Sunday, June 8, 2014
Solemnity of Pentecost
Each
year on this day we relive the dramatic features of Pentecost: its strong
driving wind, tongues of fire descending upon the disciples (hard to imagine),
a cacophony of languages (even harder to imagine). Pentecost Sunday is the day we remember the
treasured story of the birthing of our faith community.
But
it’s not just something that happened long ago. The psalm response (“Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of
the earth”) makes it clear that the coming of the Spirit is here and now,
living and active, capable of effecting change in our present moment, our
current circumstances.
Looking
around the “face of the earth” we see much that badly needs to be renewed. We see
an earth badly scarred by the destructive forces of evil,
war and poverty. We see the victims of those devastating conditions who cannot enjoy
the basic human rights and liberties many of us take for granted. We see
individuals within our own families and communities who struggle daily with
hardship and suffering. We pass by the abused, neglected, forgotten, often
silent and invisible to us in their pain.
The list is endless…
… should not our praying, then, also be endless?
Lord, send out
your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.
The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, The Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.
The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, The Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.
