I don’t know how many of you will be able to get away for a holiday this summer, but if you are making plans you may well be thinking about a break in the UK.  Unpredictable ash clouds coupled with the prospects of a nice summer may make this seem like a good option.  

We live in one of the more populated and busier regions of Britain, yet there are so many tranquil and beautiful places to explore both locally and further afield.  Many people are actually pretty unfamiliar with their own country because they have become accustomed to jetting off to exotic destinations from their local airport rather than heading to our own coasts and countryside. 

When I come into Manchester by train I get on at Widnes station and get off at Oxford Road.  However, the destination of the train is Norwich...so if I fall asleep I could find myself waking up in the Norfolk countryside!  Sounds good to me...until of course the ticket inspector catches up with me! 

Norwich is a lovely city and one of its former residents has had a profound effect on my spirituality.  I am speaking of Julian of Norwich who lived there in the Fourteenth Century.  She experienced a remarkable union with God through prayer, and presents the Holy Spirit as supremely enabling God to increasingly take hold of and transform the person praying.  I am sure that the disciples who received the Holy Spirit so wonderfully on the day of Pentecost would agree! 

Julian lived alone with just her cat in a side room of St Julian’s church in Norwich.  There were two windows in her room.  One opened into the church from where she could receive Holy Communion.  The other opened onto the street from where she was able to dispense spiritual advice to those who sought her counsel.  This advice was rooted in her experience of sixteen visions which she reflected upon in prayer for twenty years. Her writings are still enjoyed today.  The book is called the Revelations of Divine Love and is one of the best-loved devotional and mystical writings of all time. 

She encountered Jesus most wonderfully and it is from these experiences that her writings come.  She wrote of Jesus saying to each one of us, ‘all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well’. She wrote that Jesus said these words kindly.  We can use these words as a prayer to help us in every situation and there is much peace to be found in repeating them as a form of meditation... ‘all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well’. 

You can still visit Julian’s room and the church if your Summer holidays take you to Norwich.  The county itself, Norfolk, is lovely too.  There are lots of attractions, peaceful countryside and fine country churches to explore.  If you find yourself in the north of Norfolk you can visit Walsingham, otherwise known as England’s Nazareth.   

Walsingham is about vision.  It began with the vision of Richeldis who was the lady of the local manor.  In 1061, Richeldis was shown Mary’s house in Nazareth in her vision.  She was inspired to build a replica in Walsingham and since then the village has been a popular place of pilgrimage.  Visitors are reminded of Jesus, the child of Mary, the Word made flesh, in whom we find healing, joy and peace. 

Some years ago, I was a regular visitor to Walsingham.  Once, I discovered a lovely song there.  The first line of the song is ‘Holy Spirit we welcome you’.  It seems a most appropriate line to share with you today.  It would be lovely if during the week you use those words to begin a quiet time of prayer with ...‘Holy Spirit we welcome you’ or ‘Holy Spirit I welcome you’.  These words will remind you that God is close to you. 

The Holy Spirit of God is with us now as we worship together on this Pentecost Sunday.  We heard in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles about the experience the disciples had when the Holy Spirit came to them so wonderfully.  Jesus had ascended into Heaven and now God was close to them in a new way, inspiring them to tell of all they had heard, seen and personally experienced.  

Pentecost is often described as the birthday of the church.  The disciples were filled with uncontrollable longing to proclaim God's wonderful deeds and they spilled out into the street to preach the Risen Jesus to the crowds.  People from many different nations, who had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the giving of the law, heard them speaking to them in their own languages and many came to faith that day.  The Holy Spirit filled the disciples, moved them and enabled them to proclaim the Gospel.  We celebrate that same Holy Spirit who fills, moves and enables us to be Jesus' disciples in our own world. 

We also rejoice as we welcome new members of our own church community here.