Day of Pentecost
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Acts 2:1-21
or Numbers 11:24-30
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
or Acts 2:1-21
John 20:19-23
or John 7:37-39
Psalm 104:25-35, 37
The Collect
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.
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Since many of our diocesan churches are returning to in person worship this Sunday with Phase I reopening safety guidelines in place, this will be the last of my weekly homily videos created during the COVID-19 shelter-at-home order. It has been a privilege and a joy to share these weekly videos with you over the past two months. Thank you for welcoming me into your personal devotion time. So that we may remain connected, I encourage you to subscribe to the Diocese of Central Florida’s YouTube channel and/or bookmark www.tinyurl.com/
In this week’s video, we give thanks for the feast of Pentecost which will be celebrated on Sunday. Many of us are familiar with the story of Pentecost. While assembled for the great Jewish festival of Shavuot, similar to our celebration of good harvest with American Thanksgiving, the disciples were celebrating in the upper room when the Holy Spirit descended upon them with the sound of a mighty rushing wind and changed their lives dramatically.
They were so full of the Holy Spirit that the disciples actually began speaking in different languages. It was both cataclysmic and visual and the event represents the beginning of an extraordinary missionary movement.
In one of the appointed Gospel passages for Pentecost, Jesus cries out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ (John 7:37-38)” I must admit that when I read this passage I visualize the great cloud of witnesses praying for us and reminding us that they paved the way, leaving the ball in our court to continue their missionary movement. The Holy Spirit was poured out so that every tongue, tribe, family, people, and nation would be included in the Good News of what we see in Jesus Christ and that means being available for God to use us as he sees fit at all times, letting the “rivers of living water” flow through us. My prayer would be that all of us would let the message of Pentecost soak our hearts and souls so that the missionary spirit of Jesus would guide us to live as bold servants of Christ.
Grace to you,
+Greg Brewer