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A letter from Fr Tim:
Dear friends,
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
OK it may feel as if Easter is over, but please humour me! As I hope we all actually realise, there is a whole season of Easter (7 Sundays) which starts on Easter Day, and this year extends right into this month of May.
Our celebration of Easter only ‘ends’ on the feast of Pentecost (Whitsun) - 19th of May. This joyful day is so named because it is 50 days after Easter Day. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is nothing less than the gift of the very presence of God into the hearts of all who are open to him. It is most surely the lasting fruit of Christ’s loving work accomplished by the Cross, and is sometimes called “the birthday of the Church” since it is when new life, mighty power and lasting joy were received by all the followers of Jesus as they gathered in prayer.
It is the Spirit’s presence in each of us that makes us a part of the worldwide Church, and to that extent, we should all be ‘Pentecostal’ Christians! How this is expressed in the life of the various Church denominations can be very different in some ways, but ultimately the Spirit is the one who gives life.
The last Sunday of this month is Trinity Sunday: here, we celebrate the mystery of a God who is One, and yet is also a community of Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit - a community of which we are all a part, through the presence of the same Holy Spirit in our lives.
I pray above all that we may know this divine inspiration in our worship at St Peter’s: that we may experience deep and lasting joy (amidst our many troubles and worries, to be sure) and may also discover the gifts we have been given, and which are made for sharing, both in the Church, and just as much in the wider world.
This practical involvement in the world is highlighted by Christian Aid Week, 12th - 18th May: this year the focus is on the “Enough Food For Everyone IF” campaign. ‘IF’ is a little word with big implications.
Are we ready and willing, inspired by our Easter faith, and with the Holy Spirit’s power and love in us, to help make a difference to the lives of the poorest in the world? I hope so.
With my best wishes and prayers,
Fr. Tim.
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