Sermon for Exaudi, 2024

"The Comforter will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness." Now, the Comforter does not merely come to comfort the Disciples, although He does, indeed, do that; He comes to comfort all the world through the proclamation of the Holy Gospel. For what happened on Easter Sunday evening? Jesus came and stood in the midst, the doors being shut, and He said to the Disciples, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, so I send you." Then, He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." And then, He said this: "Whose soever sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose soever sins you retain, they are retained." So we see in this the true nature of the comfort of the Spirit: it is in the forgiveness of sins.

Readings:

• Old Testament: Ezekiel 36:22-28

• Epistle: 1 Peter 4:7-14

• Holy Gospel: John 15:26–16:4

Sermon: