HOMILY ON PENTECOST – FATHER GAVRIL (GALEV)
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
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Today is Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles – The Day of the Holy Spirit, the manifestation of the Holy Trinity, the feast of the Church of God Itself. On this day when the holy Apostles were gathered together in one accord in the upper room in Jerusalem, waiting for the promised Comforter, the Holy Spirit, God established the Church.
As great as the celebration of Epiphany is, as great as the feast of Resurrection, Transfiguration and Ascension is, just as great is this feast of the Holy Trinity, the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. For if it did not happen, then all these events of the life of the God-Man Jesus Christ would have no effect. With the descent of the Holy Spirit a seal was given to all this events, and they received their conclusion (effect), and consequently, there is conclusion of the whole Dispensation (Providence, Economy) for the salvation of man from God Himself, the Holy Trinity. Therefore, today is His day, God’s Day and the day of the Church.
On this day, according to the prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, fifty days (Pentecost) from the Resurrection of Christ and ten days after His Ascension to heaven, the Holy Spirit was sent in the form of flaming tongues. In this manner, God fulfilled His promise by completing the Dispensation for salvation of man, and now the onus remains on the man himself, with the help of the grace of God, to put effort and fight to win the eternal life which is the Kingdom of Heaven inside us.
True life is, to be in union with the source of life, and that is the only living God, the Holy Trinity. The only way we can attain this communion is, if we follow His commandments, in His Church. We are the creations of God, and the fulfilment of God’s commandments gives us direction how to walk on God’s path and how to maintain the union with Him. In that manner, we actually become like (resemble) Christ, and in that way the Holy Spirit, that is, this holy feast receives its fulfilment for us. With the descent of the Holy Spirit onto the congregation of the Church, we have been enabled again to be participants in the entire Holy Trinity’s Dispensation for our salvation through our communion in the Holy Liturgy and participation in the Holy Eucharist. And all of this is given to us in the Church only.
One of the most significant benefits of this celebration is the gift of the Holy Eucharist, taking communion with the Body and the Blood of Christ, through this we identify ourselves as a Church. There is no Church outside the Divine Liturgy, that is, Eucharist, nor is there Eucharist outside the Church. There is no pious life outside the Liturgy and the Church, and therefore the Holy Fathers would say that there is no salvation outside the Church. Therefore this event is of great importance.
We sing in the contakion of this feast: “When the Almighty came down and mixed the tongues, He divided the nations; and when He divided the fiery tongues, He called all people in unity, and we all celebrate the Holy Spirit together.”
When people became proud, God mixed their tongues, He divided them, and the nationalities (nations) were formed. On this feast the opposite happened, when people become humble and were “together and in one accord”; then the Lord united many nationalities and made one nation, Christian nation.
Whenever we despise, condemn, hate and if in whichever way we hurt our brother and live in disagreement and disunity, then we live according to the Old Testament and have nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches us of a different life, in a different community, all of us to live one for another, together and in one accord, as one man. Therefore, let us love one another and may we have no divisions, on any basis, and consequently we will fulfil the divine commandments, and consequently we will live the life of the Church of God.
God in the Church poured all His fullness of grace and gave us the opportunity again to become sons of God and inherit eternal life. Baptism is our personal Pentecost when we receive the fullness of the grace of the Holy Spirit and that is our beginning, the birth in the Church for everlasting life.
Life in the Church is the life in fullness and joy. We are all toiling for a crumb of joy. We are toiling for a crumb of pleasure, and in some way fulfilling our wishes and passions, we get that pleasure. However, that pleasure is temporary and false, which later turns into emptiness and pain, and we become slaves. The pleasure and joy that the Lord gives us through the union with the Holy Spirit is immense, and that union makes us free and it is eternal.
Let us live a life in humility and patience, let us love one another, not insult one another, not impose our self over another, let us not display who is greater, wiser, stronger, who is more educated and so on. For all of this is the spirit of pride and it distances the Holy Spirit from us. But let us show ourselves in our humility and love. For the one who loves the most, humbles himself the most. And there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your brother. That is the greatness of mankind, to serve one another, to love one another, and then the Holy Spirit will come into us, and among us.
God blessed this day, so that His Holy Spirit can descent upon us and in us and amongst us, so may we live His life unto ages of ages, AMEN.
Fr. Gavril Galev
Abbot of the monastery “St. Clement of Ohrid”,
Kinglake, Melbourne, Australia
