WHAT ARE WE DOING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BRING RECONCILIATION TO OUR COMMUNITY?
Welcome to week one, click the link below for how to get started with Season of the Spirit.
Introduction and suggested process
STUDENT PRAYER
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
PRESENCE OF GOD
We become aware of the presence of God among us.
READING: ACTS 2:1-11 (NRSV)
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? … in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’
OPTIONAL PENTECOST VIDEO
“Fire and Wind” contemplates the biblical event of pentecost that marks the beginning of the Christian church in the liturgical calendar. The season of pentecost starts fifty days after Easter, and ce…
REFLECTION
Most people know that at Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down on the twelve chosen disciples and they began to preach. It is the beginning of the church when the disciples spoke boldly about Jesus’ gathered followers whose prayer and life was focused on gratitude for what God had done through Jesus’ death and rising. But there is more to the feast than that. Pentecost is in fact the season of the Spirit in which we live, a season in which our lives are changed.
In the story Luke tells the coming of the Spirit introduces a season of reconciliation. The breach between people was symbolised in the story of the Tower of Babel and the division of people by language. That division is healed at Pentecost when people who had travelled from many different parts to celebrate the feast each hear the disciples’ words in their own language. It follows that Jesus’ followers are to overcome divisions by forming a church united by the Spirit of Christ in discovering God’s love.
For us the feast of Pentecost is a time to celebrate the way in which we have been gathered into a community by the Spirit. It is also a time to let go of our fear and shame in speaking of Christ and living together. It is a time to commit ourselves by prayer, conversation and small commitments to reconciling the huge differences and hostilities in our world. It is a season long enough to last a lifetime.
By Andrew Hamilton SJ
CLOSING PRAYER
Glory Be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, World without end. Amen.
CONVERSATION PROMPT QUESTION
What small thing can I do to reconcile with others this week?
Download week 1 Student Edition PDF
STAFF PRAYER
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. PRESENCE OF GOD We become aware of the presence of God among us.
NAMING MY DESIRE
To experience God’s Holy Spirit sending us out to bring reconciliation to our community.
READING: ACTS 2:1-11 (NRSV)
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? … in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’
REFLECTION
In the story Luke tells, the coming of the Spirit introduces a season of reconciliation. The breach between people was symbolised in the story of the Tower of Babel and the division of people by language. That division is healed at Pentecost when people who had travelled from many different parts to celebrate the feast each hear the disciples’ words in their own language. It follows that Jesus’ followers are to overcome divisions by forming a church united by the Spirit of Christ in discovering God’s love.
After the story of Pentecost, Luke describes in idealised terms what the church is like when it lives in the Spirit. It becomes a place of reconciliation where people gather to pray, and share their goods together. The divisions caused by inequality are overcome in the life of the community, and people of different cultures and rank are reconciled with one another. Reconciliation is another name for community – community grows when people are reconciled.
By Andrew Hamilton SJ
CLOSING PRAYER
Glory Be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, World without end. Amen.
CONVERSATION PROMPT QUESTION
What small thing can I do to reconcile with others this week?
Resources written by James O'Brien. Edited by Michael McVeigh.
