But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
John 14:26
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity. Like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is uncreated, co-eternal with the Father and the Son. And like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit was involved in the creation of the world. The Holy Spirit is revealed in the form of a dove at the baptism of Christ.
John 14-17 is sometimes called the “Farewell Discourse” of Christ. It was said on the night He was betrayed and arrested, shortly before these events. Jesus was telling His disciples not only about His death and Resurrection, but how the church was going to be established. He revealed that after His Resurrection and Ascension (though He did not use the word Ascension), that the disciples would not be left alone to figure things out, nor would they be confused about what to do. In John 14:26, Jesus tells them “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
The fulfillment of this verse began on Pentecost and continues to this day. The Jewish feast of Pentecost was fifty days after Passover. This feast existed centuries before the coming of Christ, and commemorated the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law. The Resurrection coincided with the Passover, as Christ became the New Passover, the new Pascha. Since Pentecost commemorated the giving of the Old Testament Law, guided by rules and regulations, God sent His Holy Spirit on Pentecost to establish the Church.
The Church is anchored on the New Covenant, which is the Body and Blood of Christ. You might say that we are “Eucharist-Centered” because the Eucharist is at the center of all that we go as Orthodox Christians. The Church is guided by the Holy Spirit, who effects the Eucharist and the rest of our sacraments.
The Holy Spirit bestows grace, and grace, simply defined, is a God-like quality that completes what is lacking, and makes ordinary become extraordinary. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of tongues of fire on the Disciples and suddenly, these simple, most uneducated men, were able to speak in all the languages known to the world. As part of this grace, they also became extraordinary leaders, gifted orators, and were guided to take the message of Christ everywhere. These men who struggled to catch fish in their boats were now boldly trekking across the known world to preach the Gospel.
The leader of the Church is the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit guides us into truth. We all carry deficits of some magnitude. It might be a deficit of knowledge—we don’t know what to do—and then we all of a sudden have clarity on the next thing to do. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who as we pray is “everywhere present and filling all things.” As a priest, I am constantly trying to make decisions for the edification of the flock I have been entrusted. Pastoral care is one of the most difficult areas of ministry because the variety of pastoral issues is inexhaustible. I’m always hearing new things, whether in counseling or confession. In the times when I feel stumped, confused and even alone in what I should say, when a thought comes to my mind, I often think of the Holy Spirit, filling the gap. When the Church has to make a decision, such as who will be a Bishop, or Archbishop, or Patriarch, those who are making the decision call upon the Holy Spirit to guide their deliberations. It is interesting to note that when a man is ordained a Bishop, the hymns and Scripture readings of that Divine Liturgy are of Pentecost, because those who are doing the ordaining know that the grace that one must receive in order to be a bishop comes from the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is called upon to make our “ordinary” gifts of bread and wine into the extraordinary Body and Blood of Christ. The Holy Spirit is called upon to bless the waters of baptism. The Holy Spirit is received in the sacrament of Chrismation. The Grace of the Holy Spirit, through the unworthy person of the priest hearing a confession, looses the sins of the penitent. The Grace of the Holy Spirit sanctifies the oil of Holy Unction. The Grace of the Holy Spirit consecrates a union of a man and a woman into a family in the sacrament of marriage. And finally “The Divine Grace, which always heals what is infirm and completes what is lacking” (from the sacrament of Ordination) is what ordains and enables a man to take his place as a deacon, priest or bishop.
The Holy Spirit is the fountain of wisdom and understanding. So when we read Scripture and come to understanding of what we are reading, it is the grace of the Holy Spirit that moves us to comprehension, or in a Bible study, it is the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads the priest or lay leader of the Bible study to be able to articulate correctly when is being studied. It is the grace of the Holy Spirit which spoke to the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council to formulate the Creed, fulfilling Jesus’ words in John 14:26 that He teaches us all things and brings to our remembrance all the things Jesus taught His disciples.
Finally, the Holy Spirit is present in each person in our souls. When our son was born, I received a letter from my bishop, Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta, who not only congratulated us on the birth of our son, but who said that we were now “co-creators with our God.” I will always remember that, and what a profound thought that this is. That a human being is created with a combination of male matter, female matter, and spiritual matter—an egg provided by a woman, a sperm provided by a man, and a soul provided by the Holy Spirit. The soul is the part of us that houses our conscience, and the part of us that is nurtured through prayer, faith and the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s prayer is offered in both personal devotion and corporate worship (though it is generally not said between Pascha and Pentecost), a prayer to the Holy Spirit.
Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, everywhere present and filling all things, the Treasury of blessings and Giver of Life, come and abide in us, cleanse us from every stain, and save our souls, O Good One.
Any prayer for wisdom is a prayer to the Holy Spirit. It is important to pray for wisdom and discernment, and to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, and as Jesus said, to bring to our remembrance all that He taught us.
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