[Effortlessly]

Effortlessly,
Love flows from God into man,
Like a bird
Who rivers the air
Without moving her wings.
Thus we move in His world,
One in body and soul,
Though outwardly separate in form.
As the Source strikes the note,
Humanity sings–
The Holy Spirit is our harpist,
And all strings
Which are touched in Love
Must sound.


--Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207-1297), German mystic author, poet, and monastic, translated by Jane Hirshfield

Scriptural reference: Acts 2:1-21 The Feast of Pentecost

Image: The Spirit Searches, by Donn Shasteen, acrylic on wood tryptich

Veni Creator

Come, Holy Spirit,
bending or not bending the grasses,
appearing or not above our heads in a tongue of flame,
at hay harvest or when they plough in the orchards or when snow
covers crippled firs in the Sierra Nevada.
I am only a man: I need visible signs.
I tire easily, building the stairway of abstraction.
Many a time I asked, you know it well, that the statue in church
lifts its hand, only once, just once, for me.
But I understand that signs must be human,
therefore call one man, anywhere on earth
not me—after all I have some decency—
and allow me, when I look at him, to marvel at you.

-Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004), Nobel Prize winning Polish poet, exiled to the US

Pentecost Benediction (Acts 2, Psalm 104, John 14)

The God who made this amazing universe

is creating you anew every day.
Jesus Christ, the resurrected One,
offers you peace that never dies.
The Holy Spirit is setting your hearts on fire—
right here, right now.
Go in peace, and be transformed,
that you may change the world. Amen.

--Laura Jaquith Bartlett, from Ministry Matters

Pentecost Gathering Prayer: After the Resurrection

Even after the resurrection, when the disciples 

were weighed down with worry,
Jesus assured them that they were not alone:
“The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send
in my name, will teach you everything,
and remind you of all that I have said to you.”

Even after the resurrection, when the disciples
were burdened by their fears,
Jesus calmed their troubled hearts:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled,
and do not let them be afraid.”

Even after the resurrection, when we struggle
with our faith,
Jesus blesses us with comfort and hope:
“Peace I leave with you; 

my peace I give to you.”

Especially after the resurrection, when our souls
are dry and barren,
the Holy Spirit blows through our lives,
bringing us new life. Alleluia!

--Laura Jaquith Bartlett, from Ministry Matters

Prayer To the Holy Spirit

Lord Jesus, as God's Spirit came down and rested upon you,

May the same Spirit rest on us,
Bestowing his sevenfold gifts.

First, grant us the gift of understanding,
By which your precepts may enlighten our minds.

Second, grant us counsel, by which we may follow
in your footsteps on the path of righteousness.

Third, grant us courage,
by which we may ward off the enemy's attacks.

Fourth, grant us knowledge,
by which we can distinguish good from evil.

Fifth, grant us piety,
by which we may acquire compassionate hearts.

Sixth, grant us fear,
by which we may draw back from evil
and submit to what is good.

Seventh, grant us wisdom,
that we may taste fully the life-giving sweetness of your love.

-- St. Bonaventure (1221-1274), Italian Franciscan, theologian, and cardinal.

Pentecost Gathering Prayer- Rosetti

O God the Holy Ghost

Who art light unto thine elect
Evermore enlighten us.
Thou who art fire of love
Evermore enkindle us.
Thou who art Lord and Giver of Life,
Evermore live in us.
Thou who bestowest sevenfold grace,
Evermore replenish us.
As the wind is thy symbol,
So forward our goings.
As the dove, so launch us heavenwards.
As water, so purify our spirits.
As a cloud, so abate our temptations.
As dew, so revive our languor.
As fire, so purge our dross.

-- Christina Rosetti (1830-1894), English Romantic poet and supporter of the Oxford Movement

Prayer for the gift of the Holy Spirit

O God, send forth your Holy Spirit 

into my heart that I may perceive, 

into my mind that I may remember, 

and into my soul that I may meditate. 

Inspire me to speak with piety, holiness, tenderness and mercy. 

Teach, guide and direct my thoughts and senses from beginning to end.

May your grace ever help and correct me, 

and may I be strengthened now with wisdom from on high, 

for the sake of your infinite mercy. 

Amen.

--Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231), Portuguese priest and Franciscan

Possible Answers to Prayer

Your petitions—though they continue to bear
just the one signature—have been duly recorded.
Your anxieties—despite their constant,

relatively narrow scope and inadvertent
entertainment value—nonetheless serve
to bring your person vividly to mind.

Your repentance—all but obscured beneath
a burgeoning, yellow fog of frankly more
conspicuous resentment—is sufficient.

Your intermittent concern for the sick,
the suffering, the needy poor is sometimes
recognizable to me, if not to them.

Your angers, your zeal, your lipsmackingly
righteous indignation toward the many
whose habits and sympathies offend you—

these must burn away before you’ll apprehend
how near I am, with what fervor I adore
precisely these, the several who rouse your passions.

-- Scott Cairns (1954- ) American poet and spiritual writer

On Liturgy

Fear not, little flock.

—Luke 12:32

When he likened us to a flock
he certainly meant sheep
but this morning from the back pew
of a building, stone and chancelled, nothing like
the over lit, shag carpet church of my childhood,
here amid arch and echo I think
we are a flock of birds—
starlings gathering in their murmuration.
The pensive organ, the hushed
chatter now dips, now crests, and at the bells
we all together fold to silence,
as when the helixing black cloud drops
down to feed across a reed bed.
All at once the stillness breaks
into a great applause of wings, the mounting up
in doxology, the downsweep then
of many heads in prayer. How
strange, how ominous almost
for one on the ground to watch
this cluster heave itself
heavenward, obeying powers
invisible as magnetism,
forming and reforming in the shape
of something too large to be likened.

--Jennifer Polson Peterson, poet and teacher, from Image Journal

Photo:  Murmuration of starlings over Lough Ennell, March 4, 2021, by James Crombie and Colin Hogg. Story of the image is found here.

The scripture reference is used in Proper 14C.

Benediction- Fruits of the Spirit (Pentecost)

May the true God of all things, who sent forth the Holy Spirit upon the apostles in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, send the Spirit now upon you, to guard you and impart to you her bounty, that the fruits of the Spirit--

love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
generosity,
faithfulness,
gentleness,
and self-control--

may be yours, this day and forever.

Amen.

-- adapted from Cyril of Jerusalem, from Prayers for All Occasions

Photo of a window from St. Martin's Church, Ellisville