Homily | May 18, 2026 | Why The Christian Life Fails Without The Holy Spirit | (Episode 127)

In the first reading today, we see Saint Paul has arrived in Ephesus, and he finds some believers and asks them a strange question.

Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?

And their answer is kind of shocking.

We've never even heard there is a Holy Spirit.

Think about that for a moment.

They believed, they were religious, they were trying, they had received John's baptism, they had repentance, they had good intentions, but they were missing the Holy Spirit.

And I wonder if sometimes that's the story of many of us Catholics.

We believe, we come to Mass, we try to be good people, we try to do what the commandments ask of us, we know repentance.

But if someone were to ask us, what role does the Holy Spirit actually play in your life?

Many Catholics would not even know what to say.

The forgotten person of the Trinity is often the Holy Spirit.

We know the Father, we love Jesus, but the Holy Spirit, sometimes he comes as an afterthought.

And yet the entire Christian life is impossible without the Holy Spirit.

You cannot forgive enemies without the Holy Spirit.

You cannot stay faithful in suffering without the Holy Spirit.

You cannot fight temptation without the Holy Spirit.

You cannot become a saint without the Holy Spirit.

Why?

Because Christianity is not self-improvement, it is transformation.

The disciples in the gospel today think that they have arrived.

They tell Jesus, now we believe.

In other words, we get it.

We understand.

And Jesus almost smiles at them and says, Do you believe now?

The hour is coming when you will all scatter.

What is he telling them?

Be careful of overconfidence.

Because in a few hours Peter will deny him.

The disciples will run.

They will hide behind locked doors.

Good intentions were not enough.

They needed Pentecost.

They needed the power of the Holy Spirit.

Maybe that's the lesson for us today.

There are some battles in life where your intelligence will not be enough.

Your personality will not be enough.

Your willpower will definitely not be enough.

Your education, your money, your titles, your influence, all your things, none of that will be enough.

You will always need the Holy Spirit.

Why?

Because there will come moments when life knocks at your door with sickness, disappointment, betrayal, loneliness, anxiety, grief, deep temptations, and you suddenly realize I can't do this by myself.

And Jesus already knew that.

That's why his final words in the gospel are so beautiful.

In the world you will have trouble, but take courage.

I have conquered the world.

Notice he does not say you might have trouble.

No, he says you will have trouble.

Christianity is not the absence of storms, it is the presence of Christ in the storm.

And because Christ conquered the world, suffering does not get the last word.

Sin does not get the last word.

Our mistakes, death does not get the last word.

Anxiety does not get the last word.

The tomb does not get the last word.

Jesus Christ does.

And so we move towards Pentecost this week.

Maybe our prayer should become very simple.

Holy Spirit, I know about you.

And I invite you to live in me.

Holy Spirit, strengthen what is weak.

Holy Spirit, heal my wounds.

Holy Spirit, set me on fire.

Because the greatest tragedy is not to lose money, status, success, or comfort.

The greatest tragedy is to live an entire Christian life and never unleash the power of the Holy Spirit already given to us.

And so the greatest saints in history were not necessarily the smartest people.

They were simply the people who let the Holy Spirit take over.

And that's the challenge for us today.

Do I really trust on the Holy Spirit?

Do I call down the power of the Holy Spirit in my life?

Do it.

Because Jesus is asking us to trust and to live with the Holy Spirit.

Amen.