Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for May 19, 2021 (Pentecost B)

Pentecôte (1732), oil painting on canvas by Jean Restout II (1692-1768), Musée du Louvre, Paris. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (or alternate Second Reading): Acts 2:1-21

Come, Holy Spirit! It is Pentecost, the festival day when we recognize that the Body of Christ is drawn together, given life, and sent out into the world by the Holy Spirit. In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we see the Holy Spirit come as wind and tongues of fire in the room where the apostles are gathered. A crowd of spectators hears the apostles speaking in their own native tongue, signaling that Christ has come for all nations and that the word of God is heard in every language. Peter then preaches to the crowd in the apocalyptic words of the Prophet Joel, foretelling that God would pour out the Spirit on all God’s people in the last days.

First Reading (alternate): Ezekiel 37:1-14

In this familiar passage from Ezekiel, the prophet imagines an eerie valley of death filled with dry bones. In these poetic verses, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy. As Ezekiel does so, the dry bones become connected, covered with skin, and then breathed into life as a vast multitude. Ezekiel’s prophetic vision reveals God’s promise to restore Israel from exile. In the context of the readings for Pentecost, we may hear it as the work of the Spirit bringing forth life and a multitude of witnesses from the dust and dry bones of death.

Psalm: Psalm 104:25-35,37

This Psalm of joy and thanksgiving celebrates the diversity of all God’s creation: God has filled the earth and sea with too many amazing creatures to count. Recalling the first story of creation in Genesis, the Psalmist reminds us that God’s spirit was at work in creating the Earth, and that God’s spirit remains active in making creation new again. The loss of breath ends life; new breath restores it.

Second Reading: Romans 8:22-27

Paul’s striking words describe all creation groaning in labor pains like a mother giving birth, while the Holy Spirit joins in “with sighs too deep for words” to help us pray. Like many unusual metaphors, these verses prompt us to reflection that leads to insight. Like a mother eager to hold her new infant, we are eager for the new life that God has in store for us, yet we wait patiently for something that we desire but cannot yet see.

Gospel: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

We turn one last time to John’s account of Jesus’s Final Discourse, his last talk with his disciples at the Last Supper. Jesus tells them that he will soon go back to God – the one who sent him – but reassures them that God will send an Advocate who will testify on God’s behalf. Even though the apostles have been with Jesus since his public ministry began, he tells them, there is still much that they don’t understand; much that Jesus has not explained. When the Advocate comes bearing Jesus’s words, much more will be revealed, and then they will understand.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for May 23, 2021

First Reading (or alternate Second Reading): Acts 2:1-21

It is Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Easter. The apostles have endured Jesus’ death, encountered him in mysterious resurrection appearances, then watched him taken up into the clouds.

Pentecost (1545), painting by Titian (c.1488-1576). Santa Maria della Salute, Venice. (Click image to enlarge.)

They must have faced the future with wary uncertainty … and then the Spirit, the Advocate whom Jesus had promised would come, fills the room with noise and wind and fire, and everything changes! Speaking fluently in many languages, the apostles face a startled crowd and, quoting the Prophet Joel, declare the coming of God and our hope for salvation.

First Reading (alternate): Ezekiel 37:1-14

In these poetic verses, the prophet Ezekiel imagines an eerie, deathly valley filled with dry bones. God tells Ezekiel to prophesy, and as he does so, the dry bones become connected, covered with skin, and then breathed into life as a vast multitude. In this vision the prophet unveils God’s promise to restore Israel from exile. In the context of this week’s Lectionary readings, we might imagine it as the work of the Spirit bringing forth life and a multitude of witnesses from the dust and dry bones of death.

Psalm: Psalm 104:25-35,37

This joyful Psalm celebrates the diversity of God’s creation, which fills earth and sea with too many amazing creatures to count. Evoking the story of creation in Genesis, the Psalmist reminds us that just as God’s spirit – “breath” or “wind” in Hebrew – was at work in creating the Earth, God’s spirit remains active in making creation new again The loss of breath ends life; new breath restores it.

Second Reading: Romans 8:22-27

Paul’s metaphor in this passage may feel strange at first: He imagines all creation groaning like a mother giving birth, and the Holy Spirit joining in “with sighs too deep for words.” But this imaginative leap prompts us to deep reflection that yields insight. Like a mother eager to hold her new infant, we live in hope of the new life that God has in store for us. We wait patiently for something that we desire but cannot yet see.

Gospel: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

We have spent much of Eastertide hearing portions of John’s long account of Jesus’ final conversation with his apostles at the Last Supper. Now, nearing the end of this farewell discourse, Jesus speaks of an Advocate – the Holy Spirit – who may seem as mysterious as Paul’s sighing spirit in Romans. The apostles have been with Jesus since his public ministry began, yet there is still much that they don’t understand, and much that Jesus has not explained. When the Advocate comes bearing Jesus’ words, John writes, much more will be revealed and they will understand.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for May 20, 2018

Pentecost (ca. 1305). Fresco by Giotto di Bondone (c.1267-1337), Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

Come, Holy Spirit! It is Pentecost, and Sunday’s readings speak in many ways about the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world. In our first reading from Acts, the Holy Spirit comes into the room in wind and tongues of fire. Every person in the crowd of spectators hears the apostles speaking in his or her own native tongue, signaling that Christ has come for all nations and that the word of God is heard in every language. Peter then preaches to the crowd in the apocalyptic words of the Prophet Joel, foretelling that God would pour out the Spirit on all God’s people in the last days.

First Reading (alternate): Ezekiel 37:1-14

The prophet Ezekiel imagines an eerie, deathly valley filled with dry bones. In these poetic verses, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy, and as he does so, the dry bones become connected, covered with skin, and then breathed to life as a vast multitude. Ezekiel’s prophetic vision reveals God’s promise to restore Israel from exile. In the context of this week’s readings, we may hear it as the work of the Spirit bringing forth life and a multitude of witnesses from the dust and dry bones of death.

Psalm 104:25-35,37

This Psalm of joy and thanksgiving celebrates the diversity of all God’s creation: God has filled the earth and sea with too many amazing creatures to count. Recalling the first story of creation in Genesis, the Psalmist reminds us that God’s spirit was at work in creating the Earth, and that God’s spirit remains active in making creation new again. The loss of breath ends life; new breath restores it.

Second Reading: Romans 8:22-27

Paul’s striking words describe all creation groaning in labor pains like a mother giving birth, while the Holy Spirit joins in “with sighs too deep for words” to help us pray. Like many unusual metaphors, these verses prompt us to reflection that leads to insight. Like a mother eager to hold her new infant, we are eager for the new life that God has in store for us, yet we wait patiently for something that we desire but cannot yet see.

Gospel: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

We turn again to John’s account of Jesus’ last talk with his disciples at the Last Supper. Jesus tells them that he will soon go back to God, the one who sent him, but that they will send an Advocate who will testify on God’s behalf. Even though the apostles have been with Jesus since his public ministry began, he tells them, there is still much that they don’t understand; much that Jesus has not explained. When the Advocate comes, bearing Jesus’ words, much more will be revealed, and then they will understand.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for May 24, 2015

Pentecost – Duccio di Buoninsegna (1308) Tempera on wood. Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena.

It is Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Easter. The apostles have endured Jesus’ death, encountered him in mysterious resurrection appearances, then watched him taken up into the clouds. They must have faced the future with wary uncertainty … and then the Spirit, the Advocate whom Jesus had promised would come, filled the room with noise and wind and fire, and everything changed! Speaking fluently in many languages, they face a startled crowd and, quoting the Prophet Joel, declare the coming of God and our hope for salvation.

Psalm: Psalm 104:25-35,37

This joyous Psalm celebrates the diversity of God’s creation, filling earth and sea with too many amazing creatures to count. Evoking the story of creation in Genesis, the Psalmist reminds us that just as God’s spirit – “breath” or “wind” in Hebrew – was at work in creating the Earth, God’s spirit continues active in renewing creation. The loss of breath ends life; new breath restores it. We must take care not to interpret the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, as expressing the Christian theology of a Triune God. That would come hundreds of years later in a different time and place. Still, we can hear the creative work of God’s Spirit breathing through Creation, the Psalm and Pentecost.

Second Reading: Romans 8:22-27

Paul’s metaphor of all creation groaning like a mother giving birth, and of the Holy Spirit joining in “with sighs too deep for words,” may seem odd at first; but like all striking metaphors, they prompt us to deep reflection that yields insight. Like a mother eager to hold her new infant, we live in hope of the new life that God has in store for us, waiting patiently for something that we desire but cannot yet see.

Gospel: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

As we near the end of John’s long account of Jesus’ final conversation with his apostles at the Last Supper, Jesus tells of an Advocate – the Holy Spirit – who seems as mysterious as Paul’s sighing spirit in Romans. While the apostles have been with Jesus since his public ministry began, there is much that they don’t understand, much that Jesus has not explained. When the Advocate comes, bearing Jesus’ words, much more will be revealed, and they will understand.