Getting ready for Pentecost with Bishop Kallistos Ware

'Descent of the Holy Spirit', Giorgio Vasari,

Santa Croce Church, Florence, Italy, 16th century.

Over at the Biblicalia blog there are notes of discussions on the Holy Spirit led by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware at Building the Body of Christ: A Weekend of Spiritual Enlightenment, hosted by the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascenscion in Oakland, California in February 2008. All the notes are well worth reading. To help get us ready to celebrate Pentecost on Sunday, here are some of the things Bishop Kallistos said in the second session about the Holy Spirit:

S. SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN 

My grandmother long ago once wondered, “Why is the Holy Spirit never mentioned in sermons? Hearing of Him is liking hearing news of an old friend one hasn’t heard of in a long time.”

We will hear of news of this old friend today. S. Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022) wrote this invocation to the Holy Spirit:

Come, true light.

Come, life eternal.

Come, hidden mystery.

Come, treasure without name.

Come, reality beyond all words.

Come, person beyond all understanding.

Come, rejoicing without end.

Come, light that knows no evening.

Come, unfailing expectation of the saved.

Come, raising of the fallen.

Come, resurrection of the dead.

Come, all-powerful, for unceasingly your create,

refashion and change all things by your will alone.

Come, invisible whom none may touch and handle.

Come, for you continue always unmoved,

yet at every instant you are wholly in movement;

you draw near to us who lie in hell,

yet you remain higher than the heavens.

Come, for your name fills our hearts with longing and is ever on our lips;

yet who you are and what your nature is, we cannot say or know.

Come, Alone to the alone.

Come, for you are yourself the desire that is within me.

Come, my breath and my life.

Come, the consolation of my humble soul.

Come, my joy, my glory, my endless delight.

Notice three things that S. Symeon says regarding the Holy Spirit:

1. Symeon speaks of the Spirit as light, joy, glory, endless delight, rejoicing without end, and so on. S. Seraphim of Sarov (1754-1833) said that the Holy Spirit fills with joy whatever he touches.

2. The Spirit is also full of hope, for he looks forward to the age to come.

3. There is also the nearness yet otherness of the Spirit. He is “everywhere present” [from the prayer, O Heavenly King] yet mysterious and elusive. Symeon calls him “my breath and my life,” “hidden mystery,” “beyond all words,” “beyond all understanding.” We know him, but we do not see his face, for he always shows us the face of Christ. Like the air around us, which enables us to see and be seen, he is transparent and enables us to see and hear Christ. He is not to be classified, baffling our computers and filing cabinets. As the Lord said, “The wind blows where it wills, snd you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes” [John 3:8]. As C. S. Lewis wrote in the first of his Narnia Chronicles books, Aslan “is not a tame lion.” The Holy Spirit is not a tame spirit, either. The Spirit makes Christ close to us, establishing that relationship.

NO IMPERSONAL 'FORCE' - AND EQUAL TO THE FATHER AND THE SON

There are two fundamental things about the Holy Spirit:

1. He is understood in Scripture and Tradition as a Person, not just an impersonal force. Christ is obviously a Person. It is not as obvious with the Holy Spirit, but he is a Person in the experience of the Church. Note Ephesians 4.30: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Impersonal forces do not feel grief, do not feel love. You may love your computer, but your computer does not love you. Our sins, selfishness, and lack of love cause the Holy Spirit grief. He weeps over it.

2. The Holy Spirit is equal to the other two Persons of the Trinity. From the Creed: “worshipped and glorified together with the Father and the Son.” Together, not below. Also, “Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” all on the same level.

S. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-394) said, “Never think of Christ without the Holy Spirit.” We could reverse that too: never think of the Holy Spirit without Christ.

S. Irenaeus (c.120-203) described the Son and the Spirit as the two hands of the Father, who always uses both hands together. To better understand the Holy Spirit’s work, look at the cooperation of the Holy Spirit and the Son.

In the Creed: “incarnate by the Holy Spirit and Virgin Mary.” In the Incarnation, the Holy Spirit descends upon the Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit sends Christ into the world.

The Troparion for Theophany: “When you, O Lord, were baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest. For the voice of the Father bore witness unto you, calling you the beloved Son, and the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed His word as sure and true.” The Spirit descends from the Father and rests on the Son, the same relationship as in the Incarnation. The Holy Spirit sends the Son into public ministry.

In the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, the Holy Spirit descends upon Christ as a cloud of light, as understood by the Fathers.

In the Resurrection, Christ is raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul in Romans 1:4 calls Christ “the Son of God in power according to the Spirit.”

THE SPIRIT TESTIFIES TO CHRIST

In the Incarnation and Baptism, the Holy Spirit sends Christ into the world. In Pentecost, Christ sends the Holy Spirit to his disciples, and thence into the world. In the First Gospel reading on Holy Thursday evening [John 13.31-38; 14.1-31; 15.1-27; 16.1-33; 17.1-26; 18.1] we hear “The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. He will bear witness to me. He will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you [John 14.26; 15.26; 16.13-14]. The Holy Spirit testifies not to himself but to Christ, in a natural diakonia.

Christology and Pneumatology are inseparable. The Holy Spirit, the go-between God, establishes the relationship between us and Christ. He shows us not his own face, but the face of Christ.

Pentecostal life

Before Jesus entered the glory of the heavenly sanctuary as our great High Priest, the cloud taking him "out of their sight", he told his followers not to leave Jerusalem, but to "wait for the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4). Then he reassured them, "You shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Clearly he said that because of the difficulty of living for him in our own strength, going forth to evangelise just with our human insights and abilities, or trying to establish his new community of love and faith, the Church, merely as a sociological reality. "Power from on high" was what they needed for their mission. (And it's what we desperately need, too.)

So, leaving Mount Olivet they returned to Jerusalem, spending their time between the temple and the upper room. We read that there were "about 120" of them, not just the Apostles. This was the nucleus of the first Church. They waited "with Mary" for the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon them. "With one accord" they "devoted themselves to prayer" (Acts 1:14).

In Serve the Lord With Gladness (p. 51), the late Fr Lev Gillet (who wrote simply as "A Monk of the Eastern Church") remarks that "Even in the context of the Eucharistic liturgy, the Spirit is not given only for the sake of the Eucharist itself. The purpose of His coming is to lead us into Pentecostal life, the life of the Spirit. Have we ever taken seriously the promises of the Lord after His Resurrection, made not only to His apostles but to every believer?"

There is no better time to ask ourselves that question than today - Pentecost Sunday - when we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church.

My prayer for all readers of this blog - whatever tradition you belong to, and whatever "spirituality" nourishes your walk with God at this time of your life - is that you will have the joy of entering more deeply than ever before into the mystery of Pentecost; that the love, the power, the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit will be released afresh in you and in the Church communities of which you are part.

You may be in a time of great blessing at this stage of your life. On the other hand, you might feel more as if you are trudging through the desert, the wilderness. Well, that's also part of following Jesus! The fact is that wherever we are right now, the Holy Spirit is working to transform us - individuals and communities - into the image and likeness of Jesus.

We also need to remember that the chief purpose of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the "Promise of the Father" is not to make us feel good, but to empower us to witness in our day to day lives to Jesus and the salvation he offers a crushed, broken and violent world.

  

With Mary and the first Church waiting in prayer

Before Jesus entered the glory of the heavenly sanctuary as our great High Priest, the cloud taking him "out of their sight", he told his followers not to leave Jerusalem but to "wait for the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4). Then he reassured them, "You shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses... to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Clearly he said that because of the difficulty of living for him in our own strength, going forth to evangelise just with our human insights and abilities, or trying to establish his New Community, the Church merely as a sociological reality. "Power from on high" was what they needed for their mission. And it's what we desperately need, too.

So, leaving Mount Olivet they returned to Jerusalem, spending their time between the temple and the  the upper room. We read that there were "about 120" of them, not just the Apostles. This was the nucleus of the first Church. They waited "with Mary" for the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon them. "With one accord" they "devoted themselves to prayer" (Acts 1:14).

Our Lady's presence with the praying Church is emphasised in the Scriptures as well as in the iconography of the East and the art of the West. What was she doing there? I can't prove this, of course, but to me it seems very likely that she was helping the others prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit. We know that she "kept" all the things that had happened to her, "pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2:19, 51). 

Can't you imagine Mary calming the others by sharing her testimony (maybe even in the words of the Magnificat - Luke 1:46-55)? 

Can't you hear her telling the others that their relationship with her Son could be like her relationship with him if they will only "hear the Word of God and do it" (Luke 8:21 & Luke 11:28). 

Is it unreasonable to think of her nurturing in them the openness to the Lord in prayer so evident in her all those years before when she had said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38)? 

And then, don't you think she would have reminded them that as the promise made to her by the angel, "the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you," had been fulfilled (Luke 1:35), so the "promise of the Father" to them will likewise be fulfilled?

I always think of the Sunday between Ascension day and Pentecost as THE SUNDAY OF THE UPPER ROOM. I'm sure that Mary, the Mother of all her Son's people, prays with us and for us today as we seek to be renewed and empowered by that same Holy Spirit of love. 

It was the ancient practice of the Church to have a proper "Vigil" of Pentecost. Perhaps Christian congregations of all traditions could do with an all-night prayer meeting culminating in the Mass of Pentecost. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

Whatever we do, let's pray with Our Lady for the renewal of the Church, and for Christian unity. You see, Pentecost is not just about the empowerment of the Church; it is also about the unity that the Holy Spirit brings about. In fact, my heart's desire in praying for Christian unity has always been for the Church of Jesus to be fully catholic, evangelical, and pentecostal all at once, while again breathing deeply with both Eastern and Western lungs as she loves a broken and wounded world back to God. How dynamic would that be! Well, I believe that's what God wants for his Church as well, not just for his sake or for our sakes, but so that a hurting world will believe.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in us the fire of your love.

Pentecost changed everything! - Fr Alexander Men

I have already shared the story of that dynamic evangelical Russian Orthodox priest who was martyred in 1990, Fr Alexander Men HERE and HERE. Today, following Pentecost, these words of his about the power of the Holy Spirit should encourage each of us in our witness to Jesus.

“All Our Function Depends Only on the Holy Spirit”

When the Temple guards, the soldiers who kept order in the House of God, were sent by the Temple authorities to seize the Lord, they achieved nothing, having been unable to lay hands on Him. When they were asked sternly why they had not brought Him, they replied: “No one has ever spoken like this Man” [cf. John 7:46]. There was some sort of power in the words of Christ the Savior, but not in those of His disciples – for Divine might spoke in Him, while human weakness spoke in them. Even after the disciples had seen the Risen One with their own eyes, they hid in fear behind locked doors, still disbelieving and doubting. Even when they saw Him on the mount in Galilee, as the Evangelist Matthew relates, some worshipped Him, while others doubted, having assumed that it was an apparition.

But several weeks later, on the Feast of Pentecost, everything changed. Less than a month had passed since the Lord had died on the place of the skull, in full sight of all, and then risen, appearing only to the faithful. Then suddenly there was a great noise and troubled voices – and Christ’s disciples came out of the house and witnessed to the Risen Christ before a whole crowd. Everything in them had changed: their fear – gone without a trace; their timidity – gone without a trace; their inability to express themselves – gone without a trace. They spoke in such a way that everyone understood them, even those who had come from afar and understood their language poorly. Regardless, their words were reaching everyone. But why was that? What was going on? It was because the Lord’s Divine power had come to them. It was not by their humanity, nor by their flesh and blood, but rather by the Spirit of God that they were able to bear witness and state outright: “This Jesus, God has raised from the dead, whereof we are all witnesses” [cf. Acts 2:32].

This is an important word that we should take to heart: witnesses. Every Christian is a witness to God. Think of what a witness is in our ordinary lives. In court, a witness is someone who must truthfully relate that which he saw and heard, honestly and truthfully relating what he knows to be true. Sometimes there are false witnesses and libelers, but a true witness speaks only the truth – and not just the truth, but the truth that he knows well. Thus, the power of Christian witness is that we speak of the Lord, Whom we know; of grace, which we have experienced; of blessing, which we have felt; and of faith, which we have in our hearts. If we do not have the Spirit, if we do not have this power, then we are poor witnesses. The Apostles said: “He was raised by God, of which we are witnesses,” because they knew this, saw this with their own eyes, and experienced this.

By partaking of the Holy Mysteries and turning to the Lord in prayer, do we not touch Him? All true faith means touching the Lord. If we have living contact with God, with the Risen Christ Who saves us, that means we can honestly and boldly witness to the world about our trust, our hope, and our joy. Our joy is the Lord Who has loved the world, saving every person and searching for every lost soul. We do not simply say this from hearsay. We should be witnesses to His Spirit and witnesses to His power.

Let us today pray for that which is most important: that the Lord’s Spirit, promised to each and every one of us, might come to us and touch our hearts; that we might not speak vainly, but from the experience of our own hearts, that we know our Lord and have experienced the touch of the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God; and, therefore, that we have the right to say: “Yes, we know Him Whom we have loved; Who has loved, saved, and granted us eternal life.” To Him we all cry out: “O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of good things and Give of Life, come and dwell in us.” Amen.

Translated from the Russian.

Source: 

http://www.pravmir.com/witnesses-to-the-holy-spirit/#ixzz34GiI4sxW

The Alexander Men memorial cross in Semkhoz near Sergiev Posad, 
60 km north-west of Moscow 

What an ending! (Dr Ward's book "On Christian Priesthood")

Dr Robin Ward’s book On Christian Priesthood, published in 2011, is a remarkable volume that seeks to “restore the centrality of priesthood to the understanding of Christian ministry” (note on the back cover). Considerable demands are placed on the reader (I don’t think Fr Ward set out to write an easy book!), but the rewards of perseverance are manifold, and I think the book should be compulsory reading for priests and ordinands. What came to me as a total surprise was the marked change from elegant but dense didacticism to a surge of lyrical language in Ward’s conclusion. The final paragraph in particular deserves a place in any anthology of Anglican readings - perhaps even alongside Gregory Dix’s “Was ever another command so obeyed?”  

. . . Christian cult serves as a preservative of the eschatological vocation of the Church, in which sacred buildings, rites and habits virtuously map out on the landscape of the earthly city the incursion of beatitude.

On the feast of Pentecost the apostles receive the gift of the Holy Spirit with the visible sign of tongues as of fire, and their preaching restores the communion lost to the human race in the confusion of Babel. In the Western Church the Vestments worn to celebrate this feast are red, with an obvious symbolism; for the Byzantine Slavs, however, the colour is green. The descent of the Spirit on the Church is always the well-spring of her fecundity, the renewal of all that is fruitful and the inspiration of all that is of Christ. Renewal in the Church is fidelity to the work of the Spirit, not confidence in our own capacity to achieve it. It is the Holy Spirit whom Christ breathes onto the apostles when he appoints them to be the merciful ministers of reconciliation; it is the gift of the Spirit which Timothy is urged to fan into a flame when he is ordained by the laying on of hands for the oversight of the people of God; it is the Holy Spirit whose invocation consecrates the sacramental sacrifice according to the rite of the oriental liturgies, and so makes tangible the communion which the apostle calls His own. Christian priesthood is the ministry which serves the people of God from the wellsprings of grace appointed by Christ and made abundantly fruitful by the abiding presence of the Spirit, the spring-time of the Church. In the vision of Ezekiel it is the renewed Temple which waters the land and makes it fruitful and consecrated: the cult which nourishes with life; the adoration which does not fail; the cleansing river which saves.

Has the Holy Spirit Got You?

Pentecost is when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit in power and love upon the Church, the culmination of the Great Fifty Days of Easter. However, if all we do is have a church service with beautiful vestments, sumptuous ceremonial and stunning music that helps us remember an event that took place nearly two thousand years ago, we have forgotten the purpose of our celebration. The whole point of today is for us to come into this holy place with a real intensity of desire, desperate for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives in order to be more effective witnesses to Jesus.

Think back to his last words before the cloud received him out of their sight: 

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses . . .” (Acts 1:8). 

After ten days of prayer it happened: 

“ . . . suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:2-4)

You know the story. People from many different countries heard the praises of God in their own languages, and Peter (who had once been so timid) preached to the crowd, resulting in three thousand people being converted to Jesus. They were baptized and became foundation members of the Jerusalem Church, a real community of love whose way of life was itself a powerful sign of God’s presence, and a proof that Jesus is alive. Read right through Acts 2 and you will see how this community met for worship, learned the Faith from the apostles, grew in love and fellowship, and supported each another in the sharing of their daily lives. 

As the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached the Gospel further afield, they planted more and more church communities that surged with the life and love of Jesus. They taught that the outpouring of the Spirit received at Pentecost was not just for them, or for those who responded to Jesus on that day, but for all Christians of all time. Furthermore - as we heard in our second reading - they taught that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to each of us for the common good, for building up the community, and for the nurturing of our unity in Christ.

If we ever needed a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit it is now.

Even if we began the Christian life well, we can become routinised, living in our own strength, relying on our own insights and cleverness, or our ability to persevere, forgetting that the “normal Christian life” is lived “in the Spirit.”

It was the Belgian Cardinal Leon Josef Suenens who said that the important question is not, “Have you got the Spirit?” If we are baptised and confirmed, the answer is obviously “yes.” The real question, according to Suenens, is, “Has the Spirit got you?” It’s no good just resting on the assurance that we have been baptised and confirmed, or even that we have had some past experience of conversion or infilling of the Holy Spirit. What matters is that we are open to the Holy Spirit’s love and power, his presence and prompting NOW . . . that we are allowing him to change us a little more each day into the image and likeness of Jesus. Further, that we are taking our place in the community of our parish so as to share our gifts and encourage others in their life and ministry, and that we are reaching out in love day by day to those around us who do not yet believe.

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me;

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me;

Break me, melt me, mould me, fill me;

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

(Daniel Iverson, 1926)

Now, THIS will inspire you . . .

I am so glad to have heard Father Philip North at Walsingham a few years ago. Sometimes it seems as if there are no more Anglo-Catholic evangelists. I mean "fair-dinkum" ones, as we say in Australia. Well, listening to Father North preach for the pilgrims dispelled that myth! He is now Team Rector of the Parish of Old St Pancras in north London, and in a short time under his leadership there has been a new response to the proclamation of the Gospel, and considerable church growth. 

The following article in this month's New Directions (the Forward in Faith magazine) is more or less "Vintage Father North" - a sermon he preached at the Pentecost Vigil Mass in St Michael's Camden Town (in the parish of Old St Pancras), organised by the group Fidelium. 

Go HERE and then to page 6 of New Directions to read the rest of what Fr North said.

Pentecost: The Living Water of the Holy Spirit, by St Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386 AD)

St Cyril (313-386 AD) was born into a Christian family in Jerusalem. He was ordained to the priesthood and given the special task of teaching those who were preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil. These teachings of Cyril were later collected and passed down to us. They are an important source for understanding the worship and teaching of the 4th century Church. 

In 348 Cyril became Bishop of Jerusalem, and ended up involved in the struggle against Arianism which denied the real divinity of Jesus. For a time the Arians were more successful, and Cyril and other orthodox bishops experienced persecution and exile. Cyril, in fact, was banished three times for refusing to accept Arian teachings. (Also, he was once himself wrongly accused of Arian sympathies!) 

After his third exile, he devoted himself to restoring the Church and the teaching of true doctrine. He participated in the Council of Constantinople in 381, which emphasized Jesus’ divinity and equality with God the Father. St Cyril died in 386, and is regarded as a Doctor of the whole Church. 

"The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of living water, welling up into eternal life." (John 7:38)  

This is a new kind of water, a living, leaping water, welling up for those who are worthy. But why did Christ call the grace of the Spirit water? Because all things are dependent on water; plants and animals have their origin in water. Water comes down from heaven as rain, and although it is always the same in itself, it produces many different effects, one in the palm tree, another in the vine, and so on throughout the whole of creation. It does not come down, now as one thing, now as another, but while remaining essentially the same, it adapts itself to the needs of every creature that receives it. 

In the same way the Holy Spirit, whose nature is always the same, simple and indivisible, apportions grace to each person as he wills. Like a dry tree which puts forth shoots when watered, the soul bears the fruit of holiness when repentance has made it worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit. Although the Spirit never changes, the effects of his action, by the will of God and in the name of Christ, are both many and marvelous. 

The Spirit makes one person a teacher of divine truth, inspires another to prophesy, gives another the power of casting out devils, enables another to interpret holy Scripture. The Spirit strengthens one person's self-control, shows another how to help the poor, teaches another to fast and lead a life of asceticism, makes another oblivious to the need of the body, trains another for martyrdom. His action is different in different people, but the Spirit himself is always the same. In each person, Scripture says, the Spirit reveals his presence in a particular way for the common good. 

The Spirit comes gently and makes himself known by his fragrance. He is not felt as a burden, for he is light, very light. Rays of light and knowledge stream before him as he approaches. The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console. The Spirit comes to enlighten the mind first of the one who receives him, and then, through him, the minds of others as well. 

As light strikes the eyes of one who comes out of darkness into the sunshine and enables that person to see clearly things he or she could not discern before, so light floods the soul of the one counted worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit and enables that person to see things beyond the range of human vision, things hitherto undreamed of.

* * * * * * * * * *

PRAYER OF INTERCESSION FOR PENTECOST 

From the Taizé Community 

O living God,
come and make our souls temples of thy Spirit.
Sanctify us, O Lord!

Baptize thy whole Church with fire,
that the divisions soon may cease,
and that it may stand before the world
as a pillar and buttress of thy truth.
Sanctify us, O Lord! 

Grant us all the fruits of thy Holy Spirit:
brotherly love, joy, peace, patience,
goodwill and faithfulness.
Sanctify us, O Lord!

May the Holy Spirit speak
by the voice of thy servants,
here and everywhere,
as they preach thy word.
Sanctify us, O Lord!

Send thy Holy Spirit, the comforter,
to all who face adversity,
or who are the victims of men's wickedness.
Sanctify us, O Lord!

Preserve all nations and their leaders
from hatred and war,
and build up a true community among nations,
through the power of thy Spirit.
Sanctify us, O Lord!

Holy Spirit,
Lord and source of life,
giver of the seven gifts,
Sanctify us, O Comforter.

Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
Spirit of counsel and strength,
Sanctify us, O Comforter.

Spirit of knowledge and devotion,
Spirit of obedience to the Lord.
Sanctify us, O Comforter.

Father Cantalamessa helps us get ready for Pentecost

POWER FROM ABOVE 

by Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap, 

Pontifical Household Preacher, Pentecost, 2008 

Everyone has on some occasion seen people pushing a stalled car trying to get it going fast enough to start. There are one or two people pushing from behind and another person at the wheel. If it does not get going after the first try, they stop, wipe away the sweat, take a breath and try again . . . 

Then suddenly there is a noise, the engine starts to work, the car moves on its own and the people who were pushing it straighten themselves up and breathe a sigh of relief. 

This is an image of what happens in Christian life. One goes forward with much effort, without great progress. But we have a very powerful engine ("the power from above!") that only needs to be set working. The feast of Pentecost should help us to find this engine and and see how to get it going. 

The account from the Acts of the Apostles begins thus: "When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all together in the same place." 

From these words, we see that Pentecost pre-existed Pentecost. In other words, there was already a feast of Pentecost in Judaism and it was during this feast that the Holy Spirit descended. One cannot understand the Christian Pentecost without taking into account the Jewish Pentecost that prepared it. 

In the Old Testament there were two interpretations of the feast of Pentecost. At the beginning there was the feast of the seven weeks, the feast of the harvest, when the first fruits of grain were offered to God, but then, and certainly during Jesus' time, the feast was enriched with a new meaning: It was the feast of the conferral of the law and of the covenant on Mount Sinai. 

If the Holy Spirit descends upon the Church precisely on the day in which Israel celebrated the feast of the law and the covenant, this indicates that the Holy Spirit is the new law, the spiritual law that sealed the new and eternal covenant. A law that is no longer written on stone tablets but on tablets of flesh, on the hearts of men. 

These considerations immediately provoke a question: Do we live under the old law or the new law? Do we fulfill our religious duties by constraint, by fear and habit, or rather by an intimate conviction and almost by attraction? Do we experience God as a father or a boss? 

. . . The secret for experiencing that which John XXIII called "a new Pentecost" is called prayer. That is where we find the "spark" that starts the engine! 

Jesus promised that the heavenly Father would give the Holy Spirit to those who asked for him (Luke 11:13). Ask then! The liturgy of Pentecost offers us magnificent words to do this: 

"Come, Holy Spirit … 

Come, O Father of the poor, 

Ever bounteous of Thy store, 

Come, our heart's unfailing light. 

Come, Consoler, kindest, best,  

Come, our bosom's dearest guest, 

Sweet refreshment, sweet repose. 

Rest in labor, coolness sweet, 

Tempering the burning heat, 

Truest comfort of our woes!" 

Come Holy Spirit!

Óscar Romero - Ascension and Pentecost

Archbishop Óscar Romero, minutes after he was shot celebrating Mass

in a hospital chapel, around 6.30pm on 24th March, 1980

Again, two pieces from Óscar Romero's collection The Violence of Love: 

Money is good,
but selfish persons have made it bad and sinful.
Power is good,
but abuse by humans has made it something to fear.
All has been created by God,
but humans have subjected it to sin.
And so Christ’s ascension proclaims
that the whole creation
will also be redeemed in him,
because he will give the meaning
of all that God has created,
and at the end of time
(in this will consist the final judgment)
he will place at God’s feet
the great adjudication of good and evil.
Evil will be eliminated definitively
and good will be taken up
in the eternal glorification of Christ.
The Lord’s ascension also marks the glorification
of the universe.
The universe rejoices, money rejoices, power rejoices,
all material things –
farms and estates, everything –
rejoice because the day will come when the Supreme Judge
will redeem from sin, from slavery, from shame,
all that God has created
and that humans are using for sin,
for affront against their fellows.
The redemption is already decreed,
and in his power God has raised up Christ our Lord.
Christ gone up to heaven is a witness to final justice.
7th May, 1978


* * * * *

It will always be Pentecost in the church,
provided the church lets the beauty of the Holy Spirit
shine forth from her countenance.
When the church ceases to let her strength
rest on the power from above –
which Christ promised her
and which he gave her on that day –
and when the church leans rather on the weak forces
of the power or wealth of this earth,
then the church ceases to be newsworthy.

The church will be fair to see,
perennially young,
attractive in every age,
as long as she is faithful to the Spirit that floods her
and she reflects that Spirit
through her communities,
through her pastors,
through her very life.
14th May, 1978

The Holy Spirit shows us the face of Christ

"Descent of the Holy Spirit", Giorgio Vasari,

Santa Croce Church, Florence, Italy, 16th century.

Over at the Biblicalia blog there are notes of discussions on the Holy Spirit led by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware at Building the Body of Christ: A Weekend of Spiritual Enlightenment, hosted by the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascenscion in Oakland, California in February 2008. All the notes are well worth reading. Here are some of the things Kallistos Ware said in the second session about the Holy Spirit:

My grandmother long ago once wondered, "Why is the Holy Spirit never mentioned in sermons? Hearing of Him is liking hearing news of an old friend one hasn't heard of in a long time."

We will hear of news of this old friend today. St Symeon the New Theologian wrote this invocation to the Holy Spirit:

Come, true light.

Come, life eternal.

Come, hidden mystery.

Come, treasure without name.

Come, reality beyond all words.

Come, person beyond all understanding.

Come, rejoicing without end.

Come, light that knows no evening.

Come, unfailing expectation of the saved.

Come, raising of the fallen.

Come, resurrection of the dead.

Come, all-powerful, for unceasingly your create,

refashion and change all things by your will alone.

Come, invisible whom none may touch and handle.

Come, for you continue always unmoved,

yet at every instant you are wholly in movement;

you draw near to us who lie in hell,

yet you remain higher than the heavens.

Come, for your name fills our hearts with longing and is ever on our lips;

yet who you are and what your nature is, we cannot say or know.

Come, Alone to the alone.

Come, for you are yourself the desire that is within me.

Come, my breath and my life.

Come, the consolation of my humble soul.

Come, my joy, my glory, my endless delight.

Notice three things that St Symeon says regarding the Holy Spirit:

1.) Symeon speaks of the Spirit as light, joy, glory, endless delight, rejoicing without end, and so on. Saint Seraphim of Sarov said that the Holy Spirit fills with joy whatever he touches.

2.) The Spirit is also full of hope, for he looks forward to the age to come.

3.) There is also the nearness yet otherness of the Spirit. He is "everywhere present" [from the prayer, O Heavenly King] yet mysterious and elusive. Symeon calls him "my breath and my life," "hidden mystery," "beyond all words," "beyond all understanding." We know him, but we do not see his face, for he always shows us the face of Christ. Like the air around us, which enables us to see and be seen, he is transparent and enables us to see and hear Christ. He is not to be classified, baffling our computers and filing cabinets. As the Lord said, "The wind blows where it wills, snd you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes" [Jn 3.8]. As C. S. Lewis wrote in the first of his Narnia Chronicles books, Aslan "is not a tame lion." The Holy Spirit is not a tame spirit, either. The Spirit makes Christ close to us, establishing that relationship.

There are two fundamental things about the Holy Spirit:

1.) He is understood in Scripture and Tradition as a Person, not just an impersonal force. Christ is obviously a Person. It is not as obvious with the Holy Spirit, but he is a Person in the experience of the Church. Note Ephesians 4.30: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Impersonal forces do not feel grief, do not feel love. You may love your computer, but your computer does not love you. Our sins, selfishness, and lack of love cause the Holy Spirit grief. He weeps over it.

2.) The Holy Spirit is equal to the other two Persons of the Trinity. From the Creed: "worshipped and glorified together with the Father and the Son." Together, not below. Also, "Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit," all on the same level.

Gregory of Nyssa said, "Never think of Christ without the Holy Spirit." We could reverse that too: never think of the Holy Spirit without Christ.

Irenaeus described the Son and the Spirit as the two hands of the Father, who always uses both hands together. To better understand the Holy Spirit's work, look at the cooperation of the Holy Spirit and the Son.

In the Creed: "incarnate by the Holy Spirit and Virgin Mary." In the Incarnation, the Holy Spirit descends upon the Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit sends Christ into the world.

The Troparion for Theophany: "When you, O Lord, were baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest. For the voice of the Father bore witness unto you, calling you the beloved Son, and the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed His word as sure and true." The Spirit descends from the Father and rests on the Son, the same relationship as in the Incarnation. The Holy Spirit sends the Son into public ministry.

In the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, the Holy Spirit descends upon Christ as a cloud of light, as understood by the Fathers.

In the Resurrection, Christ is raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul in Romans [1.4] calls Christ "the Son of God in power according to the Spirit."

In the Incarnation and Baptism, the Holy Spirit sends Christ into the world. In Pentecost, Christ sends the Holy Spirit to his disciples, and thence into the world. In the First Gospel reading on Holy Thursday evening [Jn 13.31-38; 14.1-31; 15.1-27; 16.1-33; 17.1-26; 18.1] we hear "The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. He will bear witness to me. He will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you [Jn 14.26; 15.26; 16.13-14]. The Holy Spirit testifies not to himself but to Christ, in a natural diakonia.

Christology and Pneumatology are inseparable. The Holy Spirit, the go-between God, establishes the relationship between us and Christ. He shows us not his own face, but the face of Christ.

With or Without the Holy Spirit? (Pentecost 2011)

Today we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church of Jesus. My prayer for all readers of this blog - whatever tradition you belong to, or whatever spirituality nourishes your walk with God at this time of your life - is that you will have the joy of entering more deeply than ever before into the mystery of Pentecost; that the love, the power, the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit will be released afresh in you and in the church communities of which you are part.

Let's not forget that the Holy Spirit seeks to transform us - individuals and communities - into the image of Jesus, and this sometimes means that we know his presence even more in the wilderness than when things are going well. Indeed, when this is so our understanding of "spiritual warfare" is renewed (as it ought to be the more we ponder the things that form the context for our life and witness today!).

I offer you these reflections.

POWER FROM ON HIGH

by Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher to the the Papal Household

Everyone has on some occasion seen people pushing a stalled car trying to get it going fast enough to start. There are one or two people pushing from behind and another person at the wheel. If it does not get going after the first try, they stop, wipe away the sweat, take a breath and try again.

Then suddenly there is a noise, the engine starts to work, the car moves on its own and the people who were pushing it straighten themselves up and breathe a sigh of relief.

This is an image of what happens in Christian life. One goes forward with much effort, without great progress. But we have a very powerful engine ("the power from above!") that only needs to be set working. The feast of Pentecost should help us to find this engine and see how to get it going.

The account from the Acts of the Apostles begins thus: "When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all together in the same place."

In the Old Testament there were two interpretations of the feast of Pentecost. At the beginning there was the feast of the seven weeks, the feast of the harvest, when the first fruits of grain were offered to God, but then, and certainly during Jesus' time, the feast was enriched with a new meaning: It was the feast of the conferral of the law and of the covenant on Mount Sinai.

If the Holy Spirit descends upon the Church precisely on the day in which Israel celebrated the feast of the law and the covenant, this indicates that the Holy Spirit is the new law, the spiritual law that sealed the new and eternal covenant. A law that is no longer written on stone tablets but on tablets of flesh, on the hearts of men.

These considerations immediately provoke a question: Do we live under the old law or the new law? Do we fulfill our religious duties by constraint, by fear and habit, or rather by an intimate conviction and almost by attraction? Do we experience God as a father or a boss?

WITH OR WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT

These words are part of an address to the 1968 Assembly of the World Council of Churches by Patriarch Ignatius when he was Metropolitan of Latakia. They have been quoted a good deal since then, and are used HERE in a sermon of Father Michael Harper, a pioneer of global and ecumenical charismatic renewal, and for the last period of his life a priest of the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

Without the Holy Spirit . . .

God is far away.

Christ stays in the past,

The Gospel is simply an organisation,

Authority is a matter of propaganda,

The Liturgy is no more than an evolution,

Christian loving a slave mentality.

But in the Holy Spirit . . .

The cosmos is resurrected and grows with the

birth pangs of the kingdom.

The Risen Christ is there,

The Gospel is the power of life,

The Church shows forth the life of the Trinity,

Authority is a liberating science,

Mission is a Pentecost,

The Liturgy is both renewal and anticipation,

Human action is deified.

TWO HYMNS

Finally, here are two very different hymns for today. The first is Edward Caswall's 1849 English translation of the thirteenth century Latin Sequence before the Gospel at the Pentecost Mass.

The second is a modern renewal song adapted from a longer piece by Bill Gaither.

Come, thou Holy Spirit, come;

And from thy celestial home

Shed a ray of light divine;

Come, thou Father of the poor;

Come, thou source of all our store;

Come, within our bosoms shine;

Thou, of comforters the best;

Thou, the soul's most welcome guest;

Sweet refreshment here below;

In our labor, rest most sweet;

Grateful coolness in the heat;

Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,

Shine within these hearts of thine,

And our inmost being fill,

Where thou art not, man hath naught,

Nothing good in deed or thought,

Nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;

On our dryness pour thy dew;

Wash the stains of guilt away;

Bend the stubborn heart and will

Melt the frozen, warm the chill;

Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore

And confess thee, evermore

In thy sev'nfold gift descend;

Give them virtue's sure reward;

Give them thy salvation, Lord;

Give them joys that never end.

Amen. Alleluia.

* * * * * * *

Come, Holy Spirit, we need thee.

Come, Holy Spirit we pray.

Come in thy strength and thy power.

Come in thine own gentle way.

Come as the wisdom to children.

Come as new sight to the blind.

Come, Lord as strength in our weakness.

Heal us, soul, body and mind.

The Sunday of the Upper Room

Before Jesus entered the glory of the heavenly sanctuary as our great High Priest, the cloud taking him "out of their sight", he told his followers not to leave Jerusalem but to "wait for the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4). Then he reassured them, "You shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses... to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Clearly he said that because of the difficulty of living for him in our own strength, going forth to evangelise just with our human insights and abilities, or trying to establish his New Community, the Church merely as a sociological reality. "Power from on high" was what they needed for their mission. And it's what we desperately need, too.

So, leaving Mount Olivet they returned to Jerusalem, to the upper room. We read that there were "about 120" of them, not just the Apostles. This was the nucleus of the first Church. They waited "with Mary" for the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon them. "With one accord" they "devoted themselves to prayer" (Acts 1:14).

Our Lady's presence with the praying Church is emphasised in the iconography of the East as well as in the art of the West. What was she doing there? I can't prove this, of course, but to me it seems very likely that she was helping the others prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit. We know that she "kept" all the things that had happened to her, "pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2:19, 51).

Can't you imagine Mary calming the others by sharing her testimony (maybe even in the words of the Magnificat - Luke 1:46-55)?

Can't you hear her telling the others that their relationship with her Son could be like her relationship with him if they will only "hear the Word of God and do it" (Luke 8:21 & Luke 11:28).

Is it unreasonable to think of her nurturing in them the openness to the Lord in prayer so evident in her all those years before when she had said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38)?

And then, don't you think she would have reminded them that as the promise made to her by the angel, "the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you," had been fulfilled (Luke 1:35), so the "promise of the Father" to them will likewise be fulfilled?

I always think of the Sunday between Ascension day and Pentecost as THE SUNDAY OF THE UPPER ROOM. I'm sure that Mary, the Mother of all her Son's people, prays with us and for us today as we seek to be renewed and empowered by that same Holy Spirit of love.

It was the ancient practice of the Church to have a proper "Vigil" of Pentecost. Perhaps Christian congregations of all traditions could do with an all-night prayer meeting culminating in the Mass of Pentecost. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

Whatever we do, let's pray with Our Lady for the renewal of the Church, and for Christian unity. You see, Pentecost is not just about the empowerment of the Church; it is also about the unity that the Holy Spirit brings about. In fact, my heart's desire in praying for Christian unity has always been for the Church of Jesus to be fully catholic, evangelical, and pentecostal all at once, while again breathing deeply with both eastern and western lungs as she loves a broken and wounded world back to God. How dynamic would that be! Well, I believe that's what God wants for his Church as well, not just for his sake or for our sakes, but so that a hurting world will believe.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in us the fire of your love.

Bishop Joe Grech (1948 - 2010) - an anointed servant of the Lord

I have only just heard from Australia that the Most Reverend Joe Grech, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst, died in Melbourne on Tuesday (28th December) after the recurrence of a blood disorder. He was aged 62. Bishop Joe was an amazing man with whom I was privileged to share a number of times many years ago in the context of charismatic renewal. His ministry was one which brought countless young people to the Lord, and the means by which people of all ages experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Joseph Angelo Grech was born in Malta on December 10 1948. He began his studies for the priesthood in Malta, and then arrived in Australia in 1971. At the completion of his theological studies in Melbourne he was ordained a priest and served a number of parishes. The Archbishop of Melbourne sent him to study Spirituality at the Gregorian University, Rome, and on his return to Australia he became full time chaplain to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and then spiritual director to Corpus Christi College (the Victorian provincial seminary).

Father Joe was appointed Auxiliary Bishop in Melbourne by Pope John Paul II. He was consecrated in Patrick's Cathedral on 10 February 1999 by Archbishop George Pell, and served in the western suburbs of the Archdiocese. In 2001 he became Bishop of Sandhurst - based in Bendigo.

"Passionate" is an adjective that occurs often in the various obituaries published so far. And he was. Whether he was preaching to a large charismatic rally, celebrating Mass, conducting retreats for priests and religious, evangelizing and nurturing the faith of young people, or advocating justice and proper care for refugees and migrants, his personal warmth and enthusiasm was a means of drawing many closer to the Lord.

As a tribute to Bishop Joe, here is the last Pentecost homily he preached, taken from the diocesan website.

BISHOP JOE GRECH ON 
THE MIRACLE OF PENTECOST

The Greek word "pente" means fifty. This helps us to understand what the word "Pentecost" means. It is an important event which happened fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus. This feast has important significance for the Jewish people. They saw Pentecost as the feast of the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. For us as Christians, this feast marks the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus when he promised to send his Holy Spirit on his disciples so that they would continue their mission.

Something very dramatic happened on this day. We are very well aware that the twelve with others which also included Mary, our Blessed Mother were enclosed in this room. There were one hundred and twenty present. They were very much in a confused state of mind. Jesus was gone. They invested so much time and hope in him and now it seemed that everything was evaporating in the air. It is true that he made many promises to them. Yet they could not fathom how these promises were going to become a reality. Moreover they were very scared. They were afraid that what happened to Jesus on the cross could easily happen to them. In the midst of this state of uncertainty and deep anxiety, they experienced the power of the Holy Spirit and they were literally transformed. It is enough to have a look at what happened to Peter. Peter was so scared during the passion of Jesus that he denied Jesus three times. However as a result of what happened on this day, he became courageous enough to speak boldly about Jesus and this resulted in many becoming believers. This is how the missionary activity of the church started. Moreover the other disciples continued the mission of Jesus with a certain confidence reaching far distant lands and many of them died as martyrs.

This is all wonderful. However what does all of this have to do with us today? All of us as baptized and confirmed, have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within us. We are totally immersed in the life giving Spirit of the Resurrected Jesus. What does this entail? St. Paul gives us a comprehensive explanation. In his first letter to the Christian community in Corinth a city which still exists today in Greece, he speaks about the variety of the gifts of the Spirit. In chapter twelve, he says that the Holy Spirit gives to us wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy and tongues. Wow . . . we are indeed powerful people. However St Paul also insists that all these gifts are for the benefit of helping others, for building the community of the church.

I would like to speak briefly about two of these gifts, wisdom and healing. The gift of wisdom does not mean that we would be able to know everything and have a solution for everything. It rather means to evaluate the situations which we are facing with the mind and heart of God. My grandma had ten children. During the Second World War, Malta was one of the most bombed places in the world. Some protection was made available to the population by building shelters under the main streets and each family was allotted a bit of space. One can only imagine the fear and anxiety of the people in these dire situations. One day I asked my grandma, "How did you survive all of this day after day with all those children crammed into this little space?" She said to me, "I did my best and God did the rest". What wisdom. I always remember these words especially when I have to face tough decisions. I am sure that many of us can relate to similar situations when we found courage to face difficult situations or when we were able to find the right words for the benefit of others.

The same thing can be said regarding the gift of healing. All of us need healing. Some of us need physical healing while others need emotional or spiritual healing. We are all called and gifted to bring healing to one another. This can be done in various ways. We can pray for the person concerned with the conviction that God desires to do the best for all of us. However there are also other ways. This week I came across these wonderful experiences.

In the Diocese we have the beautiful custom of having prayer partners to the children who will be receiving the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion. Members of the parish community are assigned to pray for a young person as they prepare themselves to receive these sacraments. The wife of one of the parish people involved died recently and as you would imagine he was feeling terrible down. He was finding it very hard to cope with life in general. There was always this great void in his heart after losing a great companion, friend and wife. One day he received a little note from the young boy who he was praying for. In this note the young boy wrote this "Thanks for your prayers, I pray for you too especially I pray for peace". That little note brought great joy and hope to the person concerned. Moreover he also felt the tangible presence of our God in this moment of great need.

Not so long ago, I heard someone telling this story. I was on a weekend of prayer and reflection and I met this person who shared with me her difficult life having gone through the experience of a broken marriage and the death of a son. Moreover, she spoke about forgiveness. She said that when we forgive, sometimes things get better while at other times they do not. However, the main thing is to forgive. While I was thinking and reflecting on this I realised that I have been paralysed by a very damaging situation for forty years. I found the necessary courage after all these years to be able to face squarely that situation and also to forgive. That woman by sharing her brokenness was able to help someone else to find life, to find peace. Indeed we can do a lot of good because of the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. Let us today thank God for these gifts and take every opportunity to do good knowing that even the smallest gesture of kindness can be the moment of grace to others.