May 31

Weekend Bulletin
Children’s Bulletin

Deacon’s Digest…
Happy Birthday!

Here we are - Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of our Church - so HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Our Church was born on this day almost 2,000 years ago and continues to go forward through wars, plagues, pandemics and famines.

The one mistake most of make when we talk about “church” is to think of a building, a structure or a spiritual organization. Certainly, our church is all of those things but that is not the most apt definition. The true church is known as The Body of Christ, The People of God and people of true Communion. We the people are the living, breathing Body of Christ, we are called to be the People of God and live in this world in a way that shows the unity and communion of our God - a divine community of Persons. Indeed, the Church is called the sacrament of God’s presence here on earth. This means we are to be a SIGN of unity, community, and a divine belonging to something much greater than any of us as individuals - something eternal!

Our word “church” comes from a Greek word - ecclesia (literally, ek kaleo) which means “to call out of”. We are called by God out of our daily routines, out of temptation and sin, and out of “the world” to be God’s people. When Jesus came to earth, taught, healed, suffered, died, rose, and ascended into heaven he showed us what it meant to be a son or daughter of God. We are no longer slaves to sin and death but have been rescued, redeemed and justified to live a life a Christian life.

But, Jesus didn’t leave us alone - he sent his Spirit to strengthen, empower, motivate and protect us. Each of us that has been Baptized and Confirmed has been filled with the same Holy Spirit that came upon the Apostles at the Pentecost. We all have been gifted in many and varied ways to be that sign of God’s presence to our family, our neighborhood, our parish and our workplace. This is a great blessing from God but is also a great responsibility.

There is an old story about Jesus ascending into heaven and meeting a choir of angels. The angels ask him how his work is going to continue among the people and he tells them that his apostles and disciples will carry things forward. The angels are a bit surprised and tell Jesus that people are weak and sometimes forgetful. People can be lazy and fearful when it comes to talking about their faith. So they ask him; “what is your backup plan”? Jesus tells them that there is no other plan - the responsibility rests with the people.

In Peter’s first letter he tells his readers, “and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

We are today’s living stones! Go forth to proclaim, to celebrate and to serve. Happy Birthday to you!