For Christmas we have the build-up of Advent, and Easter Day is preceded by Holy Week.  But when it comes to Whit Sunday, it just arrives!  Yet Pentecost is all about the birth of the Christian church and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Surely, that is something to get excited about!

For forty days following our Lord’s resurrection, Jesus appeared to His followers and taught them about the Kingdom of God.  Just before His ascension into Heaven, Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Spirit.

Ten days after His ascension, it was the Feast of Pentecost and this was a significant festival for the Jews.  It was an annual occasion for    people to assemble in the Holy City.  The day marked the time when the barley harvest officially ended.  This feast day was characterised by religious ceremonies and the offering of sacrifices.  No work was done. It was a day of thanksgiving.  A time to remember deliverance from Egypt and God’s mercy and reconciliation with His covenant people.

On the day of Pentecost, the followers of Jesus met together in an upper room. Its location was probably on Mount Zion to the west of Jerusalem.  The site can be visited although it’s not the Upper Room. It’s an ancient building dating from the 14th century and built on the site of a church destroyed by the Persians seven centuries earlier.  But the first floor chamber is large with old paving stones, surrounded by stone pillars and arches.  According to tradition, this is where Jesus ate the ‘Last Supper’ and His followers received the Holy Spirit.

On Whit Sunday we would do well to remember why the Holy Spirit was sent to us. We are given power to live God’s way:

– to lead us into the things God has prepared for us;

– to worship and glorify Him;

– to enable us to pray;

– to lead us into truth;

– to give us a desire to share the love of Christ with others and to help us trust God for all our needs.

This Pentecost may our prayer be for God’s Spirit to transform us, for the gentleness of His Spirit to lead us, and for the gifts of His Spirit to equip us.                            By Lester Amann writing in parishpump.co.uk s