Three Holidays in Three Days

As the Easter Season comes to an end we are treated to three very special - and distinctly different holidays. First, is the Ascension of Our Lord. This is followed by Pentecost and then The Holy Trinity. Each holiday is considered a particularly special holy day on the Christian calendar - one marking an important day in the life of Jesus, the church, and the doctrine explaining the triune God we worship.

Ascension of Our Lord: Happening forty days after Easter, on a Thursday, the church commemorates the final day Jesus was on earth with his disciples. (Typically we commemorate this holiday on the following Sunday). After his resurrection Jesus is swept up to heaven as he blesses them. This year we will hear a reading from Luke and Acts that explains this situation. Jesus promises his followers that the Spirit will be sent to them as their advocate - comforter - sustainer.

Pentecost: Fifty days after Easter the church celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We read from Acts how the Spirit descends upon the people and they hear others speaking in their tongues - this moment marks the birth of the church and the new way in which God interacts with God’s people. We tend to dress the church up with red paraments and flowers, the assembly is invited to dress in red as well. This is one of the holiest days of the church year alongside Easter and Christmas.

The Holy Trinity: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If we try to explain the Trinity we end up making it worse - this is one of those holidays that requires us to have faith in the idea that God’s true self - though ever present and ever loving - is beyond what we can comprehend. The embodiment of the three and one is celebrated in our prayers and our hymns.

Over the next three Sundays we will celebrate each of these three holidays, hopefully getting a better perspective of the church’s traditions and important events that define us. I invite you to join us in person or online.

Peace

Pastor Jason