Dear Friends,
Most of my evangelical Christian friends know their Bible very well, but I am always surprised how they do not know the tradition of the Blessed Virgin Mary being present in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. We read in the Book of Acts about the Apostles gathering after the Ascension: “All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.” (Acts 1:14) It was not until I saw an icon of the day of Pentecost that I noticed that Mary was there, in the center of the room. I then looked at other great works of art through the centuries and, in every one, Mary was there!
Now, everything that we say about Mary should say something about Jesus; as the Mother of God, her role was always to point to him. If Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, which is the Body of Christ, then it is a beautiful thought that the Mother of Jesus was there to witness that birth. This is reflected in a beautiful short poem by Frances Hall Ford (1931-2008):
At the Church’s birth,
Licked clean by flames of Spirit
Maid and Apostles in horseshoe
Make sweet maternal crib
In whose dark cave
The World, that Old King,
Waits with a swaddling cloth.
The birthday of the Church is a reminder that we are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ – truly part of his family. Pentecost is, therefore, one of the traditional days to celebrate baptism in the Church and you might like to pray the Renewal of Baptismal Vows on Sunday which you will find underneath this message.
As we celebrate Pentecost this year, let us pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to inspire us at Saint Thomas Church and pour out more gifts upon us that we may recognize Christ in one another and be drawn by the Spirit into the Father’s love.
Your clergy met with the Bishop recently and he has encouraged us to begin plans for re-opening the church. This will happen in stages – first for private prayer, then for small gathering at the daily mass, and, finally, on Sundays. None of this will happen before July 1. At the same time, a small group is planning the re-opening of the Parish House for staff only and the Choir School is making plans to re-open in September. So much could happen between now and then and there are various scenarios that we are exploring. In all of this, we are taking advice from the CDC, Federal and State Government, consulting with other schools and parishes similar to ours, and observing the practices of other Dioceses around the world as they slowly re-open.
As Eastertide draws to a close, I am reminded that closed doors were no match for the Risen Christ or the Holy Spirit! The Spirit has clearly been at work in our parish and the parishes of New York, binding us together through this crisis. So, to end, here is another beautiful Pentecost poem; this time by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889):
God’s Grandeur
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs –
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
Affectionately,
Carl,
Your priest and pastor
