Words of Welcome

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 Pentecost Sunday has finally arrived and some of us are wearing red or something that suggests the color of fire.  We’ve come to celebrate the arrival of the Spirit of God, whom Jesus promised would come and empower the people of God.  It’s also Memorial Day, so we stop to remember those who have died, whether they are family, friends, or those who have died in service to country.  Perhaps the text for today offers us a sense of connection between the two.  Jesus is about to leave his disciples behind, but he doesn’t leave them alone.  If he goes away, the Spirit will come and be present with them, wherever they go in the world.   The ways in which we celebrate Pentecost varies from tradition to tradition and from region to region.  I recently learned that in Germany, for instance, Pentecost is a two-day holiday.  It begins with worship on Sunday, but continues on into Monday, when Germans, and many other Europeans, get the day off from work so the

Luke 24:44-53 Luke 24:44-53   When have you been “overwhelmed with joy?”  What moments in your life were so joyous that you couldn’t hold it in?  These aren’t your ordinary joyful moments; the kinds that are there and then they’re gone.  These are the moments in time that you can’t forget.  These are those definitive moments that stand out and mark your life forever.      For instance, there was the joy that I felt when the Giants finally won the World Series.  The Giants moved to San Francisco the year I was born, and for the first fifty-one years of my life – they came up short of a championship.  I bitterly remember game six of the 2002 World Series, when they Giants were a mere six outs away from their first championship, and then everything fell apart.  But 2010 was a very redemptive moment.  All the pain and anguish I’d experienced over a life time dissolved into great joy!  You will know what I mean by this when the Lion’s win the Super Bowl!! But as mu

John 15:9-17 Even if we’re not mothers ourselves, we’re all daughters and sons of mothers.  That means that we all have stories to tell about motherhood.  This is especially true of our newest mothers (and fathers, of course).     When we think of mothers, whether it’s Mother’s Day or not, what comes to mind might be that special intimacy that seems to exist between mother and child, which  begins at birth.  Or, perhaps it begins even earlier, during that long period when a child begins to take form in the womb.  This relationship is often complex but it’s also very powerful.   Although Protestants have struggled to find a place for Mary in our faith story, she remains an important contributor to that story.  Catholics, on the other hand, have tapped into the image of Mary the Mother of God, and seek Mary’s intercession with Jesus.  Catholics don’t pray to Mary because she is divine, but because of a belief that since she is Jesus’ mother, she has special access to h