“O God… do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before.”
On this fiftieth day of Easter, the Church celebrates the Feast of Pentecost, which reminds us of the fulfillment of God’s promise that Jesus would not leave us comfortless after his ascent into heaven. The Biblical account of this event in Luke’s Book of Acts speaks of the apostles hearing “a sound like the rush of a violent wind” and tongues of fire descending upon each of the disciples. At that time, each of Jesus’s followers would apparently “speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” The good news of Christ (euangélion in Greek or gospel in English) was no longer to be reserved for the Jews alone. Jesus's disciples began to preach God’s word worldwide and gave rise to the Church universal, otherwise known as catholic.
But the story of that day cannot be contained to one single event in our salvation history. The Holy Spirit continues to fill us with the power of God’s love each day and draws us together into the one Body of Christ in the world. Indeed, through the power of God’s Spirit, we find ourselves called to pray in the first place. And as Christians, we recognize the Spirit’s gifts as wisdom, understanding, guidance, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and the joyful awareness of God’s grandeur. So let us be joyful together this Sunday and give God praise for the gift of God’s revelation that continues to unfold in the world about us.
“O Holy Spirit, by whose breath, life rises vibrant out of death; come to create, renew, inspire; come, kindle in our hearts your fire. … From inner strife, grant us release; turn nations to the ways of peace. To fuller life your people bring that as one body we may sing: Praise to the Father, Christ, His Word, and to the Spirit: God the Lord, to whom all honor, glory be both now and for eternity.” (Hymnal 1982, 502)
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