Acts 2:1-11; John 7:37-52; 8:12 

Today we celebrate the Great Feast of Pentecost at which the Holy Spirit descends upon the Apostles as they are gathered together in obedience to the command of the risen Lord.  The same divine breath which first gave us life from the dust of the earth now comes as a mighty, rushing wind.  The divine glory beheld by Moses in the burning bush now rests upon each one personally as flames of fire.   The divided speech of the tower of Babel is now overcome by the miracle of speaking in different languages as a sign that all peoples are invited to share in the life of the Lord.  This great Feast manifests the fulfillment of God’s gracious promises for the entire world and every human person in the Body of Christ, the Church. Today we celebrate the restoration of our true unity in God through the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter sent by the risen and ascended Savior Who is seated at the right hand of the Father in heavenly glory. 

The sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit empowers the Church to become a living icon of the common life of humanity in which all the divisions of our fallen world may be healed.  He enables us to become persons in communion who are united organically as members of the one Body of Christ, no longer isolated individuals obsessively choosing sides over against one another.  The Persons of the Holy Trinity share a common life of love, unity, and holiness; by the power of the Holy Spirit manifested at Pentecost, we participate by grace in Their eternal communion.  Our journey to theosis is a matter of becoming so united with God that we become radiant with the divine energies in every dimension of our being, like an iron left in the fire of holy glory.

As those who bear the divine image and likeness, we become both more truly human and more like God as we find healing from the passions that divide and separate us and instead embrace our common life together as distinctive persons. That is why St. Paul wrote, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal. 5:22-23) That is why St. Silouan the Athonite taught, “One can only love one’s enemies through the grace of the Holy Spirit.” And “He who does not love his enemies, does not have God’s grace.”[1]

The Lord said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’”  He uses the image of living water to describe what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit, even as He did with St. Photini, the Samaritan woman at the well.  Our risen and ascended Lord did not send theological ideas, moral instructions, or spiritual practices to His followers.  After His Ascension, the Savior sent the Holy Spirit to quench the deep thirst, the primal longing, of all the broken, confused, and alienated people of the world for sharing personally in the eternal life of God. Nothing else can truly satisfy us as those who bear the divine image and likeness.  So much of our pain and misery stems from obsessively seeking fulfillment in created things that can never provide it.  Doing so only enslaves us further to our passions and separates us from one another. It leads to bitter disappointment time and time again.

Wind, fire, and water are powerful realities that escape our control. At Pentecost they convey the profound mystery of what it means to be drawn into the divine life in ways that transcend the best rational definitions:  As living members of the Body of Christ, we may truly know and experience God from the depths of our hearts and in our common life as did the Apostles.

 We will celebrate this great Feast with integrity by mindfully becoming as receptive as possible to the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit.   Doing so requires embracing the struggle to live faithfully each day through the spiritual strength that we gain from participating in the sacramental and ascetical life of the Church.  The Holy Spirit came upon Christ’s followers as they were gathered together in obedience to the Lord’s command, and we must never fool ourselves into thinking that the spiritual life is an individualistic endeavor that caters to our passions and preferences.  Pentecost calls us to find healing from the pride that divided the tongues of humanity in the first place and to gain the humility to find our true personhood as members together of the Body of Christ, where the distinctive beauty of our souls will shine brightly as we partake of the same living water as did the Apostles.  

Pentecost calls us to become so receptive to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that we overflow with His living water, becoming channels of blessing that enable our neighbors and world to flourish with the peace, joy, and holiness of God’s Kingdom.  As the Savior said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’” We will know such blessedness by being filled to overflowing with eternal life in the Body of Christ, the Church.   We will grow in receptivity to the Holy Spirit by kneeling in prayer and living in humility as we forgive our enemies, share our resources with the needy, and mindfully take up the daily struggle to purify our hearts of all that would keep us enslaved to self-centered desire as isolated individuals.  Those truly enlivened by the Holy Spirit will refuse to define themselves or anyone else according to the categories of our world of corruption, for He continues to heal such divisions.  Pentecost is the reverse of the divisions of the Tower of Babel for this great Feast shows that language, culture, and nationality are spiritually irrelevant for those who share by grace in the life of God.

At Pentecost, we are empowered to experience our true unity in Christ as “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” (1 Pet. 2:9) That is what it means to be illumined by the One Who said, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Our calling is nothing less than to overflow with the gracious divine energies poured out abundantly for the salvation of the world at Pentecost and to live accordingly each day of our lives.

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[1] See Jean-Claude Larchet, “On the Love of Enemies According to Saint Silouan,” https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2020/10/on-love-of-enemies-according-to-saint.html