Pentecost recalls Holy Spirit’s transforming power

Published:Saturday, June 14, 2008

On Sunday, the Orthodox Church will celebrate the feast of Pentecost. This major feast day of the church commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit 50 days after the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Pentecost is often considered the birthday of the Christian Church because it was on that day that the Holy Spirit rested on “each of them” and clothed them with power from on high to be witnesses of Christ in the world.

The apostles had been instructed by Jesus to await the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and they had remained in the upper room waiting for that event to take place. One can imagine that they might have been fearful of those who had crucified Jesus, and may have wondered if they themselves might suffer the same fate. One can only imagine that they hid in the upper room with a genuine sense of fear.

But after the descent of the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost, those apostles left the upper room and went into the streets and boldly preached the Gospel. Holy Scripture tells us that these apostles spoke “in other tongues” and were understood by the many visitors in Jerusalem. They were amazed that those Galileans were speaking, and “ ... we hear each of us in his own native language ... ”

It was quite a transformation, that’s for sure. Those apostles were simple, unlettered men. Peter, a humble fisherman, was suddenly changed into a gifted preacher. One could hardly imagine eloquence coming from someone with such a prosaic background. And yet his spirited preaching struck his listeners with such a force that 3,000 of them were baptized on that very day. It was an auspicious beginning for the Christian Church.

During Great Lent, the Orthodox Church prays a special Third Hour prayer: “Blessed are you, O Christ our God. You filled the fishermen with wisdom, sending down upon them the Holy Spirit. Through them you have caught the whole world in your net. O lover of mankind, glory to you.”

The depths of wisdom and the change affected by the Holy Spirit transformed those fishermen completely. One of those men, John, is now known to us as John the Theologian. He is one of the four evangelists, and his writings are marked by exalted theological thought.

He was also a bishop of the church and through his leadership the church grew. And, in that way, a man who began as a fisherman ended up as a fisher of men.

That same Holy Spirit acts today to change each one of us. That same Holy Spirit can transform timid and humble people into powerful witnesses of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That same Holy Spirit that changed the fishermen can also change us. Just as they were filled with wisdom, so also we can be filled with wisdom, if we are open to the Holy Spirit.

It is always a mistake to believe that Pentecost was only an event that took place years ago. It is a mistake to believe that Pentecost is something that happened to someone else. More properly, Pentecost is something that happens to us every day, if we are open and willing to receive Holy Spirit. Pentecost is something that happens to us every day, if we are willing to accept the wisdom that he gives us.

In the Orthodox Church, the liturgical color for the feast of Pentecost is green. The color reminds us of the renewal of springtime that we see in the flowers and trees around us. The color should also remind us of our need to renew ourselves in the same life-changing Holy Spirit of that first Pentecost.

XDeacon William E. Friedel, who is assigned to St. Michael Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church in Youngstown, is the secretary of the Eastern Orthodox Clergy Association of the Mahoning Valley.

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