Readings (Year A):
Acts 2:1–11
Psalm 104:1, 24, 29–30, 31, 34
1 Corinthians 12:3b–7, 12–13
John 20:19–23
Reflection: May the Spirit bring unity and peace
Today’s gospel tells a story of unity in diversity. Jews from every nation had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, which falls fifty days after the second day of Passover. Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah to Moses. From the long list of their homelands, we see that pilgrims had come from across the Jewish world to celebrate.
The new Christian community believed that the Holy Spirit unites believers across difference; in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, for instance, we’re told that in Christ there is no longer “Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female.” The story of Pentecost emphasizes this point. Visitors from distant lands, from Mesopotamia to Libya, understood the disciples as they spoke.
In 2026, Jerusalem is a deeply divided city where pilgrimage can be difficult or even impossible. The more than five million Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank cannot travel to Jerusalem unless approved through Israel’s strict permit process. Without a permit, they cannot visit the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam—even if they live just a few miles away in East Jerusalem. This spring, Israel restricted large gatherings in Jerusalem during the height of hostilities with Iran. This limited observances of Passover, Ramadan, and Lent, as well as celebrations of Eid al-Fitr and Easter. When Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Mass for Palm Sunday, they sparked criticism from Christians around the world.
Ten years ago, in 2016, I visited Jerusalem with a group of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim students from my college. The most profound part of the trip was going on pilgrimage to one another’s holy sites—together. Jerusalem sits at the beating heart of the Abrahamic traditions. Everyone longs for Jerusalem, and so for millennia it has been a contested city. As a Christian, I reject the notion that any nation or religion should control Jerusalem. Jerusalem should be a city in which Muslims, Jews, and Christians can worship freely.
In the pluralistic Pentecost story, the gathered crowd hears the disciples speaking in their own languages. This is not quite a reversal of the Babel story: at the Tower of Babel, the people went from speaking the same language to speaking many languages. On Pentecost, the people don’t revert back to a common language. The Spirit enables common understanding.
Perhaps Pentecost can help us imagine a true City of Peace. The disciples are not drunk, as some onlookers believe. Instead they have transcended difference, realizing something nearly unimaginable. Rather than proclaiming a Jerusalem for one people or striving to convert one other, we should long for a Jerusalem that manifests our shared Abrahamic heritage. May the Spirit unite our many tongues and many prayers.
