Come, Holy Spirit, Come!

Day of Pentecost (Year A)

Acts 2.1-1-21; John 20.19.23

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 20:40)

 

In our Bible Study this past Thursday, someone commented that it is interesting how sometimes you read a passage in scripture, one you’ve read many times before, and yet see something new, something you’d never noticed before. I have certainly found this to be true, since in my work I continually am reading and re-reading passages of scripture, either as part of sermon preparation, Bible Study, the Daily Office, or other projects. And today’s readings are no different. Sort of.

 

You might have noticed that in our readings for today, we have two accounts of the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit. The first being from the Acts of the Apostles—what is considered the definitive account of the Pentecost event and the coming of the Holy Spirit. And the second being from the Gospel according to John, which occurs on the evening of Easter—a full fifty days before the event in Acts. Let’s quickly recap.

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This In-Between Time

Seventh Sunday of Easter (Year A)

Acts 1.6-14

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning 27:45)

 

Here on the Seventh Sunday of Easter, we find ourselves in an in-between time. The time between Jesus’ ascension, which we commemorated on Thursday, and Pentecost, which we celebrate next Sunday. A ten-day period of waiting. For most of us, we go about our daily lives, likely unaware that this is an in-between time. But for Jesus’ disciples, this is a period of profound significance. What happens in this in-between time will shape who they become, will shape the direction of the Church, and in turn, will shape who we are as followers of the Risen Christ.

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“In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being”

Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year A)

John 14.15-21

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 19:00)

 

As one who spent my first career in the planning profession and who still seeks to meticulously plan both my personal and vocational lives—which with the way the church operates, can at times be, shall we say, challenging—I appreciate what Jesus is doing in today’s Gospel reading. That he is essentially laying out his plan for what is going to happen moving forward. Letting his disciples know what to expect down the road, primarily as a way of assuring and comforting them in what he knows has to be a difficult time for them.

 

Today’s Gospel reading is a continuation of the portion of Jesus’ Farewell Discourse that we heard last week. This occurs on Maundy Thursday, mere hours before Jesus will be arrested, put on trial, found guilty, and put to death. He has already informed his disciples that he will be leaving them. They are naturally distraught. Not only because he is their beloved teacher and a dear friend. Also, because they have come to recognize him as the Messiah, and these things are not supposed to happen to the Messiah. So not only are they saddened by the impending personal loss, they are also confused and uncertain about what they had believed up until now. What they had believed, at least about Jesus and about his role as Messiah, have been turned upside down. How are they going to pick up the pieces, how are they going to ever make sense out of this latest bombshell, if Jesus is gone? If he is not there to guide them to the truth.

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The Way, the Truth, and the Life

Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year A)

John 14.1-14

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 18:30)

 

As I noted last week, in this latter half of the Easter season we turn our attention from Christ’s initial post-resurrection appearances to his disciples to the ongoing implications of what his resurrection means in the lives of his followers. We have moved from the immediate impact the resurrection had on the disciples in the further development of their lives of faith to what the resurrection means in sustaining our own lives of faith. We do this by stepping back and looking at some of the key teachings Jesus made prior to his death and resurrection. Teachings that, in light of the resurrection, take on new meaning, new significance.

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