4^th Sunday after Pentecost:

When the fullness of time had come,

God sent his Son, born of a woman,

born under the law, 

in order to redeem those who were under the law…

God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts,

crying, “Abba! Father!”

(Galatians 4:4-7)

Notice how our Christian calendar follows this paragraph from Galatians (Ga 4:4-7):

      Advent:            “When the fullness of time had come.”

      Christmastide:  “God sent his Son, born of a woman.”

      Epiphany:         “Born under the law.”

      Lent to Easter: “To redeem those who were under the law.”

      Pentecost:         “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.”

That’s the Gospel Story about “the power of God unto salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Ro 1:16). A Gospel both for the Jews, who had the Law of Moses; and, for everyone else who had some notion of law written on their hearts. Both the big Law and the little law failed to do what only the Gospel could do: 1) to free us from sin and the law (Ro 8:2); and 2) to free us for speaking, in spite of ourselves, our very own “Dear Father…” (Ga 4:7 & Ro 8:5), just like Jesus who prayed, “Abba, Father…” (Mk 14:36). It’s “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ that sets us free” (Ro 8:2). That’s Pentecost.