Holy Family Catholic Community

IAV | "Wonder" — Pentecost Sunday | Dawn Mayer

What does a baby discovering her own feet have to do with Pentecost? More than you might think. In this episode of In Another Voice, Dawn Mayer reflects on watching her granddaughter experience wonder for the first time — that unmistakable look of oh my gosh, this is mine, and it does something — and connects it to exactly what happened to the disciples on the day the Holy Spirit arrived. They didn't receive something new. They finally recognized what had always been there. Dawn unpacks the dual mission of Pentecost: unity and peace. She traces the Jewish roots of the feast (Shavuot), the reversal of the Tower of Babel, and the gift Jesus breathed on the disciples the evening of his resurrection. She also shares a powerful reflection on a recent Holy Family visit from Steen Metz, a 93-year-old Holocaust survivor from Denmark — and how his message about paying attention to small things connects directly to the call of Pentecost. The spirit is already part of you. The question is whether you're paying attention. In Another Voice is a podcast of Holy Family Catholic Community in Inverness, IL, bringing a second homily reflection to help you carry Sunday's readings into your week. New episodes at holyfamilyparish.org/podcasts.

WWW | "Not What You Think You Need" — Pentecost Sunday | Fr. Terry Keehan

Pentecost Sunday. Fifty days after the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit descends — not quietly, but with a driving wind, tongues of fire, and the sudden ability to speak languages no one had studied. Fr. Terry Keehan unpacks why you can't fully understand Pentecost without first understanding what the disciples were asked to do ten days earlier: go, make disciples, baptize, teach, and trust that Christ would be with them always. The challenge? They didn't yet have what they needed to do all of it. That's the heart of this episode. The Holy Spirit doesn't just give us what we think we need — it gives us what we need to fulfill what Jesus actually commissions us to do. There's a real difference between those two things. Drawing from Acts 2, Psalm 104, 1 Corinthians 12, and John 20, Fr. Terry explores the unity-in-diversity that runs through this great feast: one Spirit, many gifts, many languages, one body. And he closes with a simple but striking invitation — let the world see the effects of the Holy Spirit in your life. Have you ever seen Christ appear in the midst of your fear? If you've never stopped to ask that question, this is a good week to start. Word World & Worship is a podcast of Holy Family Catholic Community in Inverness, IL, connecting Scripture, your life, and the Eucharist. New episodes every week at holyfamilyparish.org/podcasts.

HOMILY REWIND | "Stop Looking in the Wrong Places" — Feast of the Ascension | Friar Johnpaul Cafiero

A man falls drunk into a river, gets baptized three times, and still can't find Jesus. It's a joke — but it's also the whole homily. Where is Jesus? Not on mountaintops. Not in crying statues or stains on an overpass wall. The gospels are clear: he's in the soup kitchen, the nursing home, the family torn apart by violence, the teenager being bullied, the elder who can't afford medication. This Feast of the Ascension also marks the close of Holy Family's Lent and Easter kindness initiative — 30,015 acts of kindness that reached 33 states, 80 countries, and six of seven continents. "The world doesn't need more disciples looking up at the sky. It needs more disciples walking the earth with compassion and kindness." Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20 | Acts 1:1-11 | Feast of the Ascension 📍 Homily Rewind | Holy Family Catholic Community, Inverness, IL 🔔 New episodes every Monday — subscribe so you never miss a homily. 🌐 holyfamilyparish.org

WWW | "Why Are You Standing There Looking at the Sky?" — Feast of the Ascension

Jesus ascends into heaven. The disciples stand there, frozen, staring up at the sky. And two angels have to tap them on the shoulder: why are you just standing there? It's a question for all of us. Where do you look for the risen Christ in your life — up at the sky, or here in the world? Fr. Terry Keehan unpacks the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) and the moment Jesus hands off the entire mission of the church to eleven doubting disciples on a mountain — before the team is even full. Go. Make disciples. Baptize. Teach. And know that I am with you always. Plus: two questions worth sitting with this week from Paul's letter to the Ephesians — what is rich about God's call in your life, and what is great? Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20 | Feast of the Ascension 📍 Word, World & Worship | Holy Family Catholic Community, Inverness, IL 🔔 New episodes weekly — subscribe so you never miss a reflection. 🌐 holyfamilyparish.org

IN ANOTHER VOICE | "Go!" — Feast of the Ascension

Dawn Mayer's nephew sent her mom a Mother's Day card that made them both cry. The word he used over and over: legacy. What are we leaving behind along the way? This Feast of the Ascension, Dawn reflects on the shortest command in all of Scripture — Go! — and why Jesus gave it from Galilee, the place he always went to reach the people on the margins. The disciples still doubted. They had seen everything, and they still weren't sure. And yet Jesus told them to go anyway. So do we have to have it all figured out before we go? No. We just have to go. With this promise: "Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20 | Feast of the Ascension 📍 In Another Voice | Holy Family Catholic Community, Inverness, IL 🔔 New episodes weekly — subscribe so you never miss Dawn's reflection. 🌐 holyfamilyparish.org