Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and he will send another Companion…the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name...” John 14:16, 26

Dear Friends:

At the last vestry meeting, during our opening Bible Study, we pondered the question, “which part of the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) are you most comfortable with and why?” The responses from your leadership team were amazing. Some named the Father because of loving parental remembrances. Some named the Son, Jesus Christ, because of how he teaches us and the sacrifice he made for us. Some named the Holy Spirit, a companion along the way. Some even confessed they were not completely certain they believed in a Trinitarian God. Was Jesus really who we profess him to be, or just a very religious person? God as Father is not always the most positive image for those who come from unhealthy family relationships. And, “what is the Holy Spirit anyway,” implying that maybe the Holy Spirit is an afterthought to justify Jesus’ words, “I will be with you always, to the end of time.” We all agreed that worshiping a Trinitarian God is no easy assignment. Perhaps we’re given a Trinitarian God for specifically that reason. God in our lives requires a shift in who we are. To follow God means we strive to give our all to the one who creates us, the one who gives his life for us, the one who surrounds us with love for all time. God, in an effort to be ever present in our lives comes to us as one God in three persons.

On Sunday we’ll be particularly addressing our God as the Holy Spirit as we celebrate the baptism of Pippa Ghassemieh, daughter to Lydia and BJ and sister to Jack. We’re reminded that through the waters of Holy Baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit, the grace of God. With the gift of the Holy Spirit, we also receive spiritual gifts from God. God’s gifts differ for each of us, and are given according to the common good of God’s kingdom. The gift of wisdom or the gift of knowledge or the gift of faith, or the gift of healing, or the gift of miracles, or the gift of prophecy, so on, and so on. Our baptism is God’s way of putting us in action to make God’s world known.

On Sunday, as a reinforcement of the gift of Holy Baptism, we celebrate another great feast day in the life of the Church: Pentecost. Pentecost actually means fifty. Ancient Jews celebrated the harvest festival day fifty days following the Passover in remembrance of God giving the Law at Mount Sinai. It is on Pentecost when the Jews are gathered in the upper room, praying and awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus promised. With the rush of a fierce wind, individual flames of fire land on the heads of the believers filling them with the Holy Spirit. Immediately the community unites as everyone begins speaking in the native language of another. All understand the mighty works of God. They are named as the Church.  At the same time, they are bewildered. I imagine that’s just how it is with the Holy Spirit working in Church. God fills us with such possibilities we can’t fully understand the value of God’s Spirit within us.  Perhaps that is why baptism can occur at infancy; to give us a lifetime to understand how we will respond to God’s Spirit giving and gifting us a holiness to use together in the world.  It seems that the gift of the Holy Spirit is something we share as a community. The gifts of one are most certainly different from the gifts of another. But together, as one, with gifts combined, we make a powerful force of God’s love, grace and mercy, known as the Church birthed at Pentecost!

As the Church, on Sunday we will celebrate the birth of the Church as we welcome its newest member, Pippa, into the body of Christ through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Come, be the church and witness Pippa’s baptism. Following worship, for twelve minutes, we’ll all pack meals for the Fairfax County school kids through Food4Thought.  It’s fast; don’t blink; you’ll miss it!  We don’t want to miss Food4Thought as it is our last packing for the summer. Following Food4Thought, all those new to Epiphany, or nearly new, are welcome to attend the brief Newcomers reception in Room 120 to meet one another and learn a bit about our common life as Epiphany. At the same time, the Sunday Circle Youth are celebrating with lunch and ice cream sundaes upstairs in room 130! Sunday is another full day where we as the Church once again share our gifts. Well done good and faithful servants!

Please remember; Friday is National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Across the country we’re wearing orange. Wearing orange is a sign of your support to end gun violence. Wearing orange originated with hunters showing a respect for life and responsible gun ownership. Should your wearing orange bring about a story, tell us about it. We want to hear about how you’re supporting an end to gun violence.

May God be with you as you journey along through the remaining days of the week. Saturday, come help clean up a bit anytime you’re able between 8:00 a.m. and noon for Parish Work Day. All are invited, young and old and all are needed to keep our property and our space shining with God’s glory.

See you this weekend glorious friends in Christ.

Blessings,

Hillary