The Holy Spirit is a balm that can heal all our pains and wounds, - His Beatitude Sviatoslav on Pentecost

“Today, the Church of Christ celebrates one of the greatest Christian holidays – the Feast of Pentecost, the Descent of the third person of God, the Holy Spirit. Today we celebrate the birth of the Church and its proclamation to the world,” the Head of the UGCC said in a homily.

The preacher explained that this is one of the most ancient holidays, even older than Christmas. It is associated with the Passover, because in the Old Testament it was the feast of the covenant between God and His chosen people. It was a holiday in which God gave his people the law as guidelines to the fullness of life, a hint for wisdom to find the right way out of hopeless life situations.

“On the day of Pentecost, the Paschal Sacrament of Jesus Christ in His Body and Blood ends with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Today is the conclusion of the New Testament with all creation of God,” the Archbishop said.

The Head of the UGCC drew attention to the interesting circumstances of the event of the descent of the Holy Spirit, as it completely changes the apostles, renews the meaning of their sermon. Separated from other people, they become fishermen of all.

The apostles, he says, become those who give birth in the Holy Spirit to the Church of Christ in different parts around the globe. It is they who will go to preach the word of God to different nations, establish Christian communities and break down any prejudices that have existed or exist between nations, cultures, nations, and begin to bring together all that was once divided at the Tower of Babel.

“Therefore, the holiday of Pentecost is a holiday of calling all people to a new unity by the power and action of the Holy Spirit,” the Father and Head of the UGCC emphasized.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav assured that the same Holy Spirit who descended on the apostles rests and acts today in the Church of Christ, and His presence and action are “the inner, mysterious and mystical content of the Christian, spiritual life.”

The Head of the Church pointed out that all the Sacraments in the Church are performed by the power and act of the Holy Spirit: “It is through the power and act of the Holy Spirit in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation a new person is born in Christ; bread transforms into the Body and wine transforms into the Blood in the Holy Eucharist; in Confession, the prayer of forgiveness frees us from sin; love unites newlyweds in the Sacrament of Matrimony; we receive the strength to overcome the disease in the Anointing of the Sick, for healing soul and body; a deacon becomes a  priest or a priest becomes a bishop through the Sacrament of Holy Orders.”

“Every time you ask for a blessing, you ask for the grace of the Holy Spirit,” the preacher said.

The Head of the UGCC noted that today we have to hold a celebration in special circumstances of war, which, as for him, “nullified all human relations”. He assumes that we really need the Comforter during the war.

“That is why we ask today: O Holy Spirit, come, renew us, give us strength, teach us to be bearers of truth. O Holy Spirit, You are the Spirit of truth, give us strength to tell the truth about the truth of Ukraine, as our great Kobzar once said, so “that all may hear at last what happened in Ukraine of old, why she in bondage lay, and how the Cossack fame was born, and through the world made way!” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav quoting Taras Shevchenko’s poetry.

“May the Holy Spirit make us all spiritual disciples of our Savior. May it descend onto our personal hearts, melt our hardening, and write God's law of the truth of life in our hearts. May every place where we will be staying be revived, sanctified, may everything that we touch with our thoughts, dreams, our hands and our deeds be revived. May the Holy Spirit descend on Ukraine today, wipe our tears and renew the face of the Ukrainian land,” wished His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

The UGCC Department for Information