The Greening Time

Pastor’s Epistle—May, A.D. 2015 B

The old Celtic calendar recognized only two seasons. From All Saints to May Day, the year was simply “Cold,” and from May Day back to All Saints, it was just as simply “Hot.” I often muse that Minnesota seems to stick with this same schedule, given that we can all recall years in which it snowed here both on Halloween and on May Day.

Little wonder, then, that May Day is greeted with flowers and fires and maypoles. This is the season of awakening, of joy after winter’s long hibernation. It’s hard to stay indoors while life is returning so dramatically to the world around us. Not to mention the fact that we’ll all be mowing, weeding, and trimming in another week or two. But even the work can be part of the fun. “If you have a library and a garden,” Cicero wrote, “you have everything that you need.”

The Church continues to celebrate the new life of Christ’s Resurrection throughout the month of May, but soon things will be turning green within our sanctuary as well. With May Day, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, Syttende Mai, and the Minor Rogations, this month provides a bizarre assortment of holidays. The major ones for St. Peter’s, of course, will be the celebration of our Lord’s Ascension (when the Risen Jesus returns to Heaven) and Pentecost (when Christ then sends from Heaven His Holy Spirit to dwell within us). Pentecost, as the name implies, marks the fiftieth and final day of the Easter season.

With the conclusion of Easter, the Church enters “Ordinary Time”—the green season of growth and life in Christian community. Our paraments will stay green from here on out, pretty much until Advent comes around again late next fall. May 31st, the last day of the month and first of our green Sundays, will be for us our Confirmation Sunday as well. All youth who have successfully completed three years of Confirmation class, covering the Old Testament, New Testament, and Small Catechism, will be Confirmed as full voting members of our congregation and the greater ELCA. We pray that the Holy Spirit may grant unto them, in this reaffirmation of our Baptism, every gift necessary to be strong and mature members of Christ’s Body the Church in these turbulent times.

As the days grow long and the air warm, let us seek out the face of God in the beauties of Creation. Let us take time for holy leisure, remembering that Christ is found in the love we show for one another. And let us not neglect to gather together, giving thanks for the abundance we share in this thriving season of life and light.

In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.