Word for Pentecost: about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives

Dear fathers, brothers and sisters, the celebration of Pentecost is coming. This is not an ordinary holiday, or just some memory of an event two thousand years ago. Today, the Church wants to convey to us the great truth that the meaning of this glorious event is of great importance for our salvation. What does the event known as Pentecost lead to?

Word for Pentecost: about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives

With His Ascension, the Risen Christ directs the eyes of the apostles, as well as our gaze to the heights of Heaven, to show us that the Heavenly Father will be waiting for us there. But after the ascension of Christ, the period of the Lord's new presence begins: He is, as it were, more hidden, but somehow becomes closer to us. Jesus Christ disappears from the apostles' field of vision, maybe at first they are sad and silent. It is not known whether they realized at that time that a beautiful, endless horizon, the ultimate goal of man's earthly pilgrimage, was just opening up in front of them.

Perhaps they understood this only when they were enlightened by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Then the disciples of Jesus, together with the Virgin Mary and other holy women, as usual, gathered in the sanctuary. We know from the Gospel that when Jesus Christ was to ascend to the Father, he promised the apostles that he would send them the Spirit of consolation, the Spirit of truth. Indeed, after Easter, the apostles of Christ did not stop gathering together to pray, listen to the Scriptures and live in brotherhood. This apostolic tradition has not stopped to this day. Not only in Jerusalem, but also in other cities of the world, Christians still gather all together in one place to listen to the Word of God, repent of their sins, receive Holy Communion and live together in memory of the Risen Lord.

On the day of Pentecost, when we solemnly celebrate the birth of the Church, we would like to express our gratitude to God for His mercies that have been shown in the history of mankind. We want to thank him for the testimony of the first community of Jerusalem, which, thanks to generations of martyrs and confessors (especially the sufferers of the 20th century), became the heritage of countless men and women throughout the world throughout all the centuries of Christian history.

Strengthened by the memory of the first Pentecost, the Church today again lives in anticipation of a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, but He remains with us in the Eucharist, in which He lives with His body, blood, divinity and nourishes us with His grace. Jesus Christ remained in his church, which is his mystical body. "For as the body is one, but has many members, so all the members: though they are many, constitute [one] body, so is Christ" (1 Cor. 12:12). The Church is the continuation of Christ's presence on earth after His ascension. And since the Church is a continuation of the Lord's presence on earth, then, like Christ in the Jordan, the Church had to receive the Holy Spirit. No longer in the form of a dove, as during the Baptism of the Lord, but in the form of wind and tongues of fire.

Why, then, was the "departure" of Jesus Christ, which caused the message of the Holy Spirit, useful to us Christians? After all, everyone would like our beloved Savior to continue living on earth, to have the opportunity to touch Him, talk with Him. And yet Jesus Christ "departs" to "give place" to the Holy Spirit.

So who is the Holy Spirit and why is his outpouring on the church at Pentecost so important? Some Christians (I have repeatedly had to observe this in my parish and not only) and representatives of other faiths, deny the divinity of the Holy Spirit, considering him simply wind, energy, power, the power of God, but not a person. The Holy Spirit is the third Person of God, who in unity with God the Father and the Son is the Triune Godhead. This is the dogma of the Christian Church.

So, theoretically, we can believe it (that the Holy Spirit is a person). However, in reality, do we always in our daily life think of Him and treat Him as a person, and a person who is real, alive, and outstanding? Let us thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Let this reflection today, perhaps difficult, but necessary, prompt us to learn more about the mystery of the Third Divine Person.

I will emphasize and remind, do we treat Him as a real person, just as we treat Christ - as loving, Wise, strong and worthy of love and worship?

I myself did not immediately accept that the Holy Spirit is a person. Then I began to concentrate on reading the pages of Scripture, one of the most fascinating mysteries of our faith was the personality of the Holy Spirit. As a theological student, I asked myself the question: Who is He? I studied theology, studied dogmatics and asceticism, and only then did I experience my profound conversion.

Today I understand that He is an infinite God, that He comes from the Father, He unites the entire Holy Trinity in love, he "searches everything, even the depths of God", as St. Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 2:10). Every week we talk about Him in the confession of faith: I believe in "the Holy Spirit, the Lord of Life, who proceeds from the Father, who has the same worship and the same glory with the Father and the Son, who spoke through the prophets."

It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that the sacraments find their saving power, which arises from the sacrifice of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the sanctifier of the Church, He creates the unity of its members, like a soul in a body. That is why we call the Holy Spirit "the soul of the church", He gives life to the Church. He leads her to a full understanding of God-revealed truths recorded in the Holy Scriptures and Apostolic Tradition (John 16:13).

Most of the most famous theologians wrote and write that the Holy Spirit is the "heart of the Church", because invisibly He animates and unites the Church, just as the heart moves the human body from the inside. The Holy Spirit descended on us during the sacrament of baptism. He instilled in us the divine virtues of faith, hope and love. Through baptism in that spirit, we, as sons of God, can cry to God: "Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15). Through the sacrament of baptism, our body becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit. If someone says that he believes in God, believes in what he teaches, lives according to his commandments, then this means that the Holy Spirit is working in him. We cannot call Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior, if we do not have the Holy Spirit.

So, at baptism, a blessed life began. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem writes: "The same Holy Spirit acts in different ways, by the will of God and in the name of Christ. He gives the gift of wisdom to one word, enlightens the mind of another with prophetic inspiration; to another he gives the power to cast out demons, and to someone the grace to translate the Scriptures. Some are strengthened by the gift of restraint, others are moved to charity; it prompts one to fast and teaches steadfastness in ascetic life, the other distracts from worldly affairs... Different people have different gifts, but the source is always the same, because it is said: The Spirit is revealed to all for the common good. His coming is soft and full of goodness; His fragrance is sweet, and his burden is very light. His coming is preceded by rays of light and knowledge."

The Holy Spirit works in the sacraments of the Church. Yes, confession takes place in the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ gave the priests the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of their sins. "Receive the Holy Spirit! Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; whom you detain, they will be detained" (John 20:23). In a state of grave sin, the Holy Spirit leaves the human soul. Ascetics and ascetics (including the Fathers of Charity) wrote that, like doves that do not stick to unclean places, the Holy Spirit does not dwell in a heart defiled by mortal sin. Only through the sacrament of confession does He dwell in the soul, keeping it in a state of sanctifying grace. The already mentioned Saint Cyril of Jerusalem writes that "a tree dries up, but when it receives water, it gives sprouts. So the sinner will bear the fruit of righteousness, when through repentance he is awarded the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Word for Pentecost: about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives

Without the Holy Spirit, there is no unity of the Church, no faith, no sacraments, no prayer, no apostolic courage, no spiritual life. What light is to fauna and flora, so the Holy Spirit is to the spiritual world. Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to decorate the garden of our soul with beautiful virtues and spiritual gifts.

We all see today that in our world, although we seem closer and closer to each other with the development of the Internet, mass media and think that the spatial distances that separate us have disappeared, communication between people often becomes more and more difficult and superficial. Dialogue between generations becomes limited and sometimes impossible. It seems that people are becoming more conflicted and even aggressive. That it takes too much effort to communicate with each other because people prefer to stick to their egos. Are we able to find unity in such a situation and enjoy it, as was the case with the first Christians on the day of the first Pentecost?

In order to truly build unity, inspired by the Holy Spirit, two temptations must be avoided. First, the desire for diversity without unity. This happens when, perhaps considering ourselves better or those who are always right, we want to stand out, create coalitions and parties where mutually exclusive positions have frozen, and we are closed in our own particularisms. Then a part is chosen, not all, which belongs to one or another circle more than belongs to the Church. Then we become followers of a part instead of being brothers and sisters in the same spirit.

There are more "right" or "left" "Christians" than the people of Christ. More ruthless guardians of the traditions of the "glorious past" or the vanguard of the next "bright future" than the humble and grateful children of the Church.

The second temptation is to seek unity without diversity. Thus, we fall into fundamentalism (both religious and secular); unity becomes sameness, the obligation to do everything together and the same, to always think the same too. Thus, unity turns into sameness, and there is no place for freedom. Meanwhile, the apostle Paul says that "the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Cor. 3:17).

The unity that comes from the Holy Spirit is not an artificial violent (a kind of "proletarian") association. First, the Spirit creates diversity, because each time He causes new and different charisms to blossom. Then the same Spirit creates unity, because He unites, gathers, because He again creates harmony: "by His presence and His action He connects different and different gifts among themselves in unity" of the common goal of saving humanity (Saint Cyril of Alexandria ). In this way, true unity emerges, which does not mean sameness, but unity in diversity.

The Church, born on the day of Pentecost, is by its nature united and diverse, because it is destined to live among all peoples and nations, in very different social contexts. From the very beginning, from the day of Pentecost, the Church speaks in different languages. It remains autonomous in relation to each country and culture. It does not remain a prisoner of political, racial, or cultural boundaries. It cannot be identified with states, or with "federations", because its unity is of a different kind and tends to cross all human boundaries. Always and everywhere the Church should be truly Christian, a home for everyone, where everyone can feel at home.

Indeed, only the Holy Spirit, who creates unity in love and mutual acceptance of differences, can free humanity from the constant temptation of earthly power, which wants to rule over everything and unite everything. I will not give examples, I will remind you that in this context you need to look to the East of Konotop.

Christ very often speaks in the Gospel about the Holy Spirit as the One who should be present in His Church and in the lives of His disciples, as the Comforter and Guide to eternal life. Let us not be surprised that if we do not let the Holy Spirit into our lives, then His place can be taken by an evil spirit, which, of course, does not care about our sanctification, but about our condemnation.

The Holy Spirit manifests Himself in great ascetics more clearly than in ordinary believers, because the saints give Him more opportunity to act, but He resides in every Christian, because no one can have true faith in Christ without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Why do we lose in life? Why are there so many quarrels and misunderstandings in our families? Why is a married couple already thinking about divorce three years after the wedding? Why are we unhappy, dissatisfied, busy, nervous, stressed and never achieving our goals? Why are we not successful at work, studies, personal and family life? Why is it that even in prayer it seems that we are not moving forward?

Because we don't listen to the Holy Spirit. Because we don't trust Him, because we neglect Him. It is supposed that the Holy Spirit should lead us to perfection and fill our lives with meaning, not our whims. It is the Holy Spirit that should be the central figure in the life and activities of every Christian (regardless of his/her religious affiliation).

The Holy Spirit mysteriously heals our heart and makes us able to accept the truth of Christ. Sin makes us rebellious and distrustful people; and the Holy Spirit creates in us the ability to obey and trust Christ. Our will, enslaved by sin, acquires the freedom to turn to God.

But if we reject this Spirit, neglect it, reject His inspiration, then He, in His gentleness, does not impose himself on us. He wants to be present in our lives. He wants to fill us with truth, comfort us, strengthen us, protect us, and teach us what to do. He wants to lead us to all truth and to eternal life, but He will not do it by force and against our will.

If we do not listen to the Holy Spirit, if we neglect His promptings, He will not lead us anywhere by force and will not teach, comfort, strengthen and protect us.

Why does the Holy Spirit not work in our lives? The answer is simple. Because we don't let Him. Because we prefer to be guided by our whims. With human "wisdom", dexterity and cunning, than with the voice of the Holy Spirit. After all, this is the main reason for our unhappiness, our suffering, our inability to realize ourselves.

The Holy Spirit speaks to you in the Church. But he also speaks in your conscience, which is the deepest and most mysterious place where God speaks to man. This conscience, however, does not act on the principle of "caprice," but must always be a conscience well formed according to the commandments and teachings of Christ; for there can be no contradiction between what Christ teaches and what the Holy Spirit speaks in our conscience.

As the apostle Paul wrote: "Live in the spirit, and do not fulfill the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires the contrary of the spirit, and the spirit the contrary of the flesh: they oppose one another, so that you do not do what you desire. If you are led by the Spirit, then you are not under the Law" (Gal. 5: 15-18). Therefore, let us constantly open ourselves to the actions of the Holy Spirit — let us be guided by Him so as not to succumb to various sinful desires and become His instruments in the cause of the spiritual renewal of this world. The Gospel teaches that the request to receive the Holy Spirit should be constant and persistent.

And we will pray to the Holy Spirit (as to the Divine Personality), as Saint Augustine of Hippo taught us: "Holy Spirit, God, breathe your breath into me so that I may think of the Holy One. Guide me, Holy Spirit, to do what is holy. Draw me to You, Holy Spirit, so that I can love what is holy. Strengthen me, Holy Spirit, to keep what is holy. Protect me, Holy Spirit, so that I never lose what is holy. Amen".

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Hieromonk Feofan Polotskyi (Skorobogatov), ​​doctor of theological sciences