May 27, 2009

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

This weekend we celebrate the Day of Pentecost, when the early church received the gift of the Holy Spirit to live their faith boldly and courageously. Our parish tradition is to reenact the "gift of tongues" during the Sunday 10:30 am service. Parishioners will read in multiple languages simultaneously the passage from the Acts of Apostles that describes the first Christian Pentecost. The following languages will be represented: French, Italian, Latin, Finnish, Hebrew, Indonesian, Yoruba, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian. All are invited to wear red, the color of the Holy Spirit, to this service.

THEME FOR THE DAY OF PENTECOST

Pentecost is a Jewish feast, a day of pilgrimage, when pilgrims came to the Temple in Jerusalem. At the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus, pilgrims from diverse nations understood Peter and the disciples speaking in their native tongue, a reversal of the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel. For more information about the feast of Pentecost, please click here.

At the first Christian Pentecost, Jesus' disciples experienced the presence of the risen Christ in the gift of the Holy Spirit. In the Collect we pray: "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."

The passage from Acts will be read in multiple languages: "When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, 'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power.' All were amazed and perplexed."

Psalm 104 speaks of the gift of the spirit of God: "You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; and so you renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the LORD endure for ever; may the LORD rejoice in all his works. He looks at the earth and it trembles; he touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will praise my God while I have my being."

The reading from Romans speaks of the Spirit of God that gives us strength to believe and pray: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." (Romans 8:22-27)

In the Gospel of John, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to guide his disciples through the centuries: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you." (John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15)

Since Easter, we have been singing "Alleluia" to proclaim the resurrection of Christ. Pentecost concludes the fifty days of Eastertide when once more we will proclaim "Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!" at our worship services on Saturday at 5:00 pm and Sunday at 10:30 am. Please join us.

Sincerely, David A. Killian Rector

For the Collect of the Day, Scripture Readings, and Psalm, click here. Please note that the we are now using the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) reading. For Story from this Sunday's Gospel by Becky Taylor, Director of Children, Youth and Family Ministry, click here.

worship services for

The Day of Pentecost
May 30-31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, at 5:00 pm — Preacher: The Rev. David A. Killian
Sunday, May 31, at 10:30 am — Preacher: The Rev. David A. Killian

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All Saints Parish • 1773 Beacon Street • Brookline, MA 02445 • 617-738-1810