The Breath of God, The Giver of Life

Homily of H.E., Most Rev. Charles John Brown, D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines

May 23, 2026 | 9th Day of Novena Mass for the Feast of Mary Help of Christians

Mary Help of Christians Parish, Maypajo, Caloocan City

Jesus breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (John 20:22-23).

“Jesus breathed on them…”

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, here in Maypajo, here in the [Roman Catholic] Diocese of Kalookan, Mary Help of Christians Parish:

It gives me so much joy to be with you once again. As I arrived here in the parish this evening, I was reminded that I came here back in 2022 for my first visit to Maypajo, and this is my second time.

Photos by Mary Help of Christians Parish

Here, I am with you as the representative of Pope Leo XIV, the Holy Father in Rome, because, as all of you know, I am the Apostolic Nuncio, which means, the representative of Pope Leo XIV, here in the Philippines.

I want to thank Rev. Fr. Kennedy A. Neral, your parish priest, for having invited me to come to Maypajo this evening for this Novena Mass in honor of your beautiful and beloved, all-powerful patroness, Maria Auxiliadora, for the Fiesta Auxiliadora, and tomorrow your fiesta will reach its culmination when His Eminence Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, your bishop, comes to celebrate Mass here in the parish.

The Pentecost and the Holy Spirit

So, tonight we are wearing red vestments because we are celebrating the Vigil of the Feast of Pentecost, which is tomorrow. Pentecost is the Feast of the coming of the Holy Spirit, seven weeks after Easter, a week of weeks, 49 days, and on the 50th day the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and gave them the power to preach.

What is this Holy Spirit that we celebrate this evening? We say, “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created; and You shall renew the face of the earth.” Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, we can say, is the “Breath of God”. “Jesus breathed on them”, in the Gospel (John 20:19-23) this evening. He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit is the breath of God. That's what we need to remember always. Breath is a symbol of what? Of life, of life. In Latin the word for breath is “spiritus”, “spiritus”, and we get “spirit” in English from “spiritus” in Latin, meaning breath. Meaning life. Because if you don't have breath in you, you are not alive physically, biologically. We need to breathe to be alive on a biological level. Animals also breathe. If we don't breathe, we don't live. So, breath is connected to life. Jesus gives us a new kind of life; Jesus breathes on us and gives us this new life.

You know, brothers and sisters? Before the Second Vatican Council, those of you who are a little bit older than me, when you were baptized before the Second Vatican Council, when a priest baptized a baby, at a certain point the priest would breathe on the face of the baby. That was a symbol of God's life coming into the little baby who had just been born again in baptism. God's life breathing into us.

Even now on the feast of Holy Thursday, if you go to the Cathedral of Kalookan, your bishop, when he consecrates the chrism, which is the special sacred oil, which we use for confirmation, we use for baptism, we use for ordination—if you pay attention at the liturgy on Holy Thursday, the bishop breathes on the oil when he consecrates it. This is a symbol of God's life, God's life, which is in us.

The spirit is God's breath, the spirit is God's life. All of us have natural life, we have biological life in us, which comes from our parents; but God gives us in the Church through the Sacraments a new kind of life that's in you, that's breathing in you: the spirit of life, the spirit of Jesus. So, we have this idea of spirit as life, spirit as breath. Even in The Creed, which we confess every Sunday, we say, “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life”, “of life”. So, think about that.

If you don't have the Holy Spirit in you, through Baptism, through the Eucharist, through Confirmation, you may be alive biologically, alive physically, but you're not alive supernaturally, you're not alive with God's grace. The Holy Spirit is the life of God.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit

There's a second signification, a second meaning of the Holy Spirit, and that is communication, words, speaking, preaching. Why? What's the connection between breath and words? Think about it for a moment. If I don't have breath in my lungs right now, I can't speak to you. I can only communicate to you because I take a breath and all my words are coming out of my mouth because of the air in my lungs. So, breath is necessary for speech also.

That's where we get this idea of the Feast of Pentecost. When the breath of God, the Spirit of God, descended on the apostles, they began to do what? They began to speak, to preach, to talk about Jesus. These were men who were afraid, these were men, with the exception of one Saint John, who were too afraid to be with Jesus when He was crucified. Only Saint John, the other ten apostles were hiding somewhere. One betrayed Him, Judas. Ten were hiding at the crucifixion. Only one was present. Those fearful men on the Feast of Pentecost tomorrow are filled with the Breath of God, and begin to speak the words of God. They begin to preach.

These men, who were so afraid before, now, because of the power of the Holy Spirit, become courageous missionaries (Acts 2:1-11), and they leave Jerusalem, and they go all over the world. Saint Peter goes to Rome. He was the first pope, the very first pope, Saint Peter in Rome. Saint Thomas went in the opposite direction; he went to India and brought the gospel there. So, this idea of the spirit as the breath of God, allowing them to preach with the power of God.

The Church is therefore always missionary. All of us who are baptized in our own way need to preach. Now, sometimes we preach with words, sometimes we preach without words, we preach by the way we act, by the way we treat others, by the way we show God's love. That's preaching. So, today on this Feast of Pentecost, on this vigil, we ask the Lord to give us the Holy Spirit, so we will truly be alive.

There's this beautiful poem about the Holy Spirit as the Breath of God. It goes like this:

Breathe on me, Breath of God

Fill me with life anew

That I may love the things You love

And do what You would do

Breathe on me, Breath of God

Until my heart is pure

Until with You, I have one will

To live and to endure

Breathe on me, breath of God,

Blend all my soul with Thine,

Until this earthly part of me

Glows with Thy fire divine.

Breathe on me, breath of God,

So shall I never die,

But live with You the perfect life

Of Your eternity

My brothers and sisters in Christ, Our Lady is the one who was with the apostles when the Holy Spirit came down upon them. Our Lady was the humble girl of Nazareth, who was overshadowed by the Breath of God, and in her womb conceived the Word made flesh—Baby Jesus in her womb. Mary is the one who is through whom Jesus comes into the world and gives us His Holy Spirit. So, there's a beautiful correspondence between Our Lady, Your Patroness, Maria Auxiliadora, and the Feast of Pentecost. Mary is with the apostles when the Spirit comes.

So, let's ask Our Lady to pray for us. Let's ask Our Lady to pray for the bishops of the Church. Let's ask Our Lady to pray also for our Holy Father in Rome, Pope Leo XIV.

I wish each and every one of you a blessed and happy fiesta. May God bless you!

Transcribed by Joel V. Ocampo