From The Deacon’s Desk for June 5, 2022

Dear Friends:

Today we celebrate Pentecost, known as the birthday of the church. God the Father, with the son and the Holy Spirit, created humans. When humans took things into their own hands, he sent his son Jesus to help the people learn better ways to live. Before Jesus ascends to heaven, he gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s job is to help us understand what Jesus taught us and to be our Advocate against evil in this world. I think we could truly say that God wanted to give us every opportunity to live as he would like us to.

The Holy Spirit is referred to as our Advocate. An advocate is someone who speaks up for us and defends us against unjust treatment. Think of it this way, the Holy Spirit is like the defense attorney in a trial. The prosecuting attorney’s job is to present a valid argument for the conviction of the person being tried. The advocate’s job is to present an argument that would show the person being tried to be innocent. Satan wants to convict us of every crime he can think of. The advocate is the Holy Spirit defending us from the wiles and evil of the devil.

Today we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. When we were confirmed, the Bishop placed his hands on our heads asking the Holy Spirit to come and be our advocate. This is the continuation of the gift given to us so many years ago by Jesus himself. If you have not been confirmed, I encourage you to look into the possibility of requesting the sacrament. It will be worth the effort. Happy Birthday!

Peace and All Good!

Deacon Jim