Today we are celebrating a birth – the birth of the church. Pentecost marks the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. For that reason, it is often called the “the birthday of the Church.”

During the past six months of the church year, we have been on a journey – a journey of the events in the life of Jesus. It’s the story of the central mystery of our faith – the story of the incarnation where God became human, though still remaining God. When we think of the incarnation, most of us think of it this way: God physically walked on this earth, he died, he rose, and then he returned to heaven. When he left, he sent the Holy Spirit to be present among us – but the actual physical body of Jesus was gone forever. And yet, we often find ourselves wishing that Jesus were still here – right now – in the flesh, so that we could touch him, hear his voice and see the compassion in his eyes.  Read More