Letter from KIP's Mum - About Pentecost (A4)
Hello everyone!
This is my first letter to you all…and it’s about my favourite festival, Pentecost!
This Pentecost Sunday the Church will read 3 readings: the first reading will be from Acts of the Apostles, written by Luke. I know you know a bit about Luke because we learned about him last year….but can you remember what you learned last year about Pentecost? Here is a refresher!
As we listen to Luke’s reading we need to imagine ourselves in Jerusalem in the first century. The festival we call Pentecost is the Jewish festival called Shavu’ot. It was (and still is) one of the three most important festivals in Judaism, one of the three times in the year when pilgrims would descend on Jerusalem in their thousand to be present for the Temple rituals. Shavu’ot is celebrated in June so the weather would have been warm and sunny. The first thing we need to imagine, then, is a summer day in Jerusalem with the Temple Mount (the actual Temple is the white building in the middle of the flat ‘Temple Mount’) busy with people – not as it is in the photo of this model!
This is my first letter to you all…and it’s about my favourite festival, Pentecost!
This Pentecost Sunday the Church will read 3 readings: the first reading will be from Acts of the Apostles, written by Luke. I know you know a bit about Luke because we learned about him last year….but can you remember what you learned last year about Pentecost? Here is a refresher!
As we listen to Luke’s reading we need to imagine ourselves in Jerusalem in the first century. The festival we call Pentecost is the Jewish festival called Shavu’ot. It was (and still is) one of the three most important festivals in Judaism, one of the three times in the year when pilgrims would descend on Jerusalem in their thousand to be present for the Temple rituals. Shavu’ot is celebrated in June so the weather would have been warm and sunny. The first thing we need to imagine, then, is a summer day in Jerusalem with the Temple Mount (the actual Temple is the white building in the middle of the flat ‘Temple Mount’) busy with people – not as it is in the photo of this model!
You might like to paint a replica of this scene and put people all over the Temple Mount.
In the time of Jesus the festival was a harvest festival that gave thanks for God’s care and the gift of a good harvest. In response to God’s gifts of good food the people collected the first ripened fruit and grain of the season and brought them to the Temple, so one of the names of this festival was the ‘festival of First Fruits’. It was also known as the ‘festival of weeks’ as it was celebrated seven weeks and one day after Passover. In the Greek speaking world (and remember that Luke wrote his Gospel in Greek) the festival is called the ‘fiftieth day’ or ‘Pentecost’.
So the second thing we need to imagine are the sights of foods being moved around the city: barley, wheat, pomegranates, figs, olives, grapes and dates.
You might like to add baskets of first fruits to your painting of the Temple Mount.
In the time of Jesus the festival was a harvest festival that gave thanks for God’s care and the gift of a good harvest. In response to God’s gifts of good food the people collected the first ripened fruit and grain of the season and brought them to the Temple, so one of the names of this festival was the ‘festival of First Fruits’. It was also known as the ‘festival of weeks’ as it was celebrated seven weeks and one day after Passover. In the Greek speaking world (and remember that Luke wrote his Gospel in Greek) the festival is called the ‘fiftieth day’ or ‘Pentecost’.
So the second thing we need to imagine are the sights of foods being moved around the city: barley, wheat, pomegranates, figs, olives, grapes and dates.
You might like to add baskets of first fruits to your painting of the Temple Mount.
Finally, Luke ends his account of what happens with a list of people who gather to hear the disciples speak. Luke calls the crowd ‘devout’. These people were Jews who had gathered from all over the Greek-speaking world to celebrate Pentecost at the Temple. Some of the places Luke lists are impossible to find now, so we shouldn’t worry about where these places were (or are today).
The third thing we need to imagine then, is the amazement of the crowd who heard these ‘Galileans’ speaking to them in their own languages!
For Luke, the gift of the Spirit is like the gift of the first fruits: it is given generously and abundantly by God, for the benefit of all people, everywhere. It is theirs to receive and then use…..wisely…like good food!
You might like to draw or paint the fruit common in the time of Jesus (olives, dates, figs etc) and write on them the gifts the people would have needed in order to be able to speak to the crowd so they could understanding them. I think patience would have been needed…and maybe a good clear mind!
Enjoy reading Luke’s account of Shavu’ot! You will find it in Acts 2:1-11
Keep learning!
KIP’s Mum
PS If you do a painting, take a photo of it and send it to me… I’d love to see it and put it on KIP’s website!
The third thing we need to imagine then, is the amazement of the crowd who heard these ‘Galileans’ speaking to them in their own languages!
For Luke, the gift of the Spirit is like the gift of the first fruits: it is given generously and abundantly by God, for the benefit of all people, everywhere. It is theirs to receive and then use…..wisely…like good food!
You might like to draw or paint the fruit common in the time of Jesus (olives, dates, figs etc) and write on them the gifts the people would have needed in order to be able to speak to the crowd so they could understanding them. I think patience would have been needed…and maybe a good clear mind!
Enjoy reading Luke’s account of Shavu’ot! You will find it in Acts 2:1-11
Keep learning!
KIP’s Mum
PS If you do a painting, take a photo of it and send it to me… I’d love to see it and put it on KIP’s website!
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