May 24, 2026: Day of Pentecost
John 20: 19-23
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
What an amazing experience for the disciples, that their beloved Jesus, who had been brutally killed, came to be with them once again! How overjoyed they must have been! One minute they were gathered in fear, and the next minute the resurrected Jesus appears to them!
This gospel from John shows us that God has the ability of transforming even the bleakest moments in our lives, the times we are most despairing and afraid. Jesus said to his disciples at their lowest point, “Peace be with you” (John 19:19), and Jesus offers the gift of peace to us too, no matter what we are going through.
But this gift of peace is not given to us for us to stay seated on our laurels, for in his next breath Jesus sends the disciples forth to do God’s work. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 19: 21). First Jesus is equipping the disciples with his gift of the Holy Spirit, and by doing so he then asks them to continue his ministry of healing and reconciliation.
God’s gift of peace to us is never meant for just us alone. We are meant to take this gift and do something with it. We are meant to pass along Jesus’ gift of peace to others and by doing so, help to transform them and ourselves.