Deanne has aptly described our wonderful Patronal Festival and given the occasion, staff and girls the credit which all are due. Suffice it to say that I, too, was deeply moved within the Eucharistic service as the beauty of the liturgy, music and dance came together as worship to our God who is the source of all. Fr Moses Thabethe’s sermon is available for all to read here.

As Deanne has also mentioned, Thursday 25 May was the Feast of the Ascension. In Acts 1:1-14 we read that following Christ’s resurrection, the apostles witnessed Jesus’ ascension into heaven – what Fr Russell Pollitt has called Jesus’ enthronement as the Son of God. The disciples, together with Mary, mother of our Lord, gathered in an upper room to worship God and to pray, and especially to wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them as Christ had promised would happen. On Sunday 4 June, the church will celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, which is the day the disciples had been waiting for: the day on which Holy Spirit came upon those gathered in the upper room, empowering them to minister in Christ’s name such that the disciples could tell the good news of Christ to all, each in his own language (Acts 2:1-12). Thus, Pentecost marks the inception of the Church as the Body of Christ: a people in love with God and empowered by God’s Holy Spirit to let Christ’s love flow through them to others. On the Feast of Pentecost, therefore, we are reminded that the Church is not simply a building, but it is the people of the “Way” as it was rst called (Acts 9:2) – the Way of Christ. We as the community of St Mary’s are a part of this Church, called to follow this Way.

Revd Claudia Coustas