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May 15, 2005
Pentecost Sunday
"O Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of blessings and giver of life, come and abide in us, cleanse us of all impurity, and save our souls, O good one."
On this Pentecost Sunday, Frederica Mathewes-Green offers some interesting and, to my thinking, insightful thoughts on the Holy Spirit.
Touchstone's James Kushiner writes on Episcopal Bishop Frank Griswold's view of the Holy Spirit, which view might differ somewhat from Frederica Mathewes-Green's view.
Speaking of Pentecost, Touchstone's Daily Reflections offers this definition:
Pentecost: In the early Christian liturgical calendars the fifty days between Easter and Pentecost constituted a single lengthy feast, because the Resurrection of Jesus is inseparable from the giving of the Holy Spirit (thus, cf. John 20:19-22).
This day, the name of which signifies that it is the 50th day, was known in the Old Testament as the "feast of weeks." That is to say, it has as many weeks as a single week has days. For the Jews it commemorated the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai 50 days after the Passover. The two events, the Exodus and the revelation at Sinai, formed a single theological reality, containing both deliverance and covenant.
Likewise, according to Acts 2, it was on the day of Pentecost that God also gave the Church the New Law, the indwelling Holy Spirit by which the community of faith would be directed to the end of time. All of those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God, says Romans 8, and the Book of Acts, which we are reading during this season, repeatedly tells how the Apostles put their entire ministry under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
"[W]hich we are reading during this season"--if you are looking for a good devotional, or just looking for further grounding, the St. James Daily Devotional Guide for the Christian Year is an excellent resource that is put out by the organization that also puts out Touchstone. I have been using it for about six months and have found it to be invaluable. I highly recommend it.
Posted by Mark at May 15, 2005 12:39 AM