NOTES AND QUOTE

Pentecost

PENTECOST
On Whit Sunday men of common clay like ourselves heard the wind of God blowing with the force of an ultimatum and compelling surrender. This is the climax in the long serial of creation. But it is not the end. For it is the Spirit’s vocation to inspire, to possess and transform and it will not rest until the last atom of creation burns with a life as full and as fine as its own.
(Hugh Lavery)

“Tongues” is a heart to heart language. As a baby lies in his mother’s arms and babbles to his mother – they both understand what he means. So we lie in God’s arms and babble to him. And we both understand.
(John Harper)
 

The very words “Whit Sunday” give us a clue. Whit is “white” and Pentecost is the flowering of the “white” season of Easter. The danger with “red” is that it can turn the feast into some sort of votive celebration of the Holy Spirit independent of the 50-day season. Thus we lose sight of the connection between the resurrection and the sending of the Spirit. For in reality the descent of the Holy Spirit is the climax of the whole Paschal Mystery: death, resurrection, ascension and coming of the Spirit. If we must wear red then let us remember that the Spirit makes sense of the Good Fridays of life.
(Oliver Todd)