But through prayer and song while in jail, [Paul and Silas] realized God’s justice is bigger than merely knowing what’s right — and that the freedom to offer compassion and mercy is more powerful than any punishment.
Faith EducationFaith Formation and EducationMay 27, 2022
I’ve been enjoying a television series called Midnight Diner. Each episode offers a little vignette about universal human longings. It takes place in a simple after-hours diner in Tokyo where up to a dozen guests sit down at the square counter and call out their order — usually a food of some kind that brings back tender memories of home. Most of the quiet action of each episode happens on this small set. The chef, whom they call “Master,” is a man of few words.
Holy Eucharist according to Rite Two in the Book of Common Prayer.
Today we celebrate Ascension Day, which commemorates the ascension of Christ into heaven after he rose from the dead. Ascension Day is also marks the anniversary of the consecration of the current Trinity Church building in 1846.
Perhaps this story is not simply about God rewarding believers but another of Paul’s (and humanity’s) “conversions” — from hubris to humility, again and again, continuously. Could the cyclical nature of our reunions with the Holy Spirit be the divine oneness we all share? Is this what Jesus pleads for us in the Gospel just before he ascends to be one with God; incarnation to reincarnation, the Alpha and the Omega?
On the eve of Ascension Day, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra perform an all-Bach concert conducted by Avi Stein. Exploring the full emotional range of the human experience, from anguish to elation and from despair to hope, Ascendit presents Bach’s Ascension Oratorio, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, the motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, and his dramatic Magnificat.
