Pentecost and Quotation of the Week

Today marks the final holy day of Eastertide. Eastertide lasts for fifty days, from Easter Sunday through Pentecost...which is today.

We read about the events of Pentecost in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles:

"When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."

Peter then gives a sermon on Pentecost, declaring Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and telling his listeners:

"Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."

The people respond in horror as they were "cut to the heart," and they beg Peter, "What shall we do?' Peter replies,

"Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."  

Remember, Peter's speech occurs within a mere two months since Jesus' death and resurrection, and the people finally realize what they have done: they have helped to condemn not only an innocent man but the Son of God.

The Collect for Pentecost from the Book of Common Prayer 2011 reads:

O GOD, you teach the hearts of your faithful people by sending us the light of your Holy Spirit; By your Spirit, give us right judgment in all things, so that we may rejoice forever in his holy comfort; Through the victory of Christ Jesus our Savior, who lives and rules with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. (Ref: John 14.26; Acts 2.1-4; Philippians 1.9-10; Acts 9.31)

As I thumbed through my decade of quotations in my Quotation Journal, I came across this gem about living our lives for Christ:

"But those who have the wind of the Holy Spirit sail even while they sleep."

--Brother Lawrence,  The Practice of the Presence of God

So let us sail forth in the Spirit of our Lord Christ, ready to love as Christ loves as we go about our daily lives in His Holy Presence.

Wishing you a blessed Pentecost,