Homily by Deacon Jean Mattar, given at Our Lady of Purgatory, New Bedford MA.
“Pentecost” describes the 50th day after Passover, which was a Feast Day. It was known as the Feast of Weeks or Feast of Harvest.
It was on this day, in the Book of Acts, that the Holy Spirit was poured out on 120 Followers of Christ who were gathered in the Upper Room. It was on this day that the Church was born in a Glow of Glory.
As we were taught, God exists in three persons, but we often only hear about two: the Father and the Son. This reminds me of Saint Joseph who at the same time does not get enough credit or mention. Chase Culbertson uses the analogy of football to describe the Trinity: “If you use the example of a sports team to understand God, the Holy Spirit is like the kicker or special teams in football. He is so much more important than we give Him credit for” or like in Baseball is the unsung hero who contributes and orchestrates all the little things to make the team win (never gets the credit).
“God the Father is like the offense: He sent His Son to die for us while we were still sinners. God the Son—Jesus—is like the defense: He defeats our enemies and stands up for us in the face of our biggest battles. In Jesus’ battle on the cross, He died for our sins, defeating the power of sin forever”.
We believe in one God, who is three divine Persons:
For us sinful and weak humans, it is very difficult to comprehend how one God could be one in three persons. Since the creator is not a living being like you and me even though He created us in His likeness and image, and so we can never fully understand the fullness of who He is. He has publicized and revealed to us that even there is one God, known as God the Father to us, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Another beautiful analogy is used by St. Patrick to describe the Holy Trinity by illustrating the three-leaf clover. St. Patrick stated: like a clover that is one plant with three leaves, there is one God, but with three Persons.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all one God; but each one has their own responsibility and their own mission as the Father is distinct from the Son, who is distinct from the Holy Spirit.
Here what is so important, the Holy Spirit came through the love of the Father and the Son. Why the Holy Spirit is a very important person in the Trinity: At every Divine Liturgy when we pray the Creed, we clearly recite or sing: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.”
I remember from the days of my studying to become a deacon, the priest (the instructor at that time) asked us the question if we knew what the word “proceeds” meant in the Creed? He stated (in summary) that the Holy Spirit is the love that exists between the Father and the Son.
If we take a moment and reflect on our own experience as parents, for example, or anyone who possesses the role of a parent understands such a message. A mother and a father fall in love. They have a mutual respect, honesty, faithfulness and love for one another. Due to such characteristics great things are created, born and nourished.
The Holy Spirit is sent forth into our lives to make an impression on us and to be our guide, companion, assistant, and protector.
The Holy Spirit is and will always be with the church to escort and reinforce us through the seven different gifts of the Holy Spiritwhich are given to us freely and mainly are: understanding, wisdom, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord. We, the faithful are so lucky and very blessed that God provides us the opportunity to pray to the Holy Spirit, to ask him to bestow upon us these wonderful free gifts, to choose them carefully and practice them diligently as we struggle to live and practice the life you want us to.
At Confirmation, we are blessed to receive the Holy Spirit in a very special and distinguished way. When we receive the Holy Spirit we are confirmed in the church of God, we become stronger and perfect Christians and most importantly the new soldiers of Jesus. In the Maronite church and tradition, the Holy Spirit plays an enormous role that we cannot get to it in seven minutes.
Dear faithful, the Holy Spirit is sent to us by God the Father and His Son to be with our companion, as we the weak and the sinful struggle to resist temptation and to practice virtue, love, and humility. We should be reassured that we can trustthe Holy Spirit to offer His free spiritual gifts we need to persevere, so we can offer our prayers freely by saying “Come, O Holy Spirit!” And live in our hearts, cleanse our hearts, minds, and lips, but most importantly enable us to love and be loved, to forgive and be forgiven, and show us the way so we can always and forever glorify the Trinity the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit Amen.