Pentecost - 2026 - Year A

Jeff Bagnall • 21 May 2026

The first reading is Luke’s account in Acts of the first Christian Pentecost. The Jewish feast (called the feast of Weeks) started as an agricultural harvest festival, thanking God for the fruits of the earth, but its meaning changed gradually (especially after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD) into a celebration of the reception of the Law from God as part of their covenant with Him. Jews from far away places would home in on Jerusalem to celebrate the feast. The Greek word Pentecost refers to the fiftieth day, so this story is set about seven weeks after the celebration of the Passover. The reading is the basis for the Christian feast that celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit. Luke writes of the disciples, the women and all the brethren – 120 people – gathering together. In the references to wind and fire there are echoes of accounts in the Old Testament of God’s contact with His covenant people, especially through Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19f) for the giving of the Ten Commandments. Now it is to indicate the coming of the Holy Spirit which enabled them to speak out, Luke says, “in different tongues.” Some believers in the church of Corinth had been ‘speaking in tongues’, called glossolalia, during worship gatherings according to 1 Cor 12, (as some charismatics do to this day) but Luke has different languages in mind because he wants to make the point that the Good News is for the whole known world, hence his long (traditional) list of different places and peoples. The Word of God must be expressed so that all ordinary people might understand; this might be a sign of the reversal of the communal pride and godless aspirations in the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis (Chapter 11) which the Jews often retold; and there could be a lesson there for our community or society today.
In the second reading Paul is addressing a problem in the Christian community in Corinth. Different people play different roles in the community arising from their gifts from the Spirit of God; some had obviously wanted their own aggrandisement from these gifts without consideration for the community. In our reading, it is pointed out that the Spirit is differentiated for the good of the whole – like the different parts of a body, the body of Christ that the community is. Without the Spirit, he writes, “No one can say, Jesus is Lord.” But since anyone can actually make this statement, it must really mean that believing that Jesus is Lord is not about accepting a proposition but living in a particular way – living the way Jesus would have one live. This particular phrase, was most likely a very early statement of faith for those who became Christians. Nearly 200 years later the Creed that we have today was developed, and we must remember that believing it, is not saying the words, but determining to live how God would have us live.

The Spirit played an instigating part in the creation poem at the opening of the Bible, hovering over the disorder before the creative words are spoken (Gen 1:1-3). In Greek and in Hebrew the same word can mean spirit or wind, and it can be associated with breath. Today we celebrate a significant stage in the on-going process of creation. It was after the Word was sent by God into our world as Jesus to establish the ideal pattern for being human – from birth to fulfilment through death. Our gospel reading is from John: Good News for the 1st century disciples, but also for all who want to be successful humans – for us here today. The reading tells of the dawning of the realisation that Jesus is risen – the one who now transcends earthly limitations – Sent by God. He identifies Himself showing the wounds of His life on earth. Then He sends us, who are now disciples, breathing in us the same creative Spirit. We have the task of communicating God’s forgiveness of sins; it is the really good news that we have to show to people by how we relate to them. But alas, some will hold on to their worldly and selfish pleasures and will not accept the gift we bring. Hence, though we have the joy of the Spirit, we too will suffer from the struggle, yet with deep immense joy, of working for the creation of the ideal world that God is creating.

see Jeff’s Jottings – The Spirit

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Jeff Bagnall was a lecturer for many years at Craiglockhart College teaching RE to many future Catholic Primary teachers.

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2026 - Year A

by Jeff Bagnall • 27 August 2026

It's not so long ago that we were reading of Elijah wanting to die because of his failure to inspire the people and because of a death-threat against him. Jeremiah was in a worse situation in Judah around the 7th century BC. In that land, regard for Yahweh and the Covenant was almost entirely abandoned, and God urged Jeremiah to preach about the inevitable political demise and eventual national disaster. He had a respite from his work for a short time during the reign of Josiah; for this king tried to reintroduce the recognition of the Law of God as found written in what we now see as the early books of the bible, especially Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. But this reform soon failed, and idolatry and fertility cults regained popularity. Despite extreme reluctance, Jeremiah began the work of his calling, which was to bring him general disfavour, occasional imprisonment or confinement and continued unpopularity. There was some upbeat aspects to his message at times, particularly the one about God wanting to set up a new covenant within the hearts of the people. He suffered a tormenting turmoil in his own life; it resulted both from his natural abhorrence of preaching against his own people and from the deep and inescapable inner compulsion to undertake the vocation given him by God – announcing the people's downfall. Doing God’s will is not always an obviously good thing! Our reading is his outcry at this personal conflict within him.

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2026 - Year A

by Jeff Bagnall • 19 August 2026

During the time of the prophet Isaiah, the kingdom of Judah was threatened by the Assyrian empire from the east. Isaiah had recommended trusting in God to save the people and God would be with them. But the king and leaders didn’t see it this way, they felt they would loose, and forfeit their privileged positions, if not their lives. They made some sort of a pact with the emperor of Assyria so that Jerusalem was spared, although the rest of the country was invaded. So Isaiah, as we read today , reprimand Shebna the royal steward, and announced a replacement, who will be the leader to make decisions in the future; he will have the symbols of office, the sash, the robe, the key to the ordering of the country’s affairs, and will keep them safe like the peg for a tent. This passage seems to be in the mind of Matthew when he writes of Peter receiving the leadership office in our gospel reading. But the historical events behind it challenge us severely in our relationship with our world and with God, just as the sermon on the mount in the New Testament does: if anyone wants your shirt give them your coat as well, if anyone strikes you turn the other cheek, love you enemies… (see Matthew 5:38-48).