Pentecost:  "A festival of the Christian Church occurring on the seventh Sunday after Easter, to commemorate the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the disciples."  This is the definition taken from the Webster's Dictionary.  Pretty straight forward and rather cut and dried, don't you think?

Yet, when we talk about God and mystery and faith, it never really is that cut and dried now, is it?  We live in a huge, grey area, because what we don't know about God so far outweighs what we do know about God.  Actually, my friends, we only know a few things of God, and these points really come more out of faith rather than knowledge:

God is Love

God is All Powerful

God is the Creator

Jesus is the Son of God

God sent us the Holy Spirit...

Perhaps that's all we really need to know.  The point that God can and does send us the Holy Spirit is quite an astonishing and obscenely generous gift to us, because God loves us so very, very much. And could it be that God realizes how we mere mortals, whom He created, have a tendency to be our own worst enemies?   We sadly find more and more ways of hurting one another, destroying the earth and causing ruin to the world He gave us, how we wage war, one nation upon another and yet God bails us out and blesses us with the Holy Spirit.  And it is the Holy Spirit that works in ways we know not and helps put us back on the path we need to take, teaching us to forgive and how to heal that which we injure and rebuild that which we destroy.

Pentecost is the feast of the Holy Spirit...that is, it is the day the Church officially recognizes the Holy Spirit and its arrival to the apostles and the women who had gathered together.  You ask me...every day is Pentecost...every day God blesses us with the gifts of the Spirit, because every day, God, the All Powerful, the Creator, the Personification of Love, Jesus' Divine Father, blesses us with the Holy Spirit.  Yet, like all holidays and feasts, we take one day and mark it, designate it and proclaim it "taken."  So, we celebrate Pentecost, June 12^th, 2011...but make no mistake about it, the Spirit is with us every day, every moment, a 365 day a year gift, wrapped in grace, love and power and directly and specially delivered from God to all His earthly children.

Amen and Peace to All.

Your brother,
 

Manny

The Search Team met last Saturday to organize their next steps.  In the near future, teams of two members will begin their meetings with small groups of six or so to discuss how Saint Nicholas members feel and what they think about the future and direction of Saint Nicholas.  These discussions will be very important in selecting our next vicar and determining what we need to do in order to meet the needs of our members.  Please give them your full cooperation.

Elk Grove Village has issued a permit for the partial fencing of the patio and work for the fending is scheduled to begin the week of June 13. 

Pat Kalicki

pat@stnicholasepiscopal.org 

Thanks to:

Those who work at keeping our facility clean and well kept!    

To our choir, music director and Saturday music coordinator...your efforts and contributions are warmly and lovingly appreciated.   

To those who get this newsletter prepared and "delivered' each week.