently, we are drawn into Jesus’ mission—the mission of the one who proceeds from God and returns to God through the power of the Spirit. The Spirit, in turn, proceeds from the Father and the Son and is worshiped and glorified with them as one God. The Holy Spirit is the living charity of Christ that fills, spurs, and sustains us in our mission (cf. 2 Cor 5:14). While bestowing on the apostles the power to preach (Acts 2:4), the Spirit teaches humanity the word of salvation. Now that the apostles have received the breath of the risen one within themselves, this proclamation pours from their lips, borne by the voice of Peter and those with him. On the day of Pentecost, the apostles began proclaiming Jesus, crucified and risen. In other words, the “mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11) are summed up in redemption, which begins with faith. Indeed, the first work of the Holy Spirit within us is the faith by which we proclaim, “Jesus is Lord!” (1 Cor. 12:3). This faith is expressed through every good deed and act of mercy and virtue. Therefore, the work of God is each one of us who came here today from all parts of the world. We are invited to the Lord’s table, gathered to listen to his word, and called to bear witness to it everywhere.Dear friends, we are truly coworkers of the Gospel. The whole Church is its protagonist, not merely its guardian. Through the power of the Spirit, our proclamation is filled with joy and hope because we are the newness of the world—the light and salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13–14). Not because of our merit or privilege, but because of the Lord’s word, which sanctifies sinners, heals lepers, and transforms those who deny him into apostles. Clearly, there are changes that do not bring new life to the world but instead make it grow old through error and violence. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit enlightens minds and instills new vitality in our hearts. He transfigures history in this way, opening it to salvation, the gift the Lord offers everyone. The Church’s mission bears witness to this offer, thereby transforming the world’s confusion into communion with God and with one another.
A third aspect of this mission is proclaiming the truth about God and humanity. The Spirit of the risen One is the “Spirit of truth” (John 14:17), whom the Lord promised us and asked us to seek unity in his Church. This unity is founded on the love of God, the source of our love.
The Spirit has spoken through the prophets and always promotes unity in truth because he imbues us with understanding, harmony, and coherence of life.
As Saint Augustine teaches, “The Holy Spirit willed that this should be the sign of his presence” (Discourse 269, 1). The gift of tongues understood within one faith.
The Paraclete protects us from anything that hinders this understanding, including partisanship, hypocrisy, and fads that obscure the light of the Gospel.
Thus, the truth that God gives us stands as a liberating word for all peoples—a message that transforms every culture from within.
Indeed, the Spirit of the risen One is not poured out once and for all but constantly.
Just as the Eucharist is the living presence of Christ who nourishes us unceasingly, so too does the Holy Spirit imprint his character upon us in baptism, making us Christians; in confirmation, establishing us as witnesses; and in holy orders, constituting ministers and shepherds for God’s people.
In every sacrament, the Holy Spirit is the giver of gifts, the source of holiness who multiplies gifts and charisms through prayer, works of mercy, and the study of the Word of God.
As the Apostle teaches: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7).
It is precisely for this reason that we are the Church: the one body that lives in God and serves the world. Thanks to the Spirit, we can bring true peace and the truth that saves — Christ our Lord — to all.
Dear friends, with fervent hearts, let us pray today that the Spirit of the risen Christ may save us from the evil of war, which is not overcome by a superpower but by the omnipotence of love. Let us pray that he frees humanity from misery, not by immeasurable wealth, but by an inexhaustible gift.
May he heal us from the scourge of sin through the salvation proclaimed to all peoples in the name of Jesus.
This is the grace that instills courage in the apostles. May he instill it in us today and always through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church.
