Aloha Friday Message – May 29, 2026 – Gather us in
May 29, 2026
Read it online here, please. We now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Please forward this to them and ask them also to share it to others.
John 3:16-19 – 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
Exodus 34:8-9 –.8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. 9 He said, “If now I have found favor in your
Daniel 3:52 – 52 “Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors, and to be praised and highly exalted forever; And blessed is your glorious, holy name, and to be highly praised and highly exalted forever.
2 Corinthians 13:11 – 11 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
OR LIKE THIS ~~
2 Corinthians 13:11 – 11 Finally, Adelphos, rejoice. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, encourage one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Aloha nui loa, e pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me Ke Akua ho’omaika‘i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! (Much Love, may blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Beloved!) The Easter season is over, but we still have some very special celebrations to enjoy. This coming Sunday is The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. A solemnity is the highest and most important rank of liturgical celebration. A Solemnity Feast commemorates the central mysteries of the faith – the Word and Sacraments – and the significant events in the lives of Jesus, and Mary, and the most eminent Saints. Every Sunday is considered a solemnity. Universal solemnities can be either fixed (on specific dates) or movable (changing dates based on Easter). I’ll give two examples each for fixed and moveable.
Fixed
Jan 1: Mary, Mother of God
Dec 25: The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
Moveable
The Most Holy Trinity (Trinity Sunday): The Sunday after Pentecost
Christ the King: The final Sunday of the liturgical year (before Advent)
This Solemnity – The Most Holy Trinity – is one of the moveable Solemnities and the specific date we celebrate is determined by the events of Lent and Easter – Ash Wednesday, then 40 days until Palm Sunday and Holy Week. At the end of those forty days, the Apostles were still struggling with what happened to Jesus, and to them. And what about this clear and stern warning to stay in Jerusalem, a very dangerous place for all of them? Other than fear, what held them together after they spent time with the resurrected Lord so that they said to one another Gather us in (Music Link)?
To help answer that we need to know about the Convocation Festivals ordered by God for the nation of Israel. Pentecost: It is the central Convocation Festival (↔ Click Link) in the list of observances Jehovah commanded should be celebrated by Israel. Here are the feasts described in Leviticus 23, the section of Leviticus devoted to “Holiness Laws”: 1. Passover (Pesach) – 2. Unleavened Bread (Chag Hamotzi) – 3. Firstfruits (Yom Habikkurim) – 4. Pentecost (Shavu’ot) The Feast of Weeks or Festival of Harvest – 5. Trumpets (Yom Teru’ah) – 6. Atonement (Yom Kippur) – 7. Tabernacles (Succoth).
As stated in the Festivals I have listed above, Jesus’ Resurrection is characterized as the “First Fruits of them that sleep.” (See 1 Corinthians 15:20) This is a really important thing to remember. If you don’t have “The First,” you can never have “The All.” Then, in accordance with God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan, Jehovah commanded that eight days be set aside by Israel to celebrate Passover. For Christians, there are eight days from the start of Christ’s Passion on Palm Sunday through the Day of Resurrection. Jesus was the “Passover Lamb” sacrificed for all earthlings, the pure and spotless victim of our sin and the curse of death that goes with sin. He was sacrificed at the same hour as the lambs for Pesach.
Many Christians celebrate Pentecost as “the birthday of the Church.” I think of that birthday as coming a bit earlier. On the evening of the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples, stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you,” as Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon them (John 20:19-22). In that instant the Apostolic Priesthood was established and from there the ἐκκλησία {ekklesia} {ek-klay-see’-ah} began to take shape. The Power to form that ἐκκλησία came 50 days later. Forty of those days were spent hiding from the authorities, and meeting with Jesus and other Disciples to whom he chose to reveal himself. He cautioned them to stay in Jerusalem until another Advocate would come. Then, after he was taken up into Heaven, they waited for 10 more days – waited in hope and faith together while also gathered together in fear. The Festival of Shavuot was just dawning when there was a sound like a mighty rushing wind and …well, think about what I told you last week. 😊
At this point I’m going to do something a bit different from previous posts. I generally insert Music Links in the text. Today I’m just going to put the titles. The links will be at the bottom of the post right after the Creative Commons Licensing information (little gray rectangle at the end like this.
When the Glory of the Holy Spirit rushed upon them and entered into them, THE WORLD CHANGED! El Shaddai-Olam, the only True and Living God, had walked upon the Earth like an earthling; worked, ate, lived, and drank like an earthling; and then he died like an earthling in the cruelest possible way. But – Glory to God! – he didn’t stay dead! And, just as he had promised, when the day of Pentecost arrived, so did the other Advocate – the Spirit of the Living God, the Bond of Love between the Father and the Son – the Holy Spirit. Pentecost brought us “the Firstfruits of them that sleep.” (See 1 Corinthians 15:20 Yes, again.) On that day, the Church woke up and, together with the Holy Spirit in each of them, went to work. They had been gathered together to receive Power, and that Power enabled them to take up their Mission – make that their Commission. Together they were sent out to do “the impossible – to change the World by reuniting it with God. .
As Jesus was leaving, he gave the Apostles and other Disciples what we call The Great Commission (See Matthew 28:16-20, Aloha Friday Message – May 15, 2026 – What are YOU lookin’ at? ↔ Click Link)
If you want to hear one of the songs, the link for it will be there – this time. 😊 Because music is “the universal language,” we gather together to make music, and so I share it with you to gather you in for the sharing. A great example is what Jesus and the Disciples did right before they went to the Garden where he was arrested. They sang a hymn together. Please sing with me when you see (Music Link). That will help all of us to be gathered in. I’m asking that all of us open our minds and hearts to being unified in Christ. “What do you mean by that? Do you think everyone should be a Catholic?”
Fair enough. What I mean by “being unified in Christ” is acting like we are, each and all, Christians. How would anyone know? You may recall that old question, “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” So, how do non-Christians know we are Christians? For that matter, how do other Christians recognize other Christians? The answer is in John 13:34-35 – “34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” They’ll know we are Christians by our Love. (Music Link)
Sometimes we act as though we expect God to bring us together. We sing Gather your people, O Lord (Music Link), and then tell jokes about Catholics, or Baptists, or Presbyterians, or “Holy Rollers.” Some of us even make disparaging comments about Jews, Arabs, Muslims, Hindus. About the only groups that don’t get joked about are the atheists and agnostics. We Christians can act as if we were the only ones invited to the Heavenly Feast. What about Isaiah 25:6-9? Do we think we’re the only ones called to this? – 6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. 7 And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
BEING PART OF THAT – WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD – SHOULD BE OUR GOAL IN LIFE! To Gather Your People O Lord (Music Link)
What does God want? Well, we already know he wants what’s in Micah 6:8, but is there more? I think there could be a deeper understanding of that passage. I’m thinking of John 13:35 – 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus’ command is like, “All I ask of you (Music Link) is to Love each other just as I have Loved you” Not one of us can fully understand what that means without dying for another, be it God or earthling. Our Key Verses from Exodus 34 give us an example of how that works. Moses humbled himself, bowed down and worshipped God, asking for justice and mercy. He then numbered himself among those who needed God’s guidance and help.
What can happen if we receive that guidance and help? Then we can identify with the words from the Canticle for this Sunday: Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors, // and to be praised and highly exalted forever; // And blessed is your glorious, holy name, // and to be highly praised and highly exalted forever. We know that’s what Heaven is supposed to be like – at every moment responding to the words, “Let us Pray.” That’s how we get to The Apostle Paul’s message “Finally, Adelphos, rejoice. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
We say it often here: God is community, and worshipping God is the purpose of our Community. “What is our Community?” The Body of Christ – the Church. Belovéd, shall we gather at the River? (Music Link) Meanwhile, the JOY that we have in Loving God and each other makes us Fly Like A Bird (Music Link) and soar like an eagle. We must be willing to remember how he loved us – to his death – and still celebrate (Music Link) Will we, can we, do we die to self today and live for and with him always? We all share Life and Death. All of us are gathered in to Life first – and that’s a YOLO-F thing – and then we are gathered in to a New kind of Living, liberated from the body we have used to serve the Lord and bless each other, or used to serve ourselves and use each other?
We are all gathered into Eternal Light or Endless Darkness, Eternal Life with God or Eternal Death without God. When we are gathered into the Light, will we be in the gathering sent to the Left or sent to the Right? Gather us in, Jesus. WE are the Saved, and we belong to you.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!
Read it online here, please. We now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Please forward this to them and ask them also to share it to others.
John 3:16-19 – 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
Exodus 34:8-9 –.8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. 9 He said, “If now I have found favor in your
Daniel 3:52 – 52 “Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors, and to be praised and highly exalted forever; And blessed is your glorious, holy name, and to be highly praised and highly exalted forever.
2 Corinthians 13:11 – 11 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
OR LIKE THIS ~~
2 Corinthians 13:11 – 11 Finally, Adelphos, rejoice. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, encourage one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Aloha nui loa, e pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me Ke Akua ho’omaika‘i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! (Much Love, may blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Beloved!) The Easter season is over, but we still have some very special celebrations to enjoy. This coming Sunday is The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. A solemnity is the highest and most important rank of liturgical celebration. A Solemnity Feast commemorates the central mysteries of the faith – the Word and Sacraments – and the significant events in the lives of Jesus, and Mary, and the most eminent Saints. Every Sunday is considered a solemnity. Universal solemnities can be either fixed (on specific dates) or movable (changing dates based on Easter). I’ll give two examples each for fixed and moveable.
Fixed
Jan 1: Mary, Mother of God
Dec 25: The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
Moveable
The Most Holy Trinity (Trinity Sunday): The Sunday after Pentecost
Christ the King: The final Sunday of the liturgical year (before Advent)
This Solemnity – The Most Holy Trinity – is one of the moveable Solemnities and the specific date we celebrate is determined by the events of Lent and Easter – Ash Wednesday, then 40 days until Palm Sunday and Holy Week. At the end of those forty days, the Apostles were still struggling with what happened to Jesus, and to them. And what about this clear and stern warning to stay in Jerusalem, a very dangerous place for all of them? Other than fear, what held them together after they spent time with the resurrected Lord so that they said to one another Gather us in (Music Link)?
To help answer that we need to know about the Convocation Festivals ordered by God for the nation of Israel. Pentecost: It is the central Convocation Festival (↔ Click Link) in the list of observances Jehovah commanded should be celebrated by Israel. Here are the feasts described in Leviticus 23, the section of Leviticus devoted to “Holiness Laws”: 1. Passover (Pesach) – 2. Unleavened Bread (Chag Hamotzi) – 3. Firstfruits (Yom Habikkurim) – 4. Pentecost (Shavu’ot) The Feast of Weeks or Festival of Harvest – 5. Trumpets (Yom Teru’ah) – 6. Atonement (Yom Kippur) – 7. Tabernacles (Succoth).
As stated in the Festivals I have listed above, Jesus’ Resurrection is characterized as the “First Fruits of them that sleep.” (See 1 Corinthians 15:20) This is a really important thing to remember. If you don’t have “The First,” you can never have “The All.” Then, in accordance with God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan, Jehovah commanded that eight days be set aside by Israel to celebrate Passover. For Christians, there are eight days from the start of Christ’s Passion on Palm Sunday through the Day of Resurrection. Jesus was the “Passover Lamb” sacrificed for all earthlings, the pure and spotless victim of our sin and the curse of death that goes with sin. He was sacrificed at the same hour as the lambs for Pesach.
Many Christians celebrate Pentecost as “the birthday of the Church.” I think of that birthday as coming a bit earlier. On the evening of the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples, stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you,” as Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon them (John 20:19-22). In that instant the Apostolic Priesthood was established and from there the ἐκκλησία {ekklesia} {ek-klay-see’-ah} began to take shape. The Power to form that ἐκκλησία came 50 days later. Forty of those days were spent hiding from the authorities, and meeting with Jesus and other Disciples to whom he chose to reveal himself. He cautioned them to stay in Jerusalem until another Advocate would come. Then, after he was taken up into Heaven, they waited for 10 more days – waited in hope and faith together while also gathered together in fear. The Festival of Shavuot was just dawning when there was a sound like a mighty rushing wind and …well, think about what I told you last week. 😊
At this point I’m going to do something a bit different from previous posts. I generally insert Music Links in the text. Today I’m just going to put the titles. The links will be at the bottom of the post right after the Creative Commons Licensing information (little gray rectangle at the end like this.
When the Glory of the Holy Spirit rushed upon them and entered into them, THE WORLD CHANGED! El Shaddai-Olam, the only True and Living God, had walked upon the Earth like an earthling; worked, ate, lived, and drank like an earthling; and then he died like an earthling in the cruelest possible way. But – Glory to God! – he didn’t stay dead! And, just as he had promised, when the day of Pentecost arrived, so did the other Advocate – the Spirit of the Living God, the Bond of Love between the Father and the Son – the Holy Spirit. Pentecost brought us “the Firstfruits of them that sleep.” (See 1 Corinthians 15:20 Yes, again.) On that day, the Church woke up and, together with the Holy Spirit in each of them, went to work. They had been gathered together to receive Power, and that Power enabled them to take up their Mission – make that their Commission. Together they were sent out to do “the impossible – to change the World by reuniting it with God. .
As Jesus was leaving, he gave the Apostles and other Disciples what we call The Great Commission (See Matthew 28:16-20, Aloha Friday Message – May 15, 2026 – What are YOU lookin’ at? ↔ Click Link)
If you want to hear one of the songs, the link for it will be there – this time. 😊 Because music is “the universal language,” we gather together to make music, and so I share it with you to gather you in for the sharing. A great example is what Jesus and the Disciples did right before they went to the Garden where he was arrested. They sang a hymn together. Please sing with me when you see (Music Link). That will help all of us to be gathered in. I’m asking that all of us open our minds and hearts to being unified in Christ. “What do you mean by that? Do you think everyone should be a Catholic?”
Fair enough. What I mean by “being unified in Christ” is acting like we are, each and all, Christians. How would anyone know? You may recall that old question, “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” So, how do non-Christians know we are Christians? For that matter, how do other Christians recognize other Christians? The answer is in John 13:34-35 – “34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” They’ll know we are Christians by our Love. (Music Link)
Sometimes we act as though we expect God to bring us together. We sing Gather your people, O Lord (Music Link), and then tell jokes about Catholics, or Baptists, or Presbyterians, or “Holy Rollers.” Some of us even make disparaging comments about Jews, Arabs, Muslims, Hindus. About the only groups that don’t get joked about are the atheists and agnostics. We Christians can act as if we were the only ones invited to the Heavenly Feast. What about Isaiah 25:6-9? Do we think we’re the only ones called to this? – 6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. 7 And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
BEING PART OF THAT – WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD – SHOULD BE OUR GOAL IN LIFE! To Gather Your People O Lord (Music Link)
What does God want? Well, we already know he wants what’s in Micah 6:8, but is there more? I think there could be a deeper understanding of that passage. I’m thinking of John 13:35 – 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus’ command is like, “All I ask of you (Music Link) is to Love each other just as I have Loved you” Not one of us can fully understand what that means without dying for another, be it God or earthling. Our Key Verses from Exodus 34 give us an example of how that works. Moses humbled himself, bowed down and worshipped God, asking for justice and mercy. He then numbered himself among those who needed God’s guidance and help.
What can happen if we receive that guidance and help? Then we can identify with the words from the Canticle for this Sunday: Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors, // and to be praised and highly exalted forever; // And blessed is your glorious, holy name, // and to be highly praised and highly exalted forever. We know that’s what Heaven is supposed to be like – at every moment responding to the words, “Let us Pray.” That’s how we get to The Apostle Paul’s message “Finally, Adelphos, rejoice. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
We say it often here: God is community, and worshipping God is the purpose of our Community. “What is our Community?” The Body of Christ – the Church. Belovéd, shall we gather at the River? (Music Link) Meanwhile, the JOY that we have in Loving God and each other makes us Fly Like A Bird (Music Link) and soar like an eagle. We must be willing to remember how he loved us – to his death – and still celebrate (Music Link) Will we, can we, do we die to self today and live for and with him always? We all share Life and Death. All of us are gathered in to Life first – and that’s a YOLO-F thing – and then we are gathered in to a New kind of Living, liberated from the body we have used to serve the Lord and bless each other, or used to serve ourselves and use each other?
We are all gathered into Eternal Light or Endless Darkness, Eternal Life with God or Eternal Death without God. When we are gathered into the Light, will we be in the gathering sent to the Left or sent to the Right? Gather us in, Jesus. WE are the Saved, and we belong to you.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!
American Roman Catholic reared as a "Baptiterian" in Denver Colorado. Now living on Kauaʻi. USAF Vet. Married for over 50 years. Scripture study has been my passion ever since my first "Bible talk" at age 6 in VBS.
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
