Pentecost: Whitsunday


Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (The Day of Pentecost: Whitsunday, BCP 227)

Breath. Flame. Dove. The color red. Holy Oil. We have lots of symbols for the Holy Spirit in the church. Human beings tend to be rather visual and it can be seen in our proliferation of ways of trying to see the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives. This coming Sunday we will celebrate God's gift of the Holy Spirit with many of these symbols. (Don't forget to wear some red!) Yet, despite our attempts, the Holy Spirit moves and works in our lives in ways we rarely see.

Our celebration of the Day of Pentecost is a yearly reminder that the Holy Spirit lives with us and around us. The Holy Spirit is always working in the communities in which we live and while we don't always see it, we can see the work that is done. We celebrate this coming Sunday for all the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us this year and we invite the Holy Spirit to continue working in us for this next year.

I hope you will join us this Sunday in celebrating the work of God in your life, seen and unseen. God gives us wondrous gifts, including the Holy Spirit, and we rejoice in the outpouring of love! Amen. Come Lord Jesus! Come Holy Spirit! Amen.

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