Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

This Pentecost, as we recall the birth of the Church in fire and wind, I write to you as your bishop with a heart full of hope and anticipation. The coming year holds great promise: we stand on the threshold of our 2026 Archdiocesan Synod, we journey together in the Jubilee Year, and we give thanks for the election of our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, who has already begun to lead us with wisdom and humility. These are signs of the Spirit moving among us.

1. Introduction

Peace be with you! These were the first words the risen Christ spoke to his disciples as he appeared among them on that first Easter evening—words that echo across the centuries and reach us anew in this sacred moment. The Gospel of John tells us, “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:21–22).

The Spirit that Jesus breathes upon the disciples on that first evening of the Resurrection is not only the comforter, but also the divine propulsion into mission. The Father sent the Son in love, in humility, in service, and in suffering. Now the Son sends us — the Church — in the same way. Pentecost is not the end of the story. It is the beginning of the Church’s life in mission. So too, our synodal journey is not a task to be completed, but a way of being Church that must continue to unfold.

This passage is not only a recounting of a past event. It is a commissioning that reverberates into the present—a sacred echo that resounds today in our communities, our parishes, and our Church. It finds new life this Pentecost Sunday as we prepare for the Archdiocesan Synod in 2026, reflect on the Australian Plenary Council and our Diocesan Assemblies, and receive with hope the leadership of Pope Leo XIV, inaugurated in a world yearning for renewal and communion.

2. The Breath of the Spirit and the Mission of the Church

The scene in John’s Gospel is intimate. The disciples are locked away, fearful and confused. Jesus enters, bearing peace and the wounds of His passion. He commissions them: “As the Father sent me…” — not with power or status, but in self-emptying love. This sending is no vague inspiration. It is incarnational, that is it shows us what it means that God is with us, and within us. And with it, Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit upon his disciples: “Receive the Holy Spirit”, forming them into a new creation—a Spirit-filled people sent forth to proclaim the Kingdom of God. This breath is more than a gentle breeze; it is the wind of a new beginning, recalling the breath that moved over the waters at creation and the breath that gave life to Adam.

Pentecost, the feast we celebrate today, is the Church’s birth in the Spirit. The Church is not merely an institution or a gathering of like-minded individuals. It is the Body of Christ, animated by the Spirit and sent into the world to be a sign of God’s mercy, peace, and justice.

Jesus’ words—“As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you”—are not a suggestion but a mandate. We are not to remain locked in our own “upper rooms” of comfort or fear, or unnecessarily fixated in the past. Like those first disciples, we are sent into a world marked by fragmentation, inequality, ecological devastation, and spiritual hunger. We are called to be bearers of reconciliation, instruments of healing, and heralds of hope.

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