Every year, 50 days after the Easter celebration of Pascha, Our Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead, we celebrate the birth of the Church, Pentecost. Ten days before — or 40 days after Pascha — the Church celebrated the Ascension, when Christ returned in glory to sit at the right hand of His Father. In those 10 days between Ascension and Pentecost, we await the coming of the Holy Spirit, Whom Our Lord Jesus Christ promised. Now, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descends upon the apostles, filling them with His fire, preparing them to go into all the world to baptize and share the Message. That Message is that God became flesh, dwelt among us, died for us, resurrected for us, and is now calling us to that same path, to take up our cross and follow Him on the Way of salvation, to become like Him by His grace. That is the work of the Church, the Body, the Bride, of Christ.