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Fire Descends
On Pentecost the fierce love of the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples of Jesus (Acts 2:1-21). Jesus also talked about the Holy Spirit as the living water poured out for those who thirst for him (John 7:37-39). Those who declare that Jesus is Lord have received a manifestation of this Spirit given for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:3b-13). Jesus' original disciples received the Holy Spirit after his resurrection and were sent out to continue Jesus' mission (John 20:19-23). The glory of God is revealed as all of creation is renewed and purified through the power of the Holy Spirit (Psalm 104:24-34, 35b).
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"How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures...All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time...when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified...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...May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord."
Commentary on Psalm 104
Augustine, Jerome Creach,
Calvin, Spurgeon, Wikipedia
Audio
John 20, John 7, Acts 2, Numbers 11
1 Corinthians 12, Psalm 104
Spotify Playlist
Psalm 104
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Lectionary Resources
"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
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Collect for The Day of Pentecost: Whitsunday
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, forever and ever. Amen. - The Book of Common Prayer
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Day of Pentecost
May 31 (Western) and June 7 (Eastern)
"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
"The history of Christendom is the history of an operation. It is an operation of the Holy Ghost towards Christ, under the conditions of our humanity; and it was our humanity which gave the signal, as it were, for that operation. The visible beginning of the Church is at Pentecost, but that is only a result of is actual beginning – and ending – in heaven."
-Charles Williams (1886-1945) in The Descent of the Dove
Video
Art
Poetry
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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
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Collect for The Day of Pentecost
O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. - The Book of Common Prayer
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