Pentecost

By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat; by thy Cross and Passion; by thy precious Death and Burial; by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the Coming of the Holy Ghost,

Good Lord, deliver us.

Concluding the sacred observance of Lent, Holy Week, Easter, the Coming of the Holy Ghost is upon us: Sunday, June 12 is Pentecost. We shall hear Luke’s account of that strange event at Acts chapter 2:

1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost

In an age when Greek was the common tongue, Pentecost, meaning fiftieth day, was what Hellenistic Jews called Shavuot. On the fiftieth day after Passover, Jews from far and wide gathered in Jerusalem to honor God’s gift of the Torah, and also to celebrate the joyful conclusion of the grain harvest. Barley and wheat. In the Christian Church we have assumed the Jewish festival with its Greek name, and celebrate the beginning of the Church with the coming of the Holy Ghost on the fiftieth day after Easter Day.

Holy Ghost as the KJV has it (Old English gast, spirit) or Holy Spirit -- πνευματος αγιου -- literally "spirit holy" as Luke’s New Testament Greek has it. “Ghost” is a KJV English only anomaly. Spirit.

Who or what is it, this Holy Spirit? 

Here’s what the Catechism (BCP 852) says:

The Holy Spirit

Q.	What is the Holy Spirit?
A.	The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity, God at work in the world and in the Church even now.
Q.	How is the Holy Spirit revealed in the Old Covenant?
A.	The Holy Spirit is revealed in the Old Covenant as the giver of life, the One who spoke through the prophets.
Q.	How is the Holy Spirit revealed in the New Covenant?
A.	The Holy Spirit is revealed as the Lord who leads us into all truth and enables us to grow in the likeness of Christ.
Q.	How do we recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
A.	We recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit when we confess Jesus Christ as Lord and are brought into love and harmony with God, with ourselves, with our neighbors, and with all creation.

Q.	How do we recognize the truths taught by the Holy Spirit?
A.	We recognize truths to be taught by the Holy Spirit when they are in accord with the Scriptures.

Frankly that sounds like a drill for students getting ready for the bishop’s visit. Not to stray too far from Church teaching, a more helpful answer might be that the Holy Spirit is God present with us and in us as we live and breathe and go about our lives.

So now with the coming of the Holy Ghost are there three divine persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, sitting round a table in heaven, with the Son to the right of the Father, doing whatever it is that divine persons do? It's an interesting iconic metaphor:

We can contemplate that next week before Trinity Sunday. At the moment there may be only two at the table, because the Holy Spirit is here helping me blog.

TW+