Whit Sunday - reflection by Canon Leslie

Today is Whit Sunday, the Feast that celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. It is Luke who provides the foundation account for the gift of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost through his narrative in the Acts of the Apostles. According to Luke, the Holy Spirit came to the apostles with the sound of a mighty rushing wind and settled on them like tongues of fire. As part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples during the Last Supper, John narrates how Jesus had promised that the Father would send the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited reflection on the image of kites. In today’s picture from his book, The Windy Day, Teddy Horsley is outside with Betsy Bear feeling the wind tug his kite high into the sky.

Lord God,
you gave the Holy Spirit to your people,
like a gift from heaven.
Lift up our hearts by the same Spirit,
that we may live our lives in your presence
and proclaim your power throughout the world;
we make our prayer in Jesus’ name.
Amen.

Next week is Trinity Sunday. The doctrine of the Trinity affirms that God has been made known in the world in three characteristic ways, as Father, as Son, and as Holy Spirit. The image to help us for next week’s theme is space travel. You can find out more about that theme here https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We would really appreciate you letting us know how you are using these materials.