May 31st 2026: Pentecost

On this blessed feast day, may it be blessed

for you. This is election season, as you cannot

avoid, even in church. Let me make an extravagantly

bold and sweeping statement. A true statement,

unlike those that you will hear on the commercials

by the candidates. It's an extravagantly bold

and sweeping statement, but it's absolutely true.

And the statement is this. The entire history

from the beginning, from the creation, was directed

towards the day on which God would pour out his

Holy Spirit, as the prophet says, on all flesh.

That day came, and that's what we're celebrating.

Not history, not merely history. It came, it

happened, it is in history. But all the life

of the church and the saints and the faithful

show that it is immediate. It is true. And it's

for you and me. And today is our Pentecost. The

Old Testament feast of Pentecost. Occurred 50

days after Passover. I said the Old Testament.

The commemoration, that was the commemoration

of the exodus of the Israelites from captivity

and slavery in Egypt and in celebration of God's

gift of the Ten Commandments to those people

in the wilderness through Moses who went onto

the mountain and beheld the divine counsel. and

beheld the Lord himself. We are in the new covenant.

It carries forward from the old. We still practice

so much of the Jewish life because the Orthodox

Church is the continuation of the people of God.

And the Passover has taken on a new meaning since

the crucifixion of our Lord and his resurrection.

That is, that we have passed over, as he has,

from death to life. We worry about death. We

grieve for those who die. But brothers and sisters,

if we have followed our Lord and Savior, if we

have picked up the cross and denied ourselves,

and that's not nothing. That is truly to put

to death all those things within us. That are

opposed to God and that kill us and that kill

our soul. If we have done that and followed Christ

and been given the Holy Spirit. Then death is

something we will face. But not with fear. Not

with anxiety. Not with regret. Because we are

already living by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

The life of the resurrection. Beyond death. That's

what it means to celebrate Pascha. So, Passover,

Pascha, has taken on this new meaning of baptism.

From earth to heaven, the exodus of God's people,

us, from the sinful world to the eternal kingdom,

here in this world. Everyone's invited to share.

Every single person that is created is invited

for this. Every single person is invited to follow

the Lord Jesus Christ. But we that do, we listen

to him. And what he says, his invitation, follow

me. Come after me. But pick up your cross. You're

going to have to deny something that you want

to hold on to dearly. But it will kill you in

the end. And I will save you. We have to truly

die to sin and to the old broken, distorted,

wounded things. And here we are, asking God to

heal us. And I will say that extravagantly bold

and sweeping statement again. The entire history

of mankind is directed to the day in which God

poured out his spirit upon all flesh. And there's

the wonderful fresco of that up there. That day

has come. Here's what St. John says. Pardon me.

Here's what St. Luke says in Acts. When the day

of Pentecost had come, they were all together

in one place. And suddenly a sound came from

heaven like the rush of a mighty wind. And it

filled all the house where they were sitting.

There appeared to them as a fire distributed

as resting upon each one of them. And they were

all filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit

that Christ promised his disciples on the day

of Pentecost, like living water flowing out of

a person. And the apostles, who before the resurrection

would never be voted most likely to succeed,

Christ came to them on the day of the resurrection,

the eighth day. And it says in the Gospels, Matthew,

Mark, Luke, and John, how he upbraided them.

He was all over them for denying the witness

of the women that the Lord was risen. And then

immediately he breathes on them and says, receive

the Holy Spirit, whoever sins. You forgive, they're

forgiven. Whoever sins you retain, you retain.

And he says to them on the Mount of Ascension,

go into all the world. These men who could do

nothing almost correct then became brave, courageous,

merciful, loving, full of miracles, full of the

Spirit of God, full of the Word of God. This

is an impossible thing that's given to us in

this world. Thank God, brothers and sisters,

for this day and for what has been given to us.

Pentecost Sunday is also called Trinity Sunday

because we are given the knowledge of who God

is, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And Pentecost

has happened to us. It happened to you when you

were baptized and you were chrismated. The grace

of the Holy Spirit, says St. Nicodemus of the

Holy Mountain, which is given mystically to every

person when he is baptized and chrismated, acts,

acts and is manifested in proportion to our obedience

to the commandments of the Lord. Think about

that. That is, if a Christian obeys the commandments

of the Lord more, grace acts more in that person.

Well, if he obeys them less, Grace acts less.

Not because God wants to take it away. No, it's

because we don't have the capacity to hold on

to it until we practice the commandments because

they heal us and they give us this capacity to

hold on to the grace. What you sow, that you

will reap. What you spend your time doing, that's

what you're going to get good at. What you practice,

that is what you will perfect. If it's prayer,

if it's the commandments, then you will be saints.

And he goes on. He says, just as a spark, when

covered in the ashes of the fire, becomes increasingly

manifest as one removes the ashes. And the more

firewood you put on it, the more the fire burns.

So the grace that has been given to every Christian

through holy baptism and chrismation is hidden

in the heart. And yet, often covered by our sins

and our passions. And he goes on. He says, however,

the more a person acts in accordance with the

commandments of Christ, the more he is cleansed

of the passion and the more the fire of divine

grace flames in his heart and illumines him and

deifies him. What a miracle this is. I thought

last night, that I might give a sermon to the

younger parishioners, the children. And what

I would say to them, I say to you now, what is

the goal of your life? If it's only limited to

this worldly plane, then you will miss the goal

of your life, the goal of every person. because

we are created in the image of likeness of God

by the one who loves us. The goal of our life

is exactly what St. Nicolaus just said. Divine

life, to be illumined and to know the Lord. And

we can check on that if we are on the right path.

Are we just on the worldly path, or we have mixed

them up a little bit, or we are truly on the

path of repentance and the kingdom of God? How

can we check? The Psalms say that we should have

joyfulness of heart at the presence of the Holy

Spirit. If the Spirit is within us and acting

within us, and we are conscious, and we are taking

the time and praying and worshiping and trying

to keep the commandments, though we will fail,

the Lord is not the district attorney looking

for ways to condemn us. The Lord is our advocate.

And the Holy Spirit is our advocate. And the

Father is the one who loves us. But we will have

that joy of heart. The kind of joy that when

you see somebody you love so much that you run

to embrace them. That kind of joy. The kind of

joy that when you're in nature. I remember standing

on that high point at Yosemite. that you have

to drive way up into. Back in the old days, they

would drop like fire off the edge at night. And

you could see Half Dome in the distance, and

you could see the peaks. And that kind of joy

that grips your imagination and your heart so

much at the glory and magnificence of creation.

Will that be with you every moment? No. But it

will be with you in measure. Even if you're afflicted,

it will be with you because it's the God who

is beyond all affliction that is with you. If

you are in joy, it will be with you because the

God who is king over all, you have confidence

and trust in him. We heard the words of the Lord.

If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

He that believes on me, as scripture has said,

out of his belly, out of his heart, his whole

being, shall flow rivers of living water. St.

John said, this means the Holy Spirit. So we

come to him. We believe in him. These are verbs.

We have to do something. We walk, we trust, we

follow, we're faithful in our actions. And when

the Lord's Prayer is said every morning, and

every evening, and maybe at the third hour of

the day, and the sixth hour of the day, and the

ninth hour of the day, when we say the Lord's

Prayer, we say, thy kingdom come. Yes, even that

is God's Holy Spirit coming to us, because the

kingdom is within our heart. His dominion, his

glory, and his honor, within my heart, and that

is the source of joy. When I recite the creed

at morning prayers, I confess that Christ has

ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand

of the Father and reigns and has all authority

in heaven and on earth and even here. Glory to

God for making us his children. Glory to God

for gathering us together in his holy church.

Glory to God for forgiving our sins. Glory to

God for sending down the Holy Spirit on us and

upon these gifts which we will offer. Glory to

God for having given us his Eucharist, so we

will be united to him and his church and all

the faithful. This gift of God through the gift

of the Spirit. Remember, this is the day. Amen.