This Sunday we hear the Gospel of St. John the Evangelist, John 7:37-52 and John 8:12, where Jesus concludes with the words, “I am the light of the world, He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life”.
In the Orthodox Church the Feast of Pentecost is one of the twelve Great Feastdays of the Church and one of the seven great Feastdays of the Lord. It celebrates the Lord’s bestowing of the Spirit upon His Church. It is also the Feast of the Holy Spirit and celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit to the world, the historical revelation of the Spirit.
The day following the Great Feast is dedicated to the Holy Spirit, for this day signifies the breath of God creating and renewing all things. It is the gift of the new age dawning in Christ Jesus, a true sign that Jesus was the Messiah and His anointing by the fulness of the Spirit.
It is the anointing of the Church which has inaugurated the age of renewal and universal mission to go out and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world.
This is the main theme and significance of this Great Feastday, that we are emboldened to be His disciples bringing people from darkness into light!
