COME O HOLY SPIRIT AND FILL OUR LAMPS

COME O HOLY SPIRIT AND FILL OUR LAMPS Fr Luke A Veronis Every day when I enter into our Church, the first thing I try to do is go into the altar and make sure the vigil candle is lit. I always want a light burning on the altar table. I fill it with oil and a new wick, so that it stays lit before the tabernacle of Christ, which holds His sacred Body and Blood. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it. To keep the light of Christ aflame within us, we have to keep inviting the Holy Spirit to come anew and abide in us! We have to keep opening our lives and allow the Spirit of God to rule freely in our lives! What is the first prayer we say in our morning Orthodox Prayers. It is a prayer to the Holy Spirit, asking Him to come and abide in us. “O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth who are present everywhere and fill all things, the Treasurer of Blessings and Giver of Life, come and abide in us, and cleanse us from our sins and save our souls O Good One.” To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it. To keep the light of Christ aflame within us, we have to keep inviting the Holy Spirit to come anew and abide in us! This image of putting oil in a vigil candle is an appropriate image for us today on this Feast of Holy Pentecost. We celebrate and participate once again in the coming of the Holy Spirit on the 50th day after Christ’s Resurrection from the dead. The Spirit came WITH POWER upon the followers of Jesus, transforming them from frightened, unenlightened, illiterate fishermen to bold and fearless preachers, from feeling like abandoned orphans to being filled with His grace and Presence. On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter and the other Apostles were so filled with the Spirit of God that they boldly went out into the streets of Jerusalem and began proclaiming the Good News of the Risen Jesus Christ. And what shocked everyone was that as they preached, the crowds heard their message in their own native language. Imagine, the Apostles were creating such a ruckus that thousands of people gathered to listen to them. And these people were Jews from around the world – Parthians, Medes, Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia and Egypt, Cretans and Arabs.” And they all heard Peter preaching in their native tongues! Impossible, you may say! And you’re right! Peter was an uneducated fisherman who probably never traveled further than 100 miles from his hometown and yet, here he was, preaching in a way that people heard his message in their own languages. This is the power of the Holy Spirit to do the impossible. After we offer the prayers for Pentecost at the end of the Divine Liturgy, we will sing, “Who is so great a god as our God, You are the God who alone does great wonders.” What is impossible for us is possible for God to do in us through the Holy Spirit! And this is the Spirit that we pray for anew every day. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it. To keep the light of Christ aflame within us, we have to keep inviting the Holy Spirit to come anew and abide in us! Well, the preaching of Peter on Pentecost invited all its listeners to “discover the ways of life and to become full of joy in His Presence. He noted that Pentecost was the fulfillment of the ancient prophecy of Joel, when God promised “I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.  And on all servants I will pour out My Spirit and I will show wonders.” And what happened on that first day of Pentecost? Three thousand people believed and were baptized. Again, it sounds impossible. This tiny band of illiterate Jewish followers began a movement inspired by the Holy Spirit. And then listen to what happened as they joined together as a new community. “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teachings and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and shared all things in common, selling their possessions and goods, and dividing them among all, as anyone had need.” A new community of radical love – love for the Risen Lord Jesus and love for one another – began. And this transformation of their lives began with their belief in the Risen Jesus and the opening of their hearts to the Holy Spirit. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it. To keep the light of Christ aflame within us, we have to keep inviting the Holy Spirit to come anew and abide in us! Saint Seraphim of Sarov says, “The goal of the Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit! All the spiritual disciples of prayer, fasting, vigils, and acts of charity are simply ways of opening our hearts to receive anew and maintain the Holy Spirit in our lives.” Today, on this feast of Pentecost, let us open up our hearts anew to the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is life and life-giving; He is light and giver of light; He is the font of wisdom and grace, goodness itself and the source of all that is good. The Holy Spirit is fire consuming all that is impure and setting alight within us all of the divine virtues. Let me conclude with this prayer of Saint Symeon the New Theologian to the Holy Spirit – “Come, true light. Come, eternal life. Come unfading joy. Come my breath and life. Come, hidden mystery. Come unlimited treasure. Come, ceaseless courage. Come Name above all names most desired. Come, true hope of all who are being saved. Come, all-powerful one." O Holy Spirit, You change me. You transform me. You transfigure me into your likeness. Although I am mortal, you give me immortality. Though I am poor you make me rich. Though I am weak you make me more powerful than any king. You are my delight, my comfort, my life. "Come O Holy Spirit.”