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…
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…
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…
Yanny vs. Laurel and Tongues of Fire
Lots of amazing things happened on the Day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2. Earth was overcome with Wind and Fire. Chaos ensued. Rushing. Falling. Power. Roaring. Speaking. Hearing. Wind. Fire. Pow! What a day. The promised Gift of the Holy Spirit did not come gently to soothe. He is NOT that kind of comforter. …
Yanny vs. Laurel, Pentecost, and What People Hear
For the record, I hear Laurel. I can’t not hear Laurel. My wife hears Yanny. I’ll let you know how that works out. This latest viral sensation, similar to ‘The Dress’ before it, plays on the maddening subjectivity of human perception. Whether it’s sight or sound, we take our sensory perception as bedrock and when…
