Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - June, 2005

Ascension and Pentecost

Jose Kurian Puliyeril

The Ascension of our Lord the Pentecost are two important events which had influenced the growth and development of the early Church. The ascension of our Lord is the occasion when our Lord revealed His plan of sending the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1: 1-11) In fact the supply of the Holy Spirit enabled the early Church to attain radical changes. In a way one could say that the Ascension is the end of the master plan of salvation. By Ascension Lord Jesus became invisible to the human eyes. Till then all the faithful were able to meet Him or listen Him. At the time of the Ascension, our Lord advised the faithful to wait for the Holy Spirit the promise of the Father. (Acts 1:4) Like wise the Apostles as well as a few others spent the time together in prayer. And finally they all received the Holy Spirit in the shape of tongues of fire. The experience of the Pentecost is available in Acts of the Apostles chapter 2 Verse 1- 13.Actually the early Church was entirely filled in Holy Spirit. 

There are a few at least among the members of the Episcopal Churches, who would think and argue that we have received Holy Spirit in our childhood itself through the Holy Baptism and Holy Mooron. The spirit in us also has to grow when the body will grow. The growth of the body and spirit must go hand in hand. Hence there is no need/question of thinking about the Holy Spirit in our lives. Even though we have received the Holy Spirit in us, we must admit that our human interests and desires for the worldly pleasures are suppressing the Holy Spirit in us by hindering its growth to fullness. As the Holy Spirit in us is weak and immature, we could not lead a life as envisaged by our Savior Lord Jesus. That is why we are often de-railed from the tracks and often our lives become self centered rather than Christ centered. We find the exact resemblance of this nature in our family, Parish and Church lives. 

The Holy Church Fathers suggest us a way to rectify this false practice. They insist us to wait for the Holy Spirit, prior to attending/partaking the sacraments, in which the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is taking, place. We hear about the expectation of the Holy Spirit from our Lord Jesus Christ itself. (Refer St. Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8) And the innocent disciples and the other sincere followers of our Lord waited for the Holy Spirit with one mind and one prayer. The result of the waiting was so promising that what they had expected and imagined. (Refer Acts 2:1-13) All who waited for the Holy Spirit got the talent of language .As everyone is sure about the further incident it is unnecessary to go through its details. 

In all the sacraments there is occasion for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. For example in Holy Qurbana, it is the time of expectation from the time of beginning of the Holy Sacrament’s preparation till the indwelling of the Holy spirit. (When we hear the exhortation from the Deacon/Altar Asst “Barekmor. How awful is this hour and how awe-inspiring is this time, my beloved ones, wherein the Holy Spirit from the topmost heights of heaven takes wings and descends…….) The Holy Spirit indwells upon the Holy Mysteries as God’s spirit dwelled in St. Mary and took the shape of the body of Lord Jesus. All this happened through the words of God passed to St. Mary carried by Angel Gabriel. God’s divine and holy presence in the mysteries is enabled by the repetition of the Holy verses of our Lord and by the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ even though a full man was really full God also. Like wise in our sight even though the mysteries are mere bread and wine, they remain at the same time as the flesh and blood of our Lord. An example of an iron piece, which was heated, will make this statement more clear. The heat and the metal, which carried the heat, were both in the iron piece. Likewise the Holy Spirit makes the bread the bread and wine the flesh and blood of our Lord and the both conditions remains together. Our Lord Himself says “my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” (St. John 6:53-58) The intention of our Saviour is very clear that He wishes to remain in each and every one of us even through the food and drink we take in. According to the teaching of our Church Fathers, the Holy Spirit will indwell among the congregation, provided they stand together with “one mind and one prayer”. We will have to admit that we are not attending the Holy Sacrament with one mind and one prayer and we must try to do so. If Holy Spirit in us is not alive cent percent, our Christian lives will be of only name sake. It is the duty of each individual to see that he/she is holding cent percent of H. Spirit in him or her. Remember that God is willing always to stay in us fully and not partially. So let us make use of the Sacraments and prayers through which we could renew the H. Spirit in us fully so that we could also produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Then our Christian lives will be meaningful and blessed. In all the Sacraments (Baptism, Marriage, Priesthood etc) there is indwelling of the Holy Spirit and Holy Spirit is making those sacraments heavenly, Godly and complete. In addition to these expectations for the H. Spirit, the Holy Church has separated the 10 days from the Ascension of our Lord (Swargarohana Perunnal) till the Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost, the celebrant would exhort the congregation to kneel down praying Kurie-laison and to get up with the power. Now let us think whether we were able to get the power of the Holy Spirit in the past, even though we have knelt down and prayed Kurie-laisson several times. If some one had waited for the H. Spirit, he or she might have received the H Spirit. This year, the festival of Ascension is on 5th May and the festival of Pentecost is on 15th May (in Malankara). So all readers of the Shroro are earnestly requested to have special meditations, prayers, lent and if possible fasting also to get abundant supply of H. Spirit on the day of Pentecost. May God bless us and our entire Church, entire mankind and the entire Universe.