Experiencing the Trinity

Trinity Sunday (Year A)
2 Corinthians 13.11-13; Matthew 28.16-20
St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Today is unlike any other Sunday in the Church calendar. Every Sunday focuses primarily on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Today is the only Sunday of the year that is not specifically dedicated to Christ per se, but rather is dedicated to a doctrine of the Church – the Trinity. The Trinity, that mysterious concept that boggles the minds of any who try to spend more than a few seconds thinking about it. The Trinity – the understanding that we worship one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God, three-in-one, three persons comprising one God. God, one-in-three, God manifest in three “persons” – really an unfortunate misnomer, but that is the term theologians use.

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Pentecost - Celebration of New Life

Day of Pentecost (Year A)
Acts 2.1-21; 1 Corinthians 12.3b-13; John 20.19-23
St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Imagine the awesome experience of that first Pentecost as described in Acts. Well, strictly speaking, it wasn’t the first Pentecost. In the Hebrew calendar, Pentecost was an ancient celebration. It was originally an agricultural festival. Also known as the Feast of Weeks, it marked the end of the annual grain harvest, which began seven weeks before, during Passover. Pentecost, from the Greek, meaning fifty. Fifty days after Passover. In time, Pentecost also become a commemoration of the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai, which occurred 50 days after the beginning of the Exodus. Fifty days after Passover.

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