Prepare for the Enrichment and Empowerment of the Holy Spirit I Come Holy Spirit, Come!

On the fortieth day after Victorious Holy Resurrection, our Holy Church celebrates Christ’s Glorious Ascension into heaven. On the Sunday, ten days later, on the Feast of Pentecost, the Church celebrates the Descent of the Holy Spirit. Before ascending into the heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ’s final promise and last order to the apostles and the disciples as well as the close followers was to wait in Jerusalem, for the Holy Spirit, the promise of God the Father. (Luke 24: 49, Acts 1: 8) to become His witnesses all over the world. And as mentioned in Acts 1: 12-14, they all stayed together with prayers and one mind, to receive the Holy Spirit to achieve strength to witness Christ. And they all got Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13). The whole community as such and everyone personally, was preparing.

They obeyed Christ’s word, by assembling in the Upper Room as a community and remained there in prayer together with Mary, the Mother of Jesus and brethren, as an immediate preparation for the descent of the Holy Spirit. The preparation was prayerful. “All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14). The prayer was with ‘one accord and one mind’. Their prayer was persevering. The community of the apostles and the first disciples had to prepare for the reception of this very gift which comes from above.: the community of the apostles devoted themselves to prayer. ’It was a prayer of the most complete dedication not only of the heart but also of the will.

We, the Christians, have received the Holy Spirit in our childhood itself, through the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Mooron (Chrismation). The Holy Spirit is not given to us as a possession of which we have the charge and mastery, and which we can use at our own will. It is not we who are to use Him, but rather He that must use us. We need to ask for the Fullness of the Spirit so that He may work in us as mightily as He did in the lives of the Saints. The Lord teaches us to ask and ensures us that He will give us this fullness of the Spirit as He says, “how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11: 13) That is why we ask the Lord everyday “not take His Holy Spirit from us, but rather to renew Him within us” and to “graciously come and abide in us”. The fullness of the Holy Spirit is not given to us in a single one-time act but works and grows inside us daily as we live in union with Him. “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.” (Jn. 15: 5).

Usually, our human interests and desires for the worldly pleasures press the Holy Spirit’s position and cause disturbance for the steady growth of the Holy Spirit in us. Leading a true sacramental life and prayer life is the only way to keep the Holy Spirit in our minds. So, the Church Fathers insist that we must long for and wait for the Holy Spirit who converts all our sacraments as the living ones. In all the sacraments, there is special place and significance for the waiting of the Holy Spirit. According to the teaching of our Church Fathers, the Holy Spirit will indwell among the faithful, provided they stand together with “one mind and one prayer”. Throughout all ages and in every Christian generation this prayer of the Holy Spirit, for the unity of the Church is always relevant. 

If Holy Spirit in us is not alive cent percent, our Christian lives will be of only name’s sake. It is the duty of everyone to see that one is holding cent percent of Holy Spirit in him or her. Remember that God is willing always to stay in us fully and not partially. So let us make use of the Sacraments and prayers through which we could renew the Holy Spirit in us fully so that we could also produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Then our Christian lives will be meaningful and blessed.

Just as the Apostles and Mary waited in prayer between Christ’s Ascension into heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, we await the renewal the Holy Spirit. The Holy Church has separated and set apart the 10 days from the Ascension of our Lord (Swargarohana Perunnal) till the Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost, the celebrant would exhort the congregation to kneel, praying Kurielaision and rise with the power enriched in the Holy Spirit. The disciples were together in the upper room praying and waiting for ten days between Ascension and Pentecost. So, all of us should have earnest and special meditations and prayers to get abundant supply and enrichment of Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

The Lord does not give us the fullness of His Spirit in a single moment. He makes us wait. The very act of waiting and longing for God’s Spirit to dwell in us more fully, expresses our poverty, our emptiness, our need. It is not just awaiting, we need to prepare ourselves to renew, to refresh, to enrich and empower ourselves with the Holy Spirit, just as Cornelius, a devout, God fearing Centurion, waited and prepared his household and the gift of Holy Spirit was poured out on them (Acts 10: 14). It is only under this condition of being “poor in spirit” that the Lord can come and dwell in us richly. It is when we empty ourselves that the Spirit can fill us. From time to time, every Christian needs to be refilled with the Holy Spirit. Let us wait and pray fervently along with the disciples for the Holy Spirit to come in its fullness. Our waiting must be as real and urgent as that of the disciples in the Upper Room, and surely the Lord will fulfill His promise. “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!” (Ps 27: 14).

The Holy Spirit clarifies us, beautifies us, restores us, glorifies us, and enlighten us. May God bless us and our entire Church, entire mankind, and the entire universe.

Breathe into me Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may be holy.
Move in me, Holy Spirit, that my work too, may be holy.
Take my heart, Holy Spirit, that I may love only what is holy.
Strengthen me, Holy Spirit, that I may defend all that is holy.
Protect me, Holy Spirit, that I may always be holy.                      —– (St Augustine)