O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, You are everywhere present and fill all things.
Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life, come and dwell within us,
cleanse us all stain and save our souls, O Gracious Lord.

This weekend we celebrate the glorious feast of Pentecost. This is one of the greatest feasts of our Church and replaces the Jewish feast of Pentecost. The descent of the Holy Spirit is, as it were, the seal on the world of the salvation of the human race accomplished by Jesus, the Son of God. It not only commemorates God’s work of filling the Apostles of Jesus with the courage to preach the Good News but also celebrates the gift of His indwelling Spirit to us.

Like the Jewish feast of Pentecost, which marks the fiftieth day after Passover, the Christian feast of Pentecost marks the fiftieth day after Pascha (Easter), which has become the New Passover. Indeed we believe that Christ is the new Moses who has freed us from the captivity of sin and death. He accomplished this by His life, death and resurrection.

The Church celebrates this feast as the beginning of the Church as we know it. The Pentecost event, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, tells us that suddenly the apostles were no longer afraid to publicly bear witness to their belief in Jesus Christ and to proclaim the Good News that He brought to the world. We recall that immediately after the death of Jesus the Apostles were afraid and hid in the upper room since they thought that the synagogue authorities would also have them killed. Then something happened. All of a sudden the Apostles were no longer afraid and actually began to preach in public. All of a sudden they realized that what Jesus had taught them made sense and they felt free and liberated from their fears. They were no longer afraid to profess that they were followers of Jesus! In a single moment they became Christians.

Through this feast our Church calls us to become authentic followers of Jesus and not fear to profess to the world that we are Christians. We are called to witness to the Good News Jesus taught.

Sometimes modern Christians find it difficult to witness to Christ for fear of ridicule and also fear of being identified with fundamental Christians who, it must be admitted, can be judgmental of others who do not embrace the same type of Christianity. It is extremely important, I believe, that our modern world sees that Christians can be non-judgmental, thoughtful and respectful of others while still believing in Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what we are called to do – to bear witness to Jesus in an   intelligent manner without judging others who do not believe like us.

Know that you are called to witness Him!