Pentecost

Last updated on: May 22, 2019 at 1:57 pm by William Droel

Pentecost 2019-05-22T13:57:42-06:00 William Droel

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Secular culture and the liturgical calendar cooperate to make Christmas an extended feast. It begins on Thanksgiving (November 28, 2019)—no sooner than that, please. It includes Advent, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Football Day, Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord and Super Bowl Sunday (February 2, 2020). Easter too is an extended feast, but only on the liturgical calendar. Next year it begins on Ash Wednesday, which is February 26, 2020 (according to the Latin Rite). It continues through Lent. It includes Easter Day (April 12, 2020 Latin or April 19, 2020 Eastern). According to popular religiosity and in a few neighborhoods like Buffalo’s Eastside, the extended feast includes Dyngus Day (www.dyngusday.com) on what is otherwise known as Easter Monday. The Easter feast concludes with Pentecost (May 31, 2020).

We are still within the 2019 Easter feast; until Pentecost on June 9, 2019. There is time to reflect on Easter’s main theme, on hope. In common use the word hope means fond wish. For example, “I hope my boss gets lost” or “I hope this is the winning lotto ticket.” But hope can go beyond wishful thinking.
Vaclav Havel (1936-2011), a playwright and the first president of Czech Republic, had reason to be discouraged during his imprisonment under communism. But Havel maintained hope because he understood it profoundly. “Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart,” he says in Disturbing the Peace (Penguin Random House, 1990; $16). Hope “transcends the world that is immediately experienced. [It] is anchored somewhere beyond its horizon… Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.”
Try that for the next couple of weeks, for the remainder of this year. Hope is surety and certainty in the face of all the unpredictability of life.
Near the end of a funeral the word hope is paired with certainty in the phrase: “…in sure and certain hope of the resurrection…” It is for certain. It is not a probability or a maybe. We don’t know how things will turn out. Be honest. But in faith we can be certain that our decisions make sense. Belief in resurrection is reasonable. It is well-founded. How will it all turn out? Who really knows? But we hope in resurrection with surety and certainty.

Droel’s booklet Monday Eucharist is distributed by National Center for the Laity (PO Box 291102, Chicago, IL 60629; $7)

Uncategorized

Previous Post

May 14, 2019

Process Is Product

Next Post

May 30, 2019 Corporate Elections

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: James says that if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is blessed in what he does.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE