“Pentecost Sunday already!?” While this might well be our reaction to the arrival of this feast day on the church calendar every year, we can only imagine how the disciples felt who were ordered by Jesus to go to Jerusalem and wait until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49). As they…
Pentecost: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles in Jerusalem fifty days after Easter. The Spirit descended as tongues of fire, empowering the apostles to proclaim the gospel in every tongue. The result was the conversion of people from many nations and the baptism of thousands of families. Pentecost thereby fulfilled the…
Book Review: The Soul’s Pilgrimage – Volume 1: From Advent to Pentecost by Robert D. Crouse
This collect of Father Robert Crouse’s homilies illuminate the transcendent meaning of each week of the liturgical year.
The Liturgical Home: Pentecost
The Day of Pentecost is one of the highest feast days in the liturgical year. It is the day that we remember and celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. This pivotal moment in Christian history is the fulfillment of Christ’s promise to send a helper, a comforter, who…
Today in the Spirit: Pentecost Sunday B (Whitsunday)
“Pentecost Sunday already!?” While this might well be our reaction to the arrival of this feast day on the church calendar every year, we can only imagine how the disciples felt when Jesus ordered them to go to Jerusalem and wait until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49). As they gathered…
Today in the Spirit: Pentecost Sunday A
“Pentecost Sunday already!?” While this might be our reaction each year to the arrival of this feast day at the midpoint (more or less) of the church year, we can only imagine the disciples who were ordered by Jesus to go to Jerusalem and wait until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke…
We Need Oneness, Not Sameness
“We are all the same.” This is a rallying cry we see again and again as we sift through the wreckage of our conflicts over differences. It’s a phrase that’s trying to take away pain, but it isn’t telling the truth. Differences are real. Declaring that differences don’t exist doesn’t just erase the beauty of…
Preaching Pentecost: The Person and Work of the Spirit
Pentecost is, for many of us and our congregations, the Sunday (or season) in which we turn our attention to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The reality, however, for many of the people in our pews, is that the Spirit is often conceived of as more like the Force from Star Wars…
Ember Days: A Rookie Anglican Guide
I don’t know about you, but when I first heard about “Ember Days,” I thought of a dying fire! However, when I began my ordination process, I quickly found out that Ember Days, also called Embertide, are about ordination and Holy Orders, not about fireplaces. What Are Ember Days? As the 2019 ACNA BCP notes,…
What They are Saying about Pentecost
“Since the days of Pentecost, has the whole church ever put aside every other work and waited upon Him for ten days, that the Spirit’s power might be manifested? We give too much attention to method and machinery and resources, and too little to the source of power.” – J. Hudson Taylor “It is the…
The Great Fifty Days of Easter: A Rookie Anglican Guide to Eastertide
Easter Sunday is only the beginning! A great fifty-day feast (known as “Eastertide,” “Easter Season,” or “Easter Time,” as well as “Paschaltide,” “Paschal Season,” or “Paschal Time”) kicks off on Easter Day. In the Church Year, this is quite literally fifty days of feasting. Easter is the high point of the Church Year. It makes…
Pentecost: A Collect Reflection
Pentecost 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…
