PENTECOST INCLUDES ALL OF US
(Monday, June 9)
“The Holy Spirit provides all things: He pours forth prophecies, He leads priests to perfection, He teaches unschooled people wisdom, He reveals fishermen as theologians, He confirms the Church…” (Vespers-hymn, Pentecost)
One of the main themes of Pentecost and this Pentecost Monday, called The Day of the Holy Spirit, is the inclusiveness of the Holy Spirit, by which He “confirms the Church.” While some might think that the Church (with a big “C”) is confirmed through her ex-clusiveness, through her rules and walls, He calls “all” of us to unity, first and foremost with Himself, with God, – and through Him, with others who open up to His grace. St. Peter stressed this point in his sermon on Pentecost, when he quoted the Prophet Joel: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams…” This prophecy of Joel is one of the Old Testament readings on the eve of Pentecost, along with the other reading that stresses inclusiveness – from Numbers 2, where Moses accepts the “prophesying” of Eldad and Medad, who did so not at the Tabernacle (the place of worship) but among the people in the camp. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are being poured out both on sons and daughters, on young and old, on those at the places of worship or outside, the educated and the unschooled: “He teaches unschooled people wisdom, He reveals fishermen as theologians...”
Please note that the main point here is not political or even church-political. It’s personal. Each of us, including me, might at times exclude ourselves from this picture, of grace being poured out “on all flesh.” We might think, Yes, but… I fall short of this or that requirement or prerequisite for receiving the Holy Spirit. I am distracted, dragged down, saying or doing the wrong things, not going to church enough, or whatever. I think it’s our self-alienation and self-isolation from the all-inclusive and all-embracing (kath’olos or “catholic”) Spirit that leads us to procrastinate when it comes to accepting His invitation. He’s inviting us to receive Him, and to be received by Him, at His ongoing feast, as we are: young or old, female or male, educated or unschooled, pious or not-so-pious, and so on. Wherever or however we are, dear friends, let us forgive ourselves and one another today, as we kneel before our loving, Triune God, and let Him in. “O Heavenly King…, come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One!”
