A Waiting Place

The season between Ascension Day and Pentecost is a time of "waiting" for the church. It is a mini-Advent but with a difference. Where Advent anticipates the coming of God in the midst of human history with the birth of Jesus. This season opens us to receive the strength and power of God for our lives and ministry. The Holy Spirit renews the face of the earth and quickens our hearts for the joy which is to come. This Gift forms faith and draws us into community, it quickens the hearer in his encounter with Holy Scripture, it enlivens our gifts of bread and wine transforming us into the Body of Christ, it forgives our sins and makes it possible for us risk ourselves in the proclamation of the Word. Indeed, we who are followers of Christ are intoxicated with the love that his given birth to creation and saved us in spite of ourselves. May we begin to see in the coming days the brightness of the flames that warm the hearts of all people and inflame our love for God.