Fifth Week of the Holy 50
Christ the Way to life (John 14:6)
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). In Christ, the Only Begotten Son, we become children of God the Father and in Him, we can inherit the Kingdom of God. This is the readings and the theme of the fifth week before the descent of the Holy Spirit. In order for us to reach the Father, we have to become sons to the Father. The only way to achieve this sonship is through unity with His Son Jesus Christ who is the real Son of God who has raised us to the status of adopted sons to God the Father. St. Paul says, “if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). Unity with the Lord Jesus Christ has not only adopted us to the Father but also made us inheritors in the Kingdom of God. This unity with Christ is achieved by the Holy Spirit through its work in the mysteries of the Church. That is why it is important for us to understand our relationship with the Holy Trinity which can be explained as follows: we are children to the Father in His Son Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit in the church and its Holy mysteries. For example, during the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Spirit changes the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we receive Holy Communion, we unite with Christ. In the same manner, in baptism, the Holy Spirit sanctifies the water of baptism so that when we get baptized in it we receive the new life in Jesus Christ “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). These are two examples of how the Holy Spirit through the church Mysteries unites us with Christ. That is why after this unity we can boldly pray calling God “our Father”. In the past only baptized believers were allowed to pray this prayer after having received the sonship from the Holy Spirit through the church Mysteries.
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