I greet you with the joy of the feast of Pentecost overflowing in my heart as we have reached the epilogue in our 4 month journey through Great Lent, Holy Pascha, Ascension, and now have reached the incredible celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost…the Birthday of the Church…the day that TRANSFORMS THE WORLD!
There is an image I want to share with you in this reflection that comes from a vision in the book of Ezekiel. The prophet is brought to the door of outer door of the temple, and saw a small spring gushing from temple and going out in a line of water towards the east. A man went out and stood in the stream and noticed that it came up to about his ankles. He continued to the follow the flow of the water about 1,000 meters and stood in it again and noticed it reached up to his knees. The man, surprised by the depth, went another 1,000 meters to see what would happen to this water that was coming from the temple. He stood in it and it had reached his waist, and was becoming a little harder to stand in due to the current. He went 1,000 meters further, and the river had risen so much and ran with such a force that it was impossible go in and see just how deep it was.
The man looked up and further down river, and saw how the waters continued to rise and rush with incredible force. On each side of this rushing river stood fruit bearing trees that gave a special beauty to the place. In the waters, he started to notice a great number of fish that now had water deep enough to swim in. Then he saw people to the right and to the left that freely ate from the ripe fruit of the trees, caught and ate the fish, drank the never-ending stream of life-giving water, and lived in happiness.
This vision of Ezekiel made manifest, is what we celebrate today on the Feast of Pentecost! The Grace of the Holy Spirit started to run like a river, as it came down from Heaven onto the Disciples in the upper room. That day, at the newfound power of St. Peter’s preaching, 3,000 souls joined the Church of Christ. After a few days, that number came to 5,000, then 10,000, then 20,000…on and on we see the life-giving waters increase within the Church.
The Holy Spirit reached so many that no one, not even the devil himself, could stop the flood…although God knows he has tried. In those early days, he sent persecutors like Nero and Diocletian, who despite their best efforts couldn’t stop the flow of the life giving waters to God’s people. In more recent decades, the devil tried to stop the flow by getting into the hearts of people like Joseph Stalin and Nicolae Ceausescu…who did everything they could to dam the river…and it drowned both of them and their worldly governments.
The devil said, enough of these weak politicians, I’m going to send a global pandemic to try and destroy the people…and destroy the faith. Through sickness and paranoia, people were forced into their homes and were temporarily separated from their churches and the life-giving sacraments. The devil’s efforts, as they have been countless times before, have been foiled by the life-giving waters of the Holy Spirit…as we are seeing such growth in the Holy Orthodox Church as we have ever seen in our short lifetimes.
On the feast of Pentecost, like the man who followed the flow of the river, we have seen throughout history how powerful the work of the Holy Spirit within the Church has become, and today we take a moment to look around and give thanks to God.
Ezekiel, when he stood by the river, saw it surrounded by fruit trees which offered nourishment to those who lived near the stream. How much more are we nourished in life when we maintain our ties to the life-giving water of the Holy Spirit?
Ezekiel saw an abundance of fish in the river that the inhabitants caught and ate for protein and strength. How much more strength are we given when we partake of God Himself within the Eucharist? Fr. Lev and I often say to one another on Wednesday morning Liturgies…right after taking the communion, almost every time, we look at one another and say: “Is there any better way to start the day?”
We can be assured of one thing today, we have not reached the end of the Raging Waters of the Holy Spirit. They continue to grow, as is seen with the catechumens and converts that have recently come into the Church.
Very soon, despite our recent expansion, the waters will begin to overflow the banks of this parish community. If we have learned one thing from history, it is that if we try to stand in the way of the river, we are going to be knocked over…which is why I have asked our parish council to start the process of developing a master plan which would pay off our mortgage, and use the funds we would save in a mortgage payment to begin to fund a mission parish to the south of us over the coming years. It’s coming dear ones…and I ask you to keep that mission goal in your prayers and your hearts, as we celebrate the incredible gift of the Holy Spirit, of which we are so unworthy of.
May our Lord continue to bless us, and shine the light of His countenance upon us, and have mercy on us, Amen!