Living as a Pentecost People

Sunday, June 8, 2025

This guide offers questions for personal reflection and group discussion, drawing on the themes of Fr. Dan's Pentecost homily. Consider how these insights challenge and encourage us to walk alongside one another in faith and vulnerability – a practice known as accompaniment.

Reflection & Discussion Questions:

• In his homily, Fr. Dan states that after Pentecost, living one's faith became "tough" and dispensed with a strictly private lifestyle. How have you experienced challenges or a call to move beyond a "private" faith in your own life?

  Accompaniment connection: How can we support each other when living our faith feels "tough"?

• Fr. Dan contrasts hiding in fear with living openly as a Pentecost people. What fears or tendencies towards "living in separation" do you notice in yourself when it comes to sharing your faith or struggles?

  Accompaniment connection: How can we create an environment within our parish where people feel safe enough to step out of hiding and share their journey?

• The homily highlights the profound significance of Jesus' wounds and, by extension, our own. How does the idea that our wounds, given to God in love, are how He knows us resonate with you? Does this change how you view your past or present struggles?

  Accompaniment connection: How can we listen to and acknowledge the "wounds" of others with the same reverence described in the homily?

• "Don't hide your wounds. Be vulnerable... with Jesus and with others" is a key message. What makes being vulnerable with others challenging? What makes it possible?

  Accompaniment connection: Think about someone you walk alongside in faith. How might sharing your own vulnerabilities (where appropriate) help them feel less alone?

• Fr. Dan describes moments of sharing struggles and being understood as a "foreshadowing of heaven". Have you experienced such a moment, either sharing your own or listening to another? What was powerful about that experience?

  Accompaniment connection: How can we actively seek out and be present in these moments of mutual sharing and understanding within our community?

• The homily suggests praying for the Holy Spirit to rest more upon others, noting that praying for the Spirit in our own lives might be the change others are waiting for. How can we pray for and support each other in being open to the Holy Spirit's transformative work?

  Accompaniment connection: Praying for someone and praying with someone are both forms of accompaniment. How can we deepen our communal prayer life to be more supportive of individual transformation?

• "By our wounds given to him freely in love, we are claimed by heaven for all eternity". What does it mean in practice to "give your wounds freely in love" to God and to the community? How can we encourage and support one another in this offering?

  Accompaniment connection: As we walk together, how can we help each other see the potential for grace and connection even in our brokenness and struggles?

Closing Reflection:

Consider one specific way you can practice vulnerability or offer understanding to someone else this week, living out the call to be a "Pentecost people" through accompaniment.

Editor's Note: We would love to hear your feedback on this blog! A great deal of effort (and prayer!) goes into preparing homilies, and we often worry that their messages fade as we leave church. This blog aims to help keep those insights alive in our hearts and minds throughout the week and beyond. Your feedback is invaluable to us!