A Catholic Clergy Perspective: PENTECOST SUNDAY (A): PENTECOST’S INVITATION OF INVOLVEMENT BRINGS THE HOLY SPIRIT INTO OUR HEARTS AND OUR SHARING OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE by Deacon Jim Merle

Friday, May 22, 2026

PENTECOST SUNDAY (A): PENTECOST’S INVITATION OF INVOLVEMENT BRINGS THE HOLY SPIRIT INTO OUR HEARTS AND OUR SHARING OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE by Deacon Jim Merle

God’s perfect plan for our involvement might seem over the top with the original Pentecost filled with a “strong driving wind,” “tongues as of fire” and speaking in different tongues, but why shouldn’t it be? Pentecost is an invitation from God the Father and God the Son to accept a partnership involvement with the Trinity under the auspices of the Holy Spirit. We are created out of God’s love to build up the Kingdom of God by bringing people to God. Without God’s help, we would not be able to accomplish this. We need to be of the same Spirit to spread His commissioned message of love through preaching, healing and forgiving.

As St. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” That being the case, we need to take the spiritual gifts God has given us and use them as directed by the Holy Spirit. It is by working together under God’s direction that we will fulfill the commission given to the Apostles and us as baptized Catholic Christians.

Preaching is not only proclaiming homilies at Mass like bishops, priests and deacons do. It is sharing our faith journey with relatives, friends, neighbors, co-workers, fellow worshippers and strangers of how God constantly changes our life. It is an honest assessment of how we grow despite difficulties we face either because of our own mistakes or because of others taking advantage of us.

Healing is something we all must do; internally and externally. Seeking truth about ourselves can help us overcome and change those areas which are creating negative outcomes. In addition, it is important for us to adopt a posture of humility and to put aside judgments of others because of what they say or do to us or others. All of us can be at fault at various times, but we need to hold ourselves accountable and accept responsibility for our life.

Forgiveness is the most difficult of actions. Each of us has the power to admit our sinfulness and ask for God’s mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And, yet we know statistically that it is one of the least sacraments of participation. We often justify what we do and put off what we believe to be painful for a later time that may never happen. Confession is a way for us to unload our burdens, give it to God and to become whole again.

The other side of forgiveness is us forgiving others who we believe have hurt us. We often delay this for assorted reasons, two of which are: We want them to suffer as we did, or we do not believe they deserve forgiveness. And, yet, by doing this, we suffer as much because we are holding on to something which causes us to separate ourselves from God. Indifference is the opposite of love and is not in God’s world.

Pentecost is a reminder to us that we have a new lease on life. As children of God, loved by Jesus, brought to God the Father by Him and together being blessed with the Holy Spirit through the practice of our faith, we are accepted. We have the oneness in relationship with God for which He has asked through our Baptism and we promise to uphold. In addition, the second part of our baptismal promise is to love all God has created as Jesus loves us. We do that by following through with the commission he gave to His Apostles and us as believers.

Since Pentecost is accepted as the birthday of the Catholic Church, let us make a promise to God as a birthday gift that we will follow through with what He has called us to do. Who knows, maybe we will speak in tongues like the Apostles did that day. Whether we do or not, what is important is that we continue to follow God’s call for us to be initiative-taking in bringing the good news of Jesus Christ. That in itself is speaking in tongues helpful to all we serve.

Reading1:     Acts 2:1 – 11
Psalm:            104:1, 24, 29 – 31, 34
Reading 2:     1 Corinthians 12:3b -7, 12 – 13
Gospel:          John 20:19 - 23

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Bishop Kevin W. Vann, JCD, DD, D MIN

He was ordained on May 30, 1981, and was assigned to graduate studies in canon law at the Angelicum in Rome, with residence at the graduate house of the North American College, the Casa Santa Maria dell’ Umilta. Pope Leo XIV, when a priest, also attended these classes at the same time. Upon returning to the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, Father Vann participated in the work of the Diocesan Tribunal and the Tribunal of Second Instance in Chicago. He served as pastor of parishes ranging in size from 35 to 1,300 families, two which had large schools. He taught canon law at Kenrick Seminary. Before he was named bishop, he was pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Springfield, Vicar for Priests and the Diocesan contact for Hispanic Ministry. Bishop Vann was ordained and installed as the third bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Forth Worth, Texas, on July 13, 2005, at Texas Christian University’s Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. In Texas, he collaborated closely with other bishops through the Texas Catholic Conference and Region X, which includes dioceses of States of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. He is the former Texas Bishops’ Liaison to the Texas Mission Council and Texas Catholic hospitals. And, through the U.S. Conference of Bishops, Bishop Vann was a leader in the Texas Conference of Bishops, providing leadership for various initiatives at the national level, including service on ad hoc committee which assisted the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to guide the incorporation of Anglican groups into the Catholic Church of the United States. On September 21, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI announced Bishop Vann’s appointment as the fourth bishop of Orange, the 11th largest diocese in the country and the second-largest west of the Mississippi with 1.3 million multicultural Catholics. He continues to lead the historic effort to transform the former Crystal Cathedral from a world-renowned center of Protestant worship into the West Coast’s most visible center of Catholicism.

Father Glenn Baaten

A priest of the ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, a community with the Catholic Church made up of former Anglicans and Episcopalians. He Currently serves as Parish Administrator of St. John Henry Newman Catholic Church in Irvine and as Chaplain of Santiago Retreat Center in Silverado. His ministry within the Diocese of Orange, California, is a collaborative appointment by Bishop Steven Lopes and Bishop Kevin Vann. Fr. Glenn was ordained to the Catholic priesthood on June 24, 2016, the Feast of St. John the Baptist. His journey to the Catholic Church followed years of faithful ministry in Protestant communities. He was ordained a Presbyterian pastor in 1998 and served a PCUSA parish in Cincinnati, Ohio. After returning to California in 2010, he discerned a call to Anglican ministry and was ordained in the Church of England tradition in 2013. He relinquished his Anglican holy orders and, after catechesis, was received into the Church on Christmas eve of that year. Fr. Glenn has been married to Cathy for 42 years. They are the blessed parents of two adult children and grandparents of three. His ministry is marked by a strong commitment to evangelization, Christian unity and sacred beauty of the liturgy. As a follower of Christ these many past decades – most especially as a priest – Fr. Glenn is committed to sharing the grace and love of Jesus to all and living the depth of that faith in the fulness of the Catholic Church.

Deacon Jim Merle

Deacon Jim was ordained 20 years ago on April 30, 2005, and lives in Southern California where he has served the Catholic Church on parish, diocesan and national levels. He periodically writes Pastoral Letters for church bulletins, as well as articles for the Diaconate community’s “Bowl & Towel” and the diocesan newspaper in addition to “A Catholic Deacon’s Perspective,” recently renamed “A Catholic Clergy’s Perspective” with the addition of Bishop Kevin W. Vann and Fr. Glenn Baaten as periodic writers. On the parish level he has served at three parishes involved in helping with Sacramental training, Faith Formation and annulments. His diocesan involvements include a six-year term on the Diaconate Personnel Board, a founding committee member of the God’s Servants Committee (an educational component of quarterly meetings for active deacons), as a Master of Ceremonies at Confirmations, ordinations, installations and other ceremonies, an Advanced Master Catechist Certification to teach theological and certification classes and recently was selected to head up a Deanery Council of Deacons and their wives to support their ordination faculties and activities in each of the seven deaneries. On a local and national level, he coordinated the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) diocesan board for 14 years. CCHD is the domestic social justice arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) which distribute parishioner’s donations for non-profit organizations to empower the impoverished, marginalized and disenfranchised who have social justice needs. In his early career he was a writer/reporter for a well-known Chicago newspaper, as well as owning a public relations/advertising firm. He is now semi-retired and works parttime in two professional practices he owns. On a personal note, he is married 57 years, helped rear four children with his wife, a grandfather to 10 grandchildren and a great grandfather to six great grandchildren.

BLOG INTRODUCTION

Scripture is like the eyes into God’s soul. Whether from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) or the New Testament, we can garner, as best we can, who God is (what He feels and how He thinks in human terms). The original and current purpose of this blog, which began in 2019, is to take a three-year cycle of A, B and C Gospels and readings from each Sunday and provide a perspective as it pertains to our current lives as seen through the eyes of a Catholic clergy who serve Catholics in words and deeds per their ordination. Since completing the three-year cycles, it has been expanded to investigate the areas of Commentaries, Scripture and Theology. It is because of that the blog will now have writings from Bishop Kevin Vann, Ordinary of the Diocese of Orange, California, Father Glenn Baaten, a former Anglican priest, ordained into the Roman Catholic Church as a priest, and Deacon Jim Merle, who recently celebrated his 20th year ordination and started this blog. Bishop Vann and Father Glenn will author articles on a periodic basis based upon the time they have to devote to the blog. Deacon Jim will continue to offer weekly articles, still based on the three-year cycle along with various current events that challenge us to balance our humanity with our spiritual lives. The hope is that you, our subscribers, will see this as something of value to help you grow closer to the Lord.