Archpastoral Letter for Pentecost 2008
Prot. N. 189
To the Very
Reverend and Reverend Fathers and Clergy, and to the Beloved Faithful of this
Diocese:
Glory to Jesus
Christ! Slava Isusu Christu!
Suddenly
there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the
whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided
tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit. -- Acts 2.2-4
On the
Christian Feast of Pentecost, the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Mother of God and the Apostles who
were gathered together in the Upper Room. John the Baptist once predicted that
Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3.16): at
Pentecost, at nine o'clock in the morning, the prophecy of the Forerunner came
true in the fullness of divine power and joy.
The fire that
blazed in the Upper Room was a sign of the Uncreated Energy, the Grace, of the
Holy Trinity. The infinite Love of the Three Persons, One in Essence, spills
out in vast profusion into and beyond the entire Universe: and on that spring
day in Jerusalem,
the Holy Spirit glorified Jesus Christ in the everyday reality of common women
and men.
St. Basil
writes that " ... as the Father is seen in the Son, so the Son is seen in the
Spirit ... By means of the illumination of the Spirit we behold the 'radiance of
the glory' [Hebrews 1.3] of God: by means of the 'impression' we are led up to
Him of Whom He is the impression, exactly reproduced on the seal." Jesus Christ
is the complete image of God the Father: the Holy Spirit is the radiance of
that Image, and we are bathed in that ineffable glory.
At Pentecost,
that ineffable glory of Trinitarian Grace flooded the Upper Room with Uncreated
Fire.
The fire is
that glory of grace: it is the light and life of the Body of Christ. It is the
ground of belief, the substance of faith. It is eternal life that is
inaugurated in the here and now. It is what transforms fishermen into fishers
of men. It is what amplifies the language of men into the Gospel of God.
The fire of
Pentecost is nothing less than the profound presence of the Holy Spirit. It is
the only power that constitutes the Church. That Holy Fire is what transforms a
society of common folk into the mystical Body of Christ - common folk who
become partakers of the divine nature, a chosen people, a royal priesthood who
are called by God the Father, fashioned by the Son, and realized by the
indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit. That Holy Fire, which is at the same
time a single flame but set individually upon each person, is the sign and
reality of sanctification in the present, and the perfection of theosis in the
ages to come.
You and I are
inducted into that Day of Pentecost which never ends, for Pentecost is the name
of this one Christian generation. At Pentecost, the Last Days began and will
only finish when the Son of Man returns in glory. Every sacrament completely
ushers us into the mystical Upper Room and immerses us in its Holy Fire.
Through sacrament we commune with the Holy Trinity. Through prayer the Holy
Spirit gives utterance with a language that goes beyond human speech. Through
fellowship we practice for Heaven in the New Jerusalem. Through the virtues we
set aside the darkness and divisions of the Tower of Babel,
and we enter into the sweet family accord of the "peace that passes all
understanding" (Philippians 4.7).
All we have to
do, you and I, is to trade our lesser things for greater things. All we have to
do is to give up our passions and our entanglements, and receive grace and
spiritual gifts.
St. Macarius
the Great writes of this happy exchange: "If you renounce the life you are
leading today and if you persevere in your prayer, you will feel that your
effort is securing you great restfulness. You will discover in these slight
pains and fatigues a great joy and a happiness that are immense. God's tender
love is ineffable. He offers Himself to those who with all their faith believe
that God can dwell in the human body and make it His glorious abode. God built
heaven and earth to be the dwelling place of the human race. But He also built
the human body and soul to make them His own abode, so that He might dwell
therein and rest there as in a well kept house ... 'We are His house,' St. Paul
writes [in Hebrews 3.6].In their houses human beings carefully accumulate their
wealth. The Lord in His house, our soul and body, amasses and stores up the
heavenly riches of the Spirit."
How can we
refuse this exchange? How can we - knowing that there is so much to gain from
repentance and faith - fail to answer the invitation of the Spirit and the
Bride, who say, together, "Come!" (Revelation 23.17).
And yet, there
are those who refuse. Those individuals are the ones who blaspheme against the
Holy Spirit, that sin, which our Lord says, is the only sin that will remain
unforgiven at the end of all things, on the Last Day: Assuredly I say to you,
that all sins will be forgiven the sons of men ... but he who blasphemes against
the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation
(Mark 3.28-29).
What is this
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Remember that the Holy Spirit descended at
Pentecost to glorify the Son of God on this earth, so that we might join with
Jesus in His Mystical Body and sojourn with Him to eternal glory. The Holy
Spirit testifies to Jesus Christ as the only Son of God. The Spirit says that
Jesus is the only Risen One, the only Hope, the only Way, Truth and the Life.
The Spirit says that the Upper Room of Pentecost is the only place of
Salvation, that the Christian Gospel is the only true message of salvation,
that all religion is fulfilled and resolved in the glories of the Apostolic
Orthodox Church.
The Holy Spirit
pushes and raises, moves and leads, cajoles and calls us in the day and the
night, in the sky and the depths of our souls. The Holy Spirit calls us to
solidarity with Jesus Christ in the Church. If we say no to that invitation, we
commit the sin which will be the only sin that remains unforgiven. And
tragically, at the last day, the only ones who will be condemned to the eternal
hell of torment will be those who committed the "unforgiven" sin.
There is no
such thing as an "unforgiveable sin." That is a term that is alien to the
Orthodox Church, for God can do anything He so chooses. And the only sin that
remains unforgiven is the sin of refusal - the sin of refusing to repent and
commune ... the sin of saying no to the Holy Spirit, when the Spirit calls us to
believe ... the sin of not moving, of staying behind, when the Spirit and the
Bride say "Come."
Let us cast
aside all the passions, the despair and the worldly entanglements that draw us
away from belief. Let us lighten ourselves with prayer and freedom, simplicity
and love, communion and repentance, so that the Spirit may lift us up from
earthly cares. Let us completely and perfectly believe in Jesus Christ. Let us
lift up our hearts and gift thanks unto the Lord, so that we may raise on high
the King of all, and enter by the door of the sheepfold into that bright Upper
Room, in the Morning of Eternal Life which is today, this bright day, of the
Feast of Pentecost, the generation of the Apostolic and Everlasting Church of
God.
Granting unto
you, my beloved, my fervent Archpastoral blessings, I remain
Yours in the
Grace of the Holy Trinity,
+ METROPOLITAN NICHOLAS
This Archpastoral Letter is to be read in lieu of the
regular sermon during the Divine Liturgy in all the Parishes of the Diocese on
Pentecost Sunday, June 15.
