by Father Patrick Longalong
Sometimes it only takes one experience to change the way you see everything. The places are the same, the people are the same, but something inside you is different, and suddenly what once felt intimidating no longer has the same hold over you.
Back in high school, before the internet and cellphones, we used to spend time with people our age at the food court at Queens Center Mall or hang around Manhattan Mall and similar places. It was a different era. There were gangs and crews people affiliated with, and there were territories you just knew to avoid. If you didn’t know how to move within those social circles, it could be intimidating, even frightening.
Then came a weekend Cursillo retreat. Something shifted. We came back on fire, with a renewed vision and a kind of courage we didn’t have before. And somehow, we found ourselves returning to those same places, approaching the same groups, inviting young people like us to attend the retreat. At first, we were afraid. We thought we might get laughed at, ignored, or maybe even beaten up. But what surprised us was how many responded positively. Some were curious. Some were open. Some, it seemed, were just waiting for someone to approach them. It wasn’t that the fear disappeared overnight, but it no longer controlled us.
Looking back, that experience helps me understand the Gospel. The disciples are gathered in a room, doors locked, unsure of what to do next. And Jesus comes into that space and says, “Peace be with you.” Then He breathes on them and says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” In other words, you can’t stay here. You have to go.
That same movement is what we see in Acts. At Pentecost, they are no longer hiding. The Spirit pushes them outward. They begin to speak, and people from different nations hear them in their own language. It’s not just about words. It’s about connection. The message reaches people where they are, not where we expect them to be.
That’s what we experienced in our own small way. We didn’t suddenly become great speakers or have all the answers, but something in us changed. We became open and willing to approach others, and that made the difference. People responded not because we were convincing, but because we were present.
St. Paul reminds us that there are different gifts, but the same Spirit, and that each gift is given for the good of others. That means the question is not whether we have something to offer, but whether we are willing to use what we have been given in a way that reaches someone else.
In many ways, we still find ourselves like those disciples behind closed doors, holding back because of uncertainty, fear, or the feeling that we are not ready. Yet Pentecost shows us that the Spirit does not wait for us to have everything figured out. Instead, the Spirit meets us in that very place and gives us the grace to take the next step, even if it is small.
What changed for us back then was not the environment or the people around us, but our willingness to respond to what God was doing within us. The same invitation remains today. The Lord continues to come into the spaces where we feel unsure, offering His peace and sending us forward, trusting that even a simple act of reaching out can open the door for someone who has been waiting for that moment.
Father Longalong is the pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, Queens Village, and coordinator of the Ministry to Filipino Immigrants.