The Missionary Decade. Day Two — “Holy Spirit — Comforter”

Saturday, May 11

A reading of the Holy Gospel according to John 14:10–21

“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

Reflections on the second day of the Decade. Modern man is very concerned about how other people treat him. And a Christian follows Christ and does not worry about what the world thinks about him. When sins dominate a person, he wants God to not exist at all, because the memory of God torments the human conscience and creates spiritual and psychological discomfort. Sin for her is at first invisible, and then it becomes a clear slavish yoke. Sin paralyzes a person, destroys families and communities, quarrels entire nations and makes them enemies. Sin becomes a habit that is very hard to eradicate and hard to get rid of. When the Holy Spirit fills the human heart, the eyes begin to see in a new way. Deep changes are taking place in a person. God ceases to be an enemy for man, but becomes Light. He is the One who sacrificed his own Son for the sake of man. What God wills now becomes man’s good will. Jesus says: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14, 15). From now on, a person is no longer a slave, but a son or daughter, and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, a person can turn to God with the words “Abba, Father!” (Rom. 8, 15), deeply convinced that he/she is a child of God himself. This is what it means to be born of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Church invites us to this, and a person shares this joy with other people.

Reflections in time of war. We have already mentioned that sin is capable of inflicting deep wounds on a person: from a troubled conscience, to psychological trauma, to hatred of neighbors whom a person begins to offend, to so-called institutional sins, such as slavery, racism, atheism, imperialism, unjust war against neighboring nations, etc. Entire generations of the faithful of our Church have experienced the consequences of such sins, which even today take on new forms. The mother of all sins is pride, self-love, which creates the illusion that a person does not need a God who loves him, and a person loves only himself and thinks that this is enough for him to be completely happy. “I” wants to be its own master and measure what a person can and cannot do. This is how modern man lives, forgetting that God’s law reigns over him, and that God is the measure of everything.

But the Lord does not leave a person with his sin alone. Even during a terrible war, the Lord is near. Out of His great love, He came to man to help him get out of a dead end, from which man is unable to get out on his own. Today, the Lord encourages us to believe: “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; if not, believe by the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you: whoever believes in me, you will do the same for them, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14, 11–13). In the face of deep traumas — personal, family, community, church, national and global, we are powerless by ourselves. Even modern knowledge of the laws of the psyche, the development of the economy, society, international relations and the experience of pastoral ministry prove how much we all need God and His mercy. Only Jesus gives complete healing of wounds. However, this healing is possible only when we follow Him and receive the grace of the Holy Spirit. When a person accepts God into his life, his actions become similar to the actions of Christ himself, and in our service to God and people, a person glorifies God the Father himself.

Prayer intention. We pray that the heart of every Ukrainian will not be filled with despair, sadness and pain due to losses, bitterness and passivity. We pray that the Holy Spirit will strengthen hope and endurance in each of us.

Prayer. “Come, O faithful, let us climb the Mount of Olives with the apostles, let us lift our minds and hearts on high. Let us behold the Lord as He is taken up. Let us cry out with joy and thanksgiving. Glory to Your ascension, O most merciful One” (Aposticha, Ascension Thursday).

Mission task: Think about what signs of His presence the Lord sent you today. Ask yourself, do you feel His closeness throughout the day?

See also

June 8 The Missionary Decade. Day Ten — Sunday of Pentecost — “Our mission: to carry the Holy Spirit to others” June 7 The Missionary Decade. Day Nine — “Tend my sheep” June 6 The Missionary Decade. Day Eight — “Christian family is a domestic Church”