DEACON DAVID BETRAS Pentecost celebrates a rebirth day, with spiritual gifts

The descent of the Holy Spirit on the 50th day after the resurrection of Christ is marked by the feast of Pentecost in the Orthodox Church, which is celebrated Sunday this year.
Orthodox priests and deacons wear green and sing a special prayer expressing thanks to God.
As one of the major holy days in the Old Testament, Pentecost was celebrated on the 50th day after the Jewish Passover. It celebrated the adoption of Sinai's legislation of the Prophet Moses when Jews were liberated from Egypt and entered into an alliance with God nearly 1,400 years before Christ's birth. During this feast, the Jews promised to be obedient to God, and He in turn promised them his mercy and blessings.
Because this feast coincided with the end of the harvest, it was a great celebration. Jews hurried to Jerusalem to participate. Many of them came hardly understanding their mother tongue.
Prophecies
The descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was not a wholly unexpected event for the Apostles. Many centuries before the Savior's birth, God prepared people for the day of their spiritual rebirth.
"It shall come to pass afterwards, that I shall pour out my Spirit on the flesh. ... With joy you will draw water from the well of salvation. ... For I will pour water on a thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground. ... A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and observe and carry out My judgments" (Joel 2:28; Isaiah 12:3, 44:3; Ezekiel 11:19-20).
For the Orthodox Christians, Pentecost and Easter give the true significance of the Christian year and retain the Jewish flavor mentioned previously. Without these two feasts, there would be no church. The Resurrection and descent of the Holy Spirit is a manifestation and fulfillment of the experience of time created by these two feasts.
At the day of his crucifixion, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ made his farewell talk to inform the Apostles about the forthcoming descent of the Holy Spirit. He explained that the Comforter -- the Holy Spirit -- would come to them and fulfill them with a mission of salvation: "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth ... He will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I say unto you ... He, the spirit of Truth, which proceeds from the Father, will bear witness of Me" (John 14:16-17, 26, 15:26)
It is at this time that tradition teaches us that Peter gave his first sermon. After hearing Peter's sermon, many people repented publicly of their sins and were baptized. So by the evening of the same day the Christian church increased from approximately 120 to 3,000 believers. This miraculous event gave rise to the existence of the Christian church, the blessed community of believers summoned to save their souls. Jesus Christ promised that his church would be invincible against the gates of Hell until the very end of the existence of the world.
So what does Pentecost have to do with us today?
Power of renewal
God's grace brings so much peace into our homes and souls, that all earthly advantage and pleasure seem to be negligible in comparison to it. The message of Pentecost is the extraordinary power of renewal. For the most vivid example, we need to refer to the Apostles, many of whom were known as simple, uneducated fishermen possessing no talents. But once the Holy Spirit descended upon them, they became so enriched spiritually and gained so much wisdom faith, and love that they transformed from simple peasants to philosophers and noblemen as well.
If truly God working through the gift of the Holy Spirit can transform simple, uneducated fishermen into philosophers and noblemen, can't the Holy Spirit in us all move us to a greater repentance and renewal toward our community, toward our common man, and most importantly, toward our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? That through the light within us all, we may lead others and make the world a better place to live?
The Holy Spirit can grant special gifts needed to be ministers of the church and Christian society. St. Paul writes: "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophesy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each individually as He wills" (1 Cor. 12:7-11).
St. Paul further admonished the Corinthian Christians to preserve themselves from any foulness and sin. Therefore, isn't it right and just that we should live a chaste life, that we should be honest and moral in our dealings? We should allow the Holy Spirit to work within us, to utilize our talents as they are given to us. God rewards those who utilize the gifts given to them. All of us are given different abilities. It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that allows us to utilize these gifts.
Perhaps it can be best said by the opening prayer in almost every Orthodox prayer and/or liturgy service: "O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere and fillest all things, Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life, come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One."
Addressing the Holy Spirit in this way, we ask the Almighty to cleanse us from every passion which originates within us or attaches to us in dealing with sinful people. We ask him to stay with us and guide us to eternal salvation. When praying to the Holy Spirit and asking for different spiritual gifts, one should preserve a humble attitude and recognize unworthiness because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
XDavid Betras is a deacon at St. Mark Orthodox Church in Liberty.