Bishop’s Note: The Feast of Pentecost

Bishop Eric Menees

I pray that your Ascensiontide (The time between the Feast of the Ascension and the Feast of Pentecost) has been blessed. Last week, because of Ascension, we took a break from our study of Holy Matrimony in the Book of Common Prayer and looked at the collect for the Feast of the Ascension. The Ascension is, of course, the commemoration of Jesus Christ ascending to be at the right hand of the Father. Some people have called this “a little Advent”, because in the same way our Advent is spent awaiting the coming of Christ, the original Ascensiontide was spent waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. For that reason, I thought it would be good to continue this break one week more and talk about the Feast of Pentecost as seen through the collect for Pentecost.

Almighty God, on this day, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you revealed the way of   eternal life to every race and nation: Pour out this gift anew, that by the preaching of the Gospel your salvation 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.

What we celebrate on the Day of Pentecost is an event in history only surpassed by Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection. In Christ, God became man and dwelt among us, but on Pentecost, with the Holy Spirit coming down on His church, God has come to dwell in and among us. Throughout human history after the fall, humanity has been separated from God. We were created for intimacy with him, but we instead redirect ourselves towards the things of the world, things that won’t ultimately give us joy or fulfillment. Saint Augustine described this by saying of God, “our hearts are restless until they rest in you,” and CS Lewis summed it up by saying each of us has a “God-shaped hole in our hearts.” Through God the Holy Spirit we are invited into a special intimacy with God again. Not only having a relationship with God made man, Jesus, but a relationship that hits us at the core of who we are. On that first Pentecost God revealed to us the way of eternal life because he placed “the Lord the giver of life” in our hearts. This collect begins by recognizing all the above but it doesn’t end there. In it we ask God to “pour out this gift anew.” That’s not us asking to receive the Holy Spirit, which we received in baptism, it’s us asking God to pour out the Holy Spirit on those who haven’t received Him, that “your salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” We’ve been given the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives, that holy flame, and we should pass it on, not worshiping the ashes but spreading the fire. I hope that this time after Pentecost is a time for you to contemplate the Holy Spirit’s role in your life, not only in thanking God for his presence with and in you, but also asking God the Holy Spirit how He wants to involve you in his plan for his salvation to reach the ends of the earth. I pray you all have a blessed Pentecost!