Page 1
The Anglican Free Communion “The Episcopal Free Church” The Free Protestant Episcopal Church
Pastoral Letter Ascension and Pentecost 2015
Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK - May 5, 2015
Dear Sisters and Brothers and Friends of our Communion, Once, in a classroom of children I was explaining the Ascension of Jesus when one pupil wondered whether if the Lord had 'gone up' from Australia, would He have actually in reality 'gone down?' Another bright student asked: to see the Earth from the Moon would one have to look down, as the Moon is seen 'up there' from Earth. In consideration of the Ascension, the truth is that Our Lord is neither 'up there' nor 'down there', but everywhere! He left the Earth to fill the Universe with His presence. The writer to the Ephesians puts it this way: 'He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all heavens, in order to fill the whole Universe' (Eph 4 v10). And it does not matter where any member of Christ's Church is, our Blessed Lord is always there with them. We encounter Him in our hearts, in our gathered communities and in the Sacraments, the appointed means of His Real Presence. This becomes possible because of the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Father confirms for us the divinity of Jesus by the outpou ring of the Holy Spirit. Without the Paraclete, the Universal Church will have had no birth, and our faith merely speculative on the hearsay of others. 'I will send you another Comforter' says Jesus, 'who will be with you forever'. As another bright pupil commented: to be 'enthused' is to be filled with the Spirit! Indeed! En Theos! Truly in God. Trinity in action! May Acensiontide, Pentecost and Trinity enrich and enable our faith.
My love and blessings to all our people across our many provinces,
The Most Rev’d Dr. Richard Arthur Palmer Archbishop Primus