This weekend we will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit! "Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God "Father" and to share in Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory." - - St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto.
This weekend at St. Mark's we will be giving out Holy Cards which celebrate the Jubilee Year of Mercy. These Holy Cards list the corporal and spiritual works of mercy on the back. I thought it was fitting to give these out on Pentecost, because it is the Holy Spirit who inspires us to these works. It is by the Holy Spirit that we participate in the life of God, and by whom we receive the gift of mercy empowering us to become vehicles of God's mercy in the world.
The Holy Spirit became visible in the form of tongues of fire over the apostles and as a dove descending upon Jesus at His baptism in the Jordan. Today, the Holy Spirit chooses to become visible in our world through our Church and each of us. In the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, God's love is revealed through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is in this way that God chooses to renew the face of the earth!
May our parish, and each of you, experience an outpouring of God's mercy and love, revealing Jesus Christ to those most in need of hope, healing and mercy today.
In Christ's merciful love,
Deacon Frank