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Rector's message

I love the great feasts of the Ascension, Pentecost and Trinity our Church celebrates at the end of Easter. They are all rich in meaning and so relevant to our Christian life.

The Ascension celebrates Jesus return to his Father and the commissioning of the disciples to continue his work on Earth. We find in the Acts of the Apostles these words: Why are you men from Galilee standing there looking up into the sky?

Time to stop looking up in the sky and getting on with life. Enough pondering, it is time to act. St Teresa of Avila captures the essence of the Ascension with these words:

He has no body now on earth but ours.
He has no hands but ours to raise the fallen.
No feet but ours to seek out the lost.
No eyes but ours to see the silent tears of the suffering.
No ears but ours to listen to the lonely.
No tongue but ours to speak a word of comfort to the sad.

Disciples are not left alone. The Spirit is given them to strengthen them to be Jesus’ witnesses in the world. Up until this point they have been in locked rooms, not daring to venture outside, living in total fear. The spirit unleashes a new power to this fledgling community and in no time they are found in the square of Jerusalem radiating joy and new life.

This is what we celebrate at Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, disciples are transformed into new creatures. No longer timid and introspective, they leave their comfort zones and preach boldly and live courageously. These great feasts have a lot to teach us.