Get Drenched!

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, May 24th, 2026:
Pentecost Sunday

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Acts
2:1-11

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power."

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

I’m having a bit of a moment with water. The Living Water, that is. Which is amusing, because this week’s first reading has the apostles lit up and blown out with fire and wind, and has absolutely nothing to do with anything wet! 

God did not make it rain on Pentecost, and even asks us in 1 Thessalonians not to “quench” the Spirit’s inspirations. But water is most certainly a symbol for the third person of the Trinity. I am struck by how many songs and scriptures reference or refer to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Take, for instance:

“I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants.”  Isaiah 44:3

“I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.”  Joel 2:28

Even Jesus spoke about the Spirit as living water: “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water. Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in Him were to receive.” John 7: 38-39.

In sacramental baptism, as we are immersed or have water poured over us, we fully receive the Holy Spirit. But as we are often baptized as infants or later, we usually don’t experience an “activation” or a “feeling” that might reflect the enormity of this gift. What can we make of that?

We can look to Pentecost. A few days earlier, Jesus told the apostles that while John baptized with water, they would soon be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Similarly, the Catechism reminds us that “John’s baptism was for repentance; baptism in water and the Spirit will be a new birth” (CCC 720). While scripture is not clear when the apostles were officially baptized, at Pentecost, they were “baptized” per se with this fresh outpouring of the Spirit. It was as if the Spirit flooded them anew. This outpouring filled them and animated them for the challenging work of a newborn church.

We can ask for this new outpouring of the Spirit. I love the image of being soaked in the Holy Spirit. I want the Living Water that flows from the Father’s heart to wash over me, fill me with grace for His will, and overflow for others to drink. In fact, this week’s second reading reminds us that we are “all made to drink of one Spirit” 1 Corinthians 13.

So, comically, on a feast that focuses on being set aflame, I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to soak you. Drink deeply. Get drenched to be set alight! Become a source of refreshment for others as you are empowered to do the work of Christ’s Church!




Michelynne Gomez

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