Homily On The feast of Holy Pentecost (Abp. Paul of Sydney +1995)
Sermon of Archbishop Paul of Sydney and Australia-New Zealand (Pavlov; +1995) on the feast of Holy Pentecost
Originally posted on synod.com, the official website of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, after His glorious Resurrection, remained with His disciples for forty days, appearing to them and teaching them the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, the order of the Church, and at the same time He was preparing them for the knowledge that He would leave them here on earth, to the notion of His glorious Ascension. And the Apostles, who loved their Lord so much, could not help but grieve upon hearing their Teacher's words about the impending separation. But the Lord told them that: “It will be better for you if I go up to Heaven, for instead of Myself, I will send you another Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who will remain with you forever and who will teach you everything.”
And behold, the Lord ascended and sent down the Holy Spirit upon the disciples in the form of fiery tongues. The Holy Spirit, having descended to earth and established the Church of God, remains in the Church forever. He dwells in every believing member of it, accomplishing the work of Christ in them. And the work of Christ is the internal, spiritual rebirth of a person. From a mortal, proud, self-loving, selfish person, into a new person in Christ, clothed with the grace of God, living in fear and love of Christ's commandments. And this is accomplished in a person solely by the Holy Spirit.
The commandments of God that have been given to us, we fulfill. But we ourselves, with our own strength, are not able to fulfill them. It is the Holy Spirit that helps us and acts within us. And if the Holy Spirit is not in us, then we will not fulfill and create the commandments of God, and the work of Christ will not be accomplished in us. Therefore, it is very important to be a partaker of the Holy Spirit. We sing at every liturgy: “We have seen the true Light, we have received the Heavenly Spirit.” And if we have not received this Spirit, if He does not abide in us, then we do not belong to Christ, which means we are not Christians; we do not partake of Christ. This is how important it is to be a partaker of the Holy Spirit, for without Him we can do nothing.
And every Orthodox Christian must always check himself whether the grace of the Holy Spirit acts within him. Is he or she a partaker of it? Does the Spirit of Truth live in them? After all, we have all been united with this Holy Spirit in the sacrament of holy baptism, in other church sacraments, but not all of us, and not always, preserve Him within us. We very often repel the Holy Spirit from ourselves with our iniquities, self-love, pride, and disobedience to God and His commandments.
The most important thing in us is love — the feeling of brotherly unity with each other in Christ. If this is not within us, then the Holy Spirit is not within us either. We must examine ourselves to see how much the Spirit of God resides in us. Or whether He resides in us at all or has departed from us! Here are the signs of the Holy Spirit's presence in us: first of all, a feeling of repentance when we turn to God and strive to correct our lives according to God's commandments. Then within us, there is a fervent desire and diligence to embody and fulfill all of God's saving commands in our lives. And when we are cleansed from sin, when we correct our lives and turn to God, then the human soul will enter the next stage. And that is indeed the stage of holiness and purity.
If a person achieves this, he feels within himself the sweet burning of the Holy Spirit, which fills his entire being, all of his life, guiding him along new paths. He is like a lit candle, burning and melting before God. And when this holiness and purity revives him and makes him a new person, he is then visited by something else, namely the feeling of sonship to God. And then he strives with all his heart toward his Heavenly Father and no longer speaks merely with his lips, but with his heart and all his being boldly addresses God, calling Him his Father. This, dear brothers and sisters, is briefly what the Church Tradition and the Holy Fathers teach us.
We must regularly examine our soul and ask ourselves, to what degree have I reached? What state am I in, and determine if I am a partaker of the Holy Spirit? Does the Holy Spirit live in me? And if not, strive to correct my life and direct my footsteps towards fulfilling the commandments of God, constantly calling for God’s help. And then, through our labor for the Lord, who assists us, our hearts will be so cleansed that they will be able to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and be partakers of His grace.
Let us pray about this and constantly ask our Lord, that when we pray and sing: “We have seen the true light, we have received the Heavenly Spirit, we have found the true faith,” may they not be just words, but a confession of our true Christian spiritual life.
Amen.
The late Archbishop Paul (Pavlov) was the Archbishop of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia during the latter decades of the twentieth century. A short biography on his life and service to the Church can be found by clicking here.
