|
Understanding The Church Year
With Whit Sunday, 30th May, we begin the second half of the
Christian Calendar Year.
During the first half of the year (Advent to Whitsuntide) the
Church's focus has been on what God has revealed to Man, particularly
through the history of the Christ becoming man and of his divine
deeds on earth.
Now, in this second half of the year (from Whitsuntide back to
Advent) our attention is focused on Man's response to God - through
faith, through commitment, through loving deeds and through trying
to understand Christ's transforming work within each individual
man and woman.
So the smaller festivals of this second half of the year give
us a magnificent opportunity. As we remember the lives
of different saints down the centuries, we too can seek to respond
to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our own lives.
30th May - Pentecost / Whit Sunday
On Ascension Day the sequence of events that began at Easter
was completed. Christ ascended to his Father in heaven,
and now it was the turn of the Holy Spirit to come down to earth
(the story is found in Acts 2: 1 8). Pentecost
is the feast on which the Church celebrates the gift of the Holy
Spirit. With his enabling power, the Church was soon off
to a flying start, an incredibly dramatic expansion in its earliest,
formative period.
So no wonder Pentecost Sunday is a major feast in the Christian
year. In fact, in many Christian traditions, Pentecost
comes second in importance only to Easter itself. Pentecost
is sometimes called 'Whitsun' (literally, 'white Sunday') on
account of the tradition of the clergy wearing white robes on
this day.
The Holy Spirit is of major importance to Christian thought and
life. When we read through the book of Acts, we find evidence
of his presence everywhere guiding, encouraging, and empowering
the apostles. In more recent times, the rise of the charismatic
movement within the worldwide church has led to an increased
awareness of the powerful role of the Spirit in each of our Christian
lives.
Pentecost falls on the fiftieth day after Easter, when, according
to Luke's account, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples
in Jerusalem, who were gathered there on Jesus' instructions.
("Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father
promised.")
Even so, the Holy Spirit's arrival astounded everyone.
The disciples certainly did not expect a sound like a mighty
rushing wind from heaven, tongues of fire coming to rest on their
heads, and the gift of being able to praise God in languages
unknown to them.
Luke's description of Pentecost focuses on the impact of the
event on people: the disciples were empowered to preach
the gospel, and to break down the barriers of language separating
them and their audiences. Theologically, the coming of
the Spirit thus occupies a significant role in the scheme of
salvation, in that it can be seen as a reversal of the 'tower
of Babel' (Genesis 11: 1 32).
Here are some of the New Testament references to the Gift
of the Holy Spirit
John 14: 16 17; John 14: 25-6; John 16: 13- 15; Acts 1:
1 8; Acts 2: 1 8
Parish Pump
Receipt is acknowledged, with grateful thanks, of the following
donations towards the cost of I.C.N.: Gwen and Glyn Willicombe
from Porlock, Anonymous from Sevenoaks via Ruth Gear,
Mr. Best of The Greenway, Ickenham Cricket Club via Maureen Summerfield,
Miss J Benge of Charlton Close, Pat Yorston of Pepys Close, Anonymous
of Edinburgh Drive via Clarence King, Laurie and Adele Beke from
Lower Heswall, Wirral.
Copy for the June edition should be with me by 13th
May.
Page 6 >>
|
|
