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Notable Feast Days this Week:

May 29 - First Ecumenical Council, 325 (Eastern)
May 29 - Maximinus the Confessor, Bishop of Trier, 347
May 30 - Isaac the Confessor, 410
May 31 - Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Western)
May 31 - Shavuot (OT Pentecost)
June 1 - Justin Martyr and Companions, 165
June 3 - Charles Lwanga, Uganda, 1886 (Anglican/Catholic)
June 4 - DAY OF PENTECOST

Revised Common Lectionary

Acts 2:1-21 / Numbers 11:24-30
Psalm 104:24-34; 35b
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
John 20:19-23 / John 7:37-39

Daily Readings (RCL)
Liturgical Color - Red

Forward

---------- Pentecost Sunday ---------- June 4, 2017 (Year A)

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

"On Pentecost, we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-21). Through Christ, we are given the living water of the Holy Spirit, poured out on believers on Pentecost, so that we might "thirst" no more (John 7:37-39) and that we might use the spiritual gifts we are given to his glory (1 Corinthians 12:3b-13). We look at the wonders of creation and cannot help but praise God for his wisdom, originality and the beauty of the world around us (Psalm 104:24-34, 35b)."

-Thomas Oden in Ancient Christian Devotional: A Year of Weekly Readings

The Day of Pentecost (Sunday, June 4)

"Ten days after the ascension of Christ and fifty days after his resurrection, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples on the day of Pentecost. In the first century, Pentecost was already an established Jewish festival also known as the Feast of Weeks, which drew people from many nations back to Jerusalem (Lev. 23:15-21; Deut. 16:16). Pentecost symbolizes a new beginning ..."

"In celebrating Pentecost, the church expresses gratitude for Christ fulfilling his promise to send “another counselor” (John 14:16); celebrates the work of the Spirit in renewing all of creation; professes confidence in the Spirit’s power for its mission; and grows in awareness of its calling to reach the world with the gospel."
-from The Worship Sourcebook and this article from the CIOCW

Resources

"A Prayer to the Holy Spirit" by Christina Rossetti
"A Sonnet for Pentecost" by Malcolm Guite
"Come Holy Spirit" A classic Sacred Harp tune for Pentecost
Seven Doves block print art from Elizabeth Steele Halstead
Art for Pentecost from Wikimedia Commons

The dove descending breaks the air
With flame of incandescent terror
Of which the tongues declare
The onedischage from sin and error.
The only hope, or else despair
Lies in the choice of pyre of pyre-
To be redeemed from fire by fire.

Who then devised the torment? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar Name
Behind the hands that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame
Which human power cannot remove.
We only live, only suspire
Consumed by either fire or fire . . .
-from T.S. Eliot "Little Gidding"
in The Four Quartets

Psalm of the Week

Scripture Readings

Psalm 104:24-34; 35b

"How many are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small...All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground ... I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord."

Commentary on Psalm 104
Augustine, Calvin, Spurgeon, and Wikipedia

Acts 2:1-21
Jesus' followers are filled with the Spirit

Numbers 11:24-30
The Spirit and the elders of Israel

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
Various gifts from the Holy Spirit

John 20:19-23
The Spirit poured out

John 7:37-39
Living water through the Holy Spirit

Daily Readings
Revised Common Lectionary

Daily Readings
Book of Common Prayer

The Entire Bible in One Year

Chronological

Practicing Prayer

"Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it 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." -The Book of Common Prayer

Contemplative Prayer (Click to View)

Daily Prayer (Click to View)

Audio Prayer Meditation - Pray As You Go

Spotify Playlist

More Spotify Psalms Playlists...

Singing Psalms and Hymns

For the Beauty of the Earth | Words and music by Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835-1917 / Arranged by Trevor McMaken, 2012 | Leadsheet

Come, Holy Ghost (Veni Creator Spiritus) | Arranged by Bruce Benedict and Ray Mills | Leadsheet | Piano Music

Creation Song (Glory to the Lamb) | by Fernando Ortega, based on Ps. 104 | Leadsheet

Abbeville (Come, Holy Spirit) | Sacred Harp, arranged by Liz Jaynes | Leadsheet

We Sing the Mighty Power of God | by Isaac Watts, Arranged by Greg Scheer | Leadsheet

Psalm 104 | by Wendell Kimbrough | Leadsheet and Orchestration

Music and other Resources for Pentecost Sunday from Cardiphonia
(Leadsheets and links to recordings are included)

Psalm 104 Anglican Chant | Music on pgs. 224-227 of Anglican Chant Psalter

Psalm 104 Metrical Options

Hymn Suggestions for The Day of Pentecost from Hymnary.org

Commentary on John 20:19-23

"The Son, sharing the same nature as God the Father, has the Spirit in the same manner that the Father would be understood to have the Spirit. In other words, the Spirit is not something added or which comes from without, for it would be naïve—even insane—to hold such an opinion. But God the Father has the Spirit, just as each one of us has our own breath within us that pours forth from the innermost parts of the body. This is why Christ physically breathed on his disciples, showing that as the breath proceeds physically from the human mouth, so too does Christ, in a manner befitting God, pour forth the [Spirit] from the divine essence." -Cyril of Jerusalem

More Historical Commentary
(View and Download)

Music for Listening

Thematic Art

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