Feast of Pentecost Homily – Abbot Placid 
June 8, 2025

We conclude our fifty days of rejoicing this year over the resurrection of Jesus Christ Our
Lord in this great Feast of Pentecost. For in the outpouring of the Spirit of God, the great paschal
mystery by which God willed to restore fallen humankind to Himself in the Incarnation of His
Son is finally accomplished. At the very moment of mankind’s fall from grace, God decreed a
way marvelous beyond all imagining by which he would have a human being himself restore
what human beings had lost. God sent His Son, the eternal Word through whom all that is was
created, to take to himself fully and completely our human nature. In his Agony in the Garden,
Jesus prayed desperately to his Father that the cup of suffering pass him by. Yet, when he
discerned in the created understanding and will he had assumed for our salvation that it was the
Father’s will that he drink fully of that cup, he was obedient unto death, even death on a cross. In
that very act of obedience and trust in his Father’s love, the disobedience of all times was
overcome. In the power of the Holy Spirit the Father raised up His Son in his human body, and in
the Ascension of the Lord in that risen human body, we have been seated with him at the right
hand of the Father. Today, we celebrate the pouring out of the Spirit on Jesus’ disciples, that we
too might be so filled with the life and charity that is of God in order that we too one day may be
joined to God in that heavenly realm. The Holy Spirit has been poured out that the church might
continue throughout the world the proclamation of the Kingdom of God, first announced by
Jesus in his preaching and signs in Judea and Galilee, and might, through the life-giving
sacraments, extend the life Jesus won for us by his death and glorious resurrection to people of
every time and place.

What are the works of the Spirit – the Spirit who in the beginning hovered over creation
and brought about all that is in its glorious splendor; the Spirit who overshadowed the Blessed
Virgin Mary to bring forth the created humanity which the eternal Son of God united to himself
for our salvation; the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead in his human body, now filled with
the power of undying life? What are the works for the Holy Spirit? The work of the Holy Spirit
is life, for the Spirit imparts that life, which is the essence of God’s being, to all that lives. As we
profess in the Creed, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life.” The Work of the
Holy Spirit is Truth, as the Lord himself told us, When he comes, the Spirit of Truth, he will
guide you to all Truth (John 16:13); and again, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another

Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of Truth (John 14:16-17). It is the unfailing presence
of the Holy Spirit which guides the church both to know the truth with certainty and to live the
truth with integrity. The Holy Spirit has been poured out to lead us ultimately to know the source
of all truth, Truth itself, God. As we are especially instructed by the Scriptures today, the work of
the Holy Spirit is unity, a unity which mirrors the ultimate Truth, God, whose perfect unity is that
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Acts of the Apostles recounts for us that, filled with the
Holy Spirit, people of different languages heard each in his own language the apostles speak of
the wonderful works of God in Jesus Christ, thus reversing the scattering of people recounted in
the story of the Tower of Babel. The Apostle likewise has reminded us today of the unity in
diversity created by the Spirit: There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit.
Finally, the work of the Holy Spirit is love, charity, as the Apostle teaches: Hope does not
disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit
that has been given us (Rom. 5:5). The love of God, which is perfect, is fashioned by the Holy
Spirit in Jesus’ disciples that we may truly be recognized as belonging to him as he himself said,
This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John
13:35). Thus of the many ways in which the Holy Spirit manifests the presence of God, we can
be assured that they include life, truth, unity and charity.
In light of this, I wish to address the events which in this past week, of which you may or
may not be aware, which have disturbed the peace and unity of our Diocese of Charlotte. I wish
to address them precisely because these events, far from giving the evident signs of the work of
the Holy Spirit, are rather works of death, fomenting disunity, perverting the truth and utterly
lacking in charity. The disturbance has arisen because of two documents, both made public
anonymously. One document was an anonymous letter last fall presuming to give Bishop Martin
instructions on how he ought to exercise the office of bishop. It was selectively distributed with
what seems to be the purpose of becoming public, as it did. The other was the anonymous leak of
a confidential document containing the bishop’s proposals for the celebration of the liturgy,
which was distributed by the bishop only to priests of a subcommittee established by the bishop
and the to the priests of the Presbyteral Council so that these priests could offer the bishop their
advice and counsel as is our responsibility. Bishop Martin made it clear that the document was to
be held in strict confidence for the purpose the of the discussion of the Presbyteral Council and
was not to be shared. The document contained both the bishop’s proposals as well as the justified

objections of the subcommittee that some of the bishop’s proposals went beyond the church’s
provisions for the celebration of the liturgy and tended to limit the legitimate freedom of the
priests and the faithful in some matters. As an elected member of the Presbyteral Council, I can
testify that the discussion of the document was direct, frank and respectful, and that Bishop
Martin gave us, the priests, the respect of his careful listening. Unfortunately this respectful
process of listening and frank conversation between the bishop and the priests has been
subverted by the leak of a confidential document. This has seriously impaired trust and the
resulting media frenzy, driven mostly be people who have no familiarity with matters in
Charlotte, has gravely damaged the peace and unity of the local church. As a result of
the unfounded assertions of the past fall’s anonymous letter, and the anonymous leak of this
document to one of the church-related Political Action Committees which infest the internet,
Bishop Martin has been unfairly accused of not listening to the priests and being authoritarian in
his actions. This is untrue. The bishop, shortly after his arrival, invited all the priests to have
individual visits with him if they wished, he has repeatedly reminded the priests of the need to
attend gatherings of the presbyterate together, he has held an open question session with the
priests and, as I can testify, on the Presbyteral Council he has consistently consulted us and has
established a freedom of speaking which allows sometimes quiet pointed, but always respectful,
disagreement with the bishop.

Brothers and sisters, I propose that anonymous letters made public, anonymous leaks of
confidential documents which were never published for the faithful, are crude and clumsy plays
for power and control which obstruct the work of the Holy Spirit. They confirm the Lord’s own
teaching: For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come towards the
light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so
that his works may be clearly seen as done in God (John 3:20-21). Let us shun the works of
darkness

The issues facing the diocese have not arisen in the past year since Bishop Martin became
our bishop. They have been developing over time and need to be faced with charity and truth.
The real problems facing the church – and not just our Church of Charlotte – are, I propose,
twofold. The first is a lack of proper obedience and respect for legitimate authority. Moved by
the hyper-individualism and relativism of the culture in which we are immersed people feel free
pick and choose what teachings they choose to accept, what authority they regard as legitimate.

The other problem is the importation into the life of the church the toxic secular political model,
which has caused such damage in our public life, namely the contest of competing factions in a
zero-sum game for power and control in a complete disregard for truth and charity. We must be
careful, therefore, with the various internet sites or media which presume to identify themselves
as “Catholic” yet, by their jargon, hyperbole and nearly apocalyptic urgency, reveal themselves
to be Political Action Committees seeking to energize their base by appealing to the passions,
often with little regard for charity. This is not a path that leads to truth.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, as we celebrate this beautiful feast of Pentecost, in which
the wondrous plan of the Father’s love in sending His Son as our Savior is brought to its
perfection in the sending of the Spirit of the living God to enliven and guide the church, let us
pray for the peace and unity of all the members of Christ, and let us seek ever to discern rightly
and to follow those authentic signs of the work of the Holy Spirit, namely works of life, of truth,
of unity and of charity.