June 8, 2025
Revised Common Lectionary
Acts 2:1-21 or Genesis 11:1-9
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Romans 8:14-17
John 14:8-17 (25-27)
Lectionary for Mass (RC)
Acts 2L1-11
Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34 (see 30)
Romans 8:8-17
John 14:15-16, 23b-26
One of my favorite series in recent years was “This Is Us.” Over the course of six seasons, we watched generations of Pearsons celebrate, struggle, quarrel, reconcile, and grieve. We saw the family grow and change through birth and adoption, relationships and marriages, separation and death. We shared in the most intimate moments of their life together.
“This Is Us” powerfully portrayed the deep connection between parents and their children—especially the profound bonds that form through adoption. As I reflected on today’s Lectionary texts from Paul’s Letter to the Romans and the Gospel of John, I was struck by how the Spirit draws us into this same kind of transformative family relationship with God and one another.
It was not enough for God simply to create us and save us from sin. Divine love reaches further still. The Holy Spirit draws us into the most intimate bond imaginable—we “have received a Spirit of adoption” (Rom 8:15). Like children who can run to their parents without hesitation, we can call out to God as our Mommy or Daddy because we are truly God’s very own children.
The Spirit doesn’t just welcome us into the family; the Spirit claims us with full inheritance rights alongside Christ himself. We are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:17). We belong completely.
Yes, this is us: Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, God has claimed us as children, loving us as a parent, and making us siblings with Christ and therefore with one another. We have become God’s family through divine love freely poured out in abundance. As co-heirs with Christ, we are co-heirs with everyone else who has been adopted into this family, including those we might not have chosen but with whom we now share everything.
And like the Pearson children, we’ve been welcomed not only into the family but into the family’s way of life. Jesus declares that those who believe in him “will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these” (Jn 14:12). He tells the disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15)—especially his “new commandment” that we love one another as he has loved us (Jn 13:34). Our actions must express the sacrificial love that defines God’s family. This isn’t just about following rules; it’s about living into our identity as God’s children.
The Spirit of the risen Christ has filled us, gathered us, and transformed us so completely that the world should be able to recognize us as God’s children by the love we pour out for others. We are no longer strangers or distant acquaintances with God—we are family. We share in the inheritance. We belong to one another.
This is our family. This is our inheritance. This is us.
A Hymn for Today: “Gracious Spirit, heed our pleading”
Both the tune and the original Swahili text for this hymn were written by pastor and scholar Wilson Niwagila in 1965 for the uniting of the Lutheran churches of Tanzania. It expresses the power of the Spirit to guide, transform, and empower the community of believers. Listen here as this hymn is sung in its original Swahili version.
Gracious Spirit, heed our pleading;
fashion us all anew
It’s your leading that we’re needing;
help us to follow you.
Come, come, come, Holy Spirit, come.
Come to teach us; come to nourish
those who believe in Christ.
Bless the faithful; may they flourish,
strengthened by grace unpriced.
Come, come, come, Holy Spirit, come.
Guide our thinking and our speaking
done in your holy name.
Motivate all in their seeking,
freeing from guilt and shame.
Come, come, come, Holy Spirit, come.
Not mere knowledge, but discernment,
nor rootless liberty;
turn disquiet to contentment,
doubt into certainty.
Come, come, come, Holy Spirit, come.
Keep us fervent in our witness,
unswayed by earth’s allure.
Ever grant us zealous fitness,
which you alone assure.
Come, come, come, Holy Spirit, come.
Text: Wilson Niwagila, b. 1940; trans. Howard S. Olson, 1922-2010. © Lutheran Theological College, Makumira, admin. Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission under OneLicense # A-729857
Tune: NJOO KWETU, ROHO MWEMA
Image Credit: Dove of the Holy Spirit, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, stained glass, St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, 1660
“Word and Song: A Lectionary Reflection” is written by the Executive Director of The Hymn Society, Rev. Dr. Mike McMahon. For his full bio, click here and scroll down to the “staff” section.
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