Marking Time: Forming Spirituality through the Christian Year

Ses s i on 3: Keep i ng the Rhy thm of the Sp i r i t 75

5. Pentecost : The day which commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Jesus is now present with all his people.

6. Trinity Sunday : Falls on first Sunday after Pentecost. At Pentecost Jesus is declared to be both Messiah and Lord (Acts 2.36) of course that is the day of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Church has always been committed to a Triune understanding of God and this allows Christians to worship and ponder that mystery.

C. The Season after Pentecost: ( Ordinary Time or Kingdomtide )

1. The Season after Pentecost is called Ordinary Time or Kingdomtide : In OT the theme is simply God’s saving event. During this time the Church considers the overarching theme of salvation history, Christian discipleship, and advance of the Kingdom.

a. The Season after Pentecost is the longest season in the Church, having twenty-seven or twenty-eight Sundays, lasting until Advent.

b. This season focuses on the Church’s maturity and multiplication, emphasizing Christ’s headship and the

power of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of the apostles and the writing of the New Testament literature.

2. The meaning of “Ordinary time” ought to be taken in the sense of “counted or numbered days,” i.e., like “ordinal” numbers – first, second, third. This has to do with the numbered Sundays of the year outside of the special seasons in the two cycles.