The Promise of our Lord, Jesus Christ

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:15-18)

It is good to remind ourselves of at least two things: 1) the continuous and unconditional love of Jesus Christ; and 2) The fulfillment of His promise of sending the Holy Spirit into the world: the day of Pentecost.

This is the “Helper” that Jesus gives to His disciples, the Holy Spirit which is sent into the world on the day of Pentecost, 50 days following Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, which the Orthodox Christian Church celebrates on the 8th of this month.

It is the fulfillment of His promise to be with us forever, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, which abides with us forever, a continuous spiritual connection with God, given to each of us personally on the day of our baptism.

Certainly we may feel, during times of anxiety and fear of the unknown, that God has abandoned us, leaving us to unknown and unpredictable dark forces that wreak havoc on our world. The Gospel does not deny that demonic forces are continually at work in our world, but at the same time, it is good for us to remember our Lord’s victory over the power of darkness and death.

And this is why it is good to remind ourselves of the quote above from Chapter 14 of Saint John’s Gospel. This is what faith is all about, and is especially needed in times of stress and fear of the unknown.

Above all, as Christians, let us remind ourselves, and one another, of the promise of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the He has not left us alone, not for a minute. Let us turn to Him in prayer, asking for faith, patience, strength and compassion. Let us not turn against one another out of anger or fear or differences of opinion. Let us be helpful to one another, recognizing that we are all brothers and sisters, struggling in ways that we may not be aware of.

Pentecost is the fulfillment of God’s love for us, His promise that He loves us and desires to dwell within us personally. He is not only our Creator, but Savior, Redeemer and Great Benefactor.

The prayer of the Holy Spirit is read at the beginning of Matins each Sunday: “Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, present everywhere and filling all things, treasury of blessings and Giver of Life. Come and abide within us, cleanse us of every stain, and save our souls, O Gracious One.”

Let us come together with love and joy on Sunday, June 8, and celebrate the great feastday of Pentecost. As we see in the icon of the feast, the Holy Spirit descended upon each of the Apostles as fire, filling them with the grace of the Holy Spirit. That same Spirit is present in the Church today and in the lives of all baptized believers.