MAY232023

Pentecost is a feast of beginnings. It has been referred to as the birthday of the church. Empowered by the Holy Spirit the followers of Jesus launch out to bring Good News into the world. The Bible readings this week leading up to the Feast of Pentecost are a reminder that for something new to begin, something else has to end. The Acts of the Apostles reports on the farewell address of St. Paul to the Church at Ephesus. The kind of preaching ministry he had been doing was coming to an end. The Gospel of John contains the valedictory prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper before his suffering and death. We all in life have similar experiences of endings and beginnings. We might feel sad at an ending — certainly Paul’s companions and Jesus’ disciples were sad — but not all endings are bad. They provide the opportunity for something new to begin. How consoling it is to hear that in the time of transition we can rely on the prayers of Jesus. I pray for  the ones you have given me. Those prayers will sustain us in the new!