Sunday 11 May 2008

On the last and greatest day of the Festival

So Eastertide ends.
Pentecost brings to an end this season which is such an emotional roller-coaster from the beginning of Lent until now. This three month period sees us make a journey with Christ's Apostles from the high point of Peter's recognition of Jesus as Messiah and Son of God through his almost immediate rejection by Jesus for thinking in man's way not God's; through the fears and bickerings along the way of the journey to Jerusalem; through the triumph of Palm Sunday; through the panic following Jesus' betrayal and arrest; through the experience of His trial and death; through the Resurrection when Jesus was beyond all hope restored to them; through the Ascension when He made it clear that He was not going to be with them (physically) for much longer; to Pentecost - the Descent of the Holy Spirit.
Take a deep breath and relax. Relax? Will the Holy Spirit let us relax, or will He carry us on and forward to the place of His power? If we let Him, who knows what He will do? If we let Him. So often all that we need to do is to stand aside from our own concerns, our own ideas, our own plans; to get out of His way and let Him work. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful: enkindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created, and You will renew the face of the earth. Alleluia, alleluia!

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