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Dearly beloved people of God, it is such a Gift to write to you as your incoming Priest in Charge, as we approach the feast of Pentecost.
I am pinching myself in disbelief as I prepare for Sunday’s service after seven years away from Trinity. I am currently commuting from Milford as my children finish the school year among their friends, and as we continue saying our goodbyes to our wonderful neighbors and friends. It's bittersweet, but commuting has an upside.
Each day, I get to pull into Southport, and into the rectory driveway and David Byrne's voice echoes through my consciousness. "And you may find yourself-in another part of the world...with a beautiful house...and a beautiful wife...And you may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?" “Once in a Lifetime” - Talking Heads.
I am thrilled to come back to Trinity, and give back to a congregation and community of faith so integral part of my journey as a priest, and I hope you’ll come back too. The call process to arrive at this day has been full of courageous conversation, diligent discernment, and patient, prayerful practice, and I give thanks to God for the work of the wardens, vestry, and staff for making it possible to serve among you again. Just as this Sunday is the beginning of a new chapter in Trinity's ministry, Pentecost marks the beginning of something radically new.
Well...How did we get here?
Pentecost is the story of the Gift of the Holy Spirit opening the hearts and minds of thousands to the truth, beauty, and love of God as expressed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In short, it’s the birth of the Church. The Holy Spirit moved and transformed scattered people, separated by race, language, and culture, into a new community of love, gathered together in Jerusalem. It was a day that changed the world.
Filled with the Spirit, the formerly brash and gruff Peter preaches eloquently to a very surprised group of elite priests and scholars from the prophecy of Joel, as he said...
"In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy"
If God can transform Peter, there's hope for all of us! So we begin again. We let the Spirit speak through us, move through us, and transform the closed-off places in our hearts. We celebrate the call to tap into the love of Christ as expressed for the world in the resurrection-reconciling, surprising, and unshakable.
We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit-not just once in distant Palestine-but here and now. This Sunday, we continue claiming our story as followers of Jesus and we begin again…walking the way of Love as Priest and Parish. By God's Grace, we'll be gifted with the ears to hear, the eyes to see, and the boldness to celebrate and share what God is doing in our world.
God is making things new again, and Trinity is no exception...because that's how God works.
The love of God is as available today as it was then...renewing, resurrecting, and revolutionary. So let's jump into those baptismal waters once again...let's share what God is up to in our world, as best we can and let's commend to live in the love of God that is indeed the "same as it ever was."
Thanks be to God!
Matt +
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