Homily on Pentecost Sunday John 7: 37-52; 8-12.
Today is a great day a day of celebration – a day where we have revealed for us the great love that the All-Holy Trinity has for us. Today we Christ’s Body the Church receive an invitation to come unto the All-Holy Trinity’s banquet of love. Today the Holy Table is set with gifts so wonderful that it is with joyful anticipation we His people stand in this very place. You see God loves us beyond all conceiving for He gave us His only Son (John 3:16) so that all who so choose, may come unto Him and drink (John 7:37) and be satisfied. Indeed, this joyous day was prophesied by Saint Isaiah when he said:
“Be glad O Jerusalem, and celebrate holy days in Her (the Church). All you who love Her rejoice exceedingly, and all you who mourn over Her, that you may nurse and be satisfied by the breast of her consolation; that you take pleasure in nursing because of the entrance of Her glory… And I will leave signs upon them and those among them who are saved, I will send forth to the Gentiles: to Tashish, and Pul and Lud and Tubal, and to Greece and to the coast lines far off, to those who have not heard My name, nor seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles (Isaiah 66: 10-11; 19). ”
Here in this passage, Saint Isaiah prophesies this joyful day of Pentecost for the All-Holy Trinity makes it clear that He will commission men to go forth to the Gentiles to proclaim the Gospel of love to all who will hear it (Luke 10: 1-19)! Let us today, not hold back in spreading this message of love; which is revealed in the Holy Gospels. We are commanded to go forth in to all the lands and tell all peoples the Gospel of truth – this Gospel being the All-Holy Trinity’s letter of love to all mankind. For it is only by accepting the truths contained in the Holy Gospels and becoming a member of Christ’s Holy Body that one can be saved. All are called to this feast of love, which is the Holy Mystery of the Holy Eucharist. All are invited to this Holy Banquet where Christ the Bridegroom shows us the depth of His love for His Bride the Church.
It is today that the Comforter is sent upon the Apostles and the Church so that all may proclaim the invitation to all peoples to the feast of the Bridegroom, so that all may be saved - Jew or Gentile alike (Acts 2: 1-11). Christ promised that the Comforter (the All-Holy Spirit) would come so that all may know the great love that the All-Holy Trinity has for His creation (John 14: 16). Indeed, this is the same love that drove our Lord and Saviour to open His arms on the wood of the Holy Cross that all so wish may be raised with Him to new life; a life which never dies. This too is the same love that enabled the great Fathers and Mothers of our faith to shepherd those under their care and bring them to the Fount of all joy.
This is the same Love which overshadows a person when they are Chrismated (Confirmed), for it is by this Holy Mystery that men are given the ability to experience this day of Pentecost for themselves. Also, it is in this act of Chrismation, that they are given special gifts by the All-Holy Trinity to live up to their full potential as a member of Christ’s Body. Each person is given different gifts for the roles are many and varied as people are different. Saint Paul shows us that there are many different gifts of the All-Holy Spirit, for he says:
“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but the same God who works in all. But the Manifestation of the Spirit is given each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings through the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits… but one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members of that one body, being many, are one body so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free- and have all been made to drink into the one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:5-13).”
What this passage teaches us is that through the great wisdom of the All-Holy Trinity He has given each member of Christ’s Body a definite and specific role – a role that is suited to their unique talents and a purpose which enriches Christ’s Body the Church. Furthermore, it is through the Mysteries of Holy Baptism and Chrismation that all are shown to be equal regardless of worldly concerns of culture and supposed class! For unlike the heresy of the Gnostics, all may come to the knowledge of the truth that is contained in Christ’s message of love - the Holy Gospels.
Finally, my people, be joyful for today, Christ makes it known that His, ‘yolk is easy, and His burden is light’ (Matthew 11:30). Gone are the 613 laws of the Old Covenant which men once though brought one close to the All-Holy Trinity! Rather, Christ has fulfilled these 613 laws with two commandments – love the All-Holy Trinity with all your might and to love one another (Matthew 22:34-40). Let us rejoice in this Holy Feast for it is the celebration of our liberation and completion through the grace bestowed upon us by the All-Holy Trinity. Meaning that today, we are brought to the knowledge that we can be free and complete should we wish to be so through joining ourselves to Christ’s Holy Church! Have you accepted your invitation to the Heavenly Banquet which the All-Holy Trinity gives you today?
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