We made it! We gave our attention to the 40 days of Lent. We celebrated through the 50 days of Easter. And now we have come to the culmination of it all: the gift of the Holy Spirit in power. The birth of the Church is the sum of all that has come before, a new people of God, birthed by the incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and sealed in the presence of the Spirit. Pentecost is not the beginning of another season, it is the exclamation point on the end of Easter. In the coming weeks, the calendar leads us into stories that teach us how to be, and live as, the church Psalm 104: 24, 28 – 34, 35b O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions— You open Your hand, they are filled with good. You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; May the Lord rejoice in His works. He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the hills, and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the Lord. Bless the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord! ST#114 – Pentecost