Sunday, June 4, 2017
Liturgical Color: White/Gold
Pentecost
Almighty God, on this day, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you revealed the way of eternal life to every race and nation: Pour out this gift anew, that by the preaching of the Gospel your salvation may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Pentecost
Through Jesus Christ our Lord; according to whose most true promise, the Holy Spirit came down from heaven, lighting upon the disciples, to teach them and to lead them into all truth, giving them boldness and fervent zeal constantly to preach the Gospel to all nations; by which we have been brought out of darkness and error into the clear light and true knowledge of you, and of your Son Jesus Christ.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Bishop of Rome, Ecumenist, and Reformer of the Church
Ecumenical Commemoration
Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, John XXIII, was Bishop of Rome from 1958 to 1963 and the pope who summoned the Second Vatican Council. A diplomat's son of the Bergamo peasantry in Italy, elected at seventy-six as a caretaker, he instead opened the Roman church toward the other Christian communions and toward the world. The affection in which he was held has long outlived him, and his impact on simplifying and unifying the Roman church still resonates today. The maxim he commended in his first encyclical was an old one: in essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity.
Pope John XXIII (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, 1881–1963) was an unexpected revolutionary pope. Born to a peasant family in Bergamo, Italy, he rose through diplomatic service as papal nuncio (ambassador) to Bulgaria, Turkey, France, and Venice before his election as pope at age 77 in 1958. As pope, he inaugurated the Second Vatican Council in 1962—a watershed moment for global Christianity. Vatican II (1962–1965) fundamentally reformed Catholic liturgy, theology, and ecumenical engagement, transitioning the church from institutional defensiveness to evangelical openness. His encyclicals Mater et Magistra (1961) and Pacem in Terris (1963) addressed social justice, human dignity, and peace during the Cold War. Pacem in Terris, issued just months before his death, called for disarmament, international cooperation, and respect for human rights in language that transcended confessional boundaries and influenced global statecraft. His pastoral gentleness and accessibility—evident in his Journal of a Soul (spiritual diary)—revealed a man of deep prayer and humble conviction. He reached out to Orthodox and Protestant churches, demonstrating concrete ecumenical friendship. Though he did not live to see Vatican II's conclusion, its trajectory was set by his vision. The Roman Catholic Church canonized him in 2014.
Pope John XXIII represents the possibility of institutional renewal grounded in pastoral gentleness and evangelical vision. He demonstrates that hierarchy and reform are not incompatible, and that ecclesial tradition can be reinterpreted for new times without being abandoned. His ecumenical openness presaged the modern trajectory toward Christian unity. His social encyclicals established the pope as a prophetic voice for justice and peace. For Anglicanism and other traditions, he embodies unexpected kinship across historic divisions.