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Acts 2:1-11
Psalm 103 Romans 8:8-17 John 14:15-16, 23-26.
Pentecost is a great festival in the Jewish year which celebrates the ingathering of the wheat harvest and the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. It is a pilgrim festival so in temple times as many as possible made the journey to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice.
IIt is not surprising, then, that for the festival described in the Acts of the Apostles a great multitude, including the apostles, had gathered in the holy city. While they were assembled together the apostles experienced a powerful wind and tongues of fire and knew that God was with them in an extraordinary way. As Jesus had promised, the Holy Spirit had come upon them with power and they found themselves compelled to preach the resurrection in a language that everyone could understand.
In the gospel Jesus tells his disciples that because of his intimate relationship with God the Father, we who have faith in him receive the Holy Spirit's power to continue his work in the world. Can we open ourselves to experience the power of the Spirit at work in our lives and speak to others of the resurrection of Jesus in words they can understand - of comfort, encouragement, praise and understanding?