The Ascension of the Lord

In Acts 1, as Jesus is about to ascend to heaven, he speaks to the disciples about “the promise of the Father.”  At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus in his last words to the disciples tells them, “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

These two promises made to the Church and to each individual Christian are comforting words.  Jesus will never leave us and he remains with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit, who is the promise of the Father.

These promises are a source of power for us.  Knowing that the Lord is with us empowers us and emboldens us so that we can overcome fear that we are alone or have been abandoned or forgotten.  Even more importantly, the Holy Spirit through the many gifts and fruits given to us, empowers us with the same power that Jesus had as he fulfilled his mission from the Father.  Paul tells the Ephesians in the second reading that the power is of “surpassing greatness.”  The Holy Spirit’s power is all we need.

And in the gospel, Jesus tells the disciples to go forth and preach the gospel and bring people of all nations together through baptism and in name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  We are sent to preach the gospel with our lives, drawing people to Jesus through example.  As Pope Francis reminds us when we as Christians are merciful and joyful, people will be drawn to Jesus.

As we prepare for the great feast of Pentecost, we thank the Lord for his promises to us.  We strive to open ourselves more fully to the power that is ours through the Holy Spirit.  We pledge again to preach God’s good news through all we say and do.  We do all this in obedience to Jesus who has ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

St. John Vianney said that if we really understood how much God loves us, we would die from joy.

God’s burning desire is to share God’s very life with us.  That’s why Jesus was born and then died and was raised again.  That’s why the Holy Spirit has been given to us.  And the invitation is given in the form of a new commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Jesus told the disciples at the Last Supper that the Father would send them another Advocate.  Jesus was their first advocate.  For years, he was at their side, teaching, and listening to them. Jesus cared for them, and now that he is about to leave them, he promises another Advocate. 

The new Advocate is the Holy Spirit who will lead and guide them.  The Holy Spirit will give them words to speak and teach them how to pray.  The Holy Spirit will strengthen them and help them to continue the works of Jesus.  All this is love.  And, of course, this is promised to us as well.

Jesus is the way into the life and love of God.  We are invited to dwell there, loving God and others in return.  Knowing this in our head is one thing.  We need to ask God for the grace to know it in our hearts.  The love of God needs to be the most important part of our lives.  Once we know and believe that God truly loves us, life is changed forever. 

As we approach the Feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost, we pray as Christians have for centuries, “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love.”  

Perhaps one day we may die from joy.

Fifth Sunday of Easter

God’s great desire is that we share in God’s life now and for all eternity.  That’s why we were created, as I learned from the Baltimore Catechism in first grade.  “Why did God make me?”  “God made me to know him, to love him, and to serve him in this world, so as to be happy with him forever in the next.”

We celebrate and remember this during the 50 days of the Easter Season.  Jesus has conquered sin and death and has won us our salvation and gives us the gift of eternal life.  In today’s gospel, the Lord tells us disciples at the Last Supper that they are to trust him for he is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

We know from the Old Testament that no one can look on the face of God and live.  Yet, at the given time, God, desiring to be united with us, took on our humanity and entered into our world, sharing everything with us, except sin.  Now we know that when we look upon Jesus, we see the Father.  We have received the gift from the Father and Jesus, the Advocate, who is the Holy Spirit and has been poured into our hearts.  We don’t have to wait for this life to be over to share in the life of God.  We do so already.

Our life in Jesus, the Way that has been marked out for us, begins at our Baptism when we become a child of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus, and have our hearts filled with the love of God, as the Holy Spirit is poured into our hearts.  And we are strengthened with that same Spirit in Confirmation.  We receive Jesus, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist.  These three gifts are the Easter Sacraments, the Sacraments of Initiation, and having received them we are firmly rooted in the Way that we are to follow for the rest of our lives passing through death into eternal life.

The Way also offers us two Sacraments of Healing for when we are in need.  The Sacrament of Reconciliation restores us to grace when we sin and places us back on the Way after we have strayed in big or small ways.  God will always welcome us back and carry us forward with God’s mercy.  And when we are sick, God’s healing is given in the Sacrament of the Sick.

Likewise, there are two Sacraments of Vocation: Marriage for those who, reflecting the love of Christ for the Church, join their lives together in fidelity and love, and Holy Orders, for those men who serve the Church in imitation of Jesus, the Good Shepherd who through his ministers, continues to provide spiritual nourishment, service, teaching and guidance to his flock.

We do not follow Jesus only as individuals.  We are a community who gather for the Eucharist and then are sent out to serve the world and to preach the Gospel as we do so.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  We follow him faithfully as members of his Church, trusting him each day until we join him in the dwelling place he has prepared for us.  Alleluia!

Fourth Sunday of Easter - Good Shepherd Sunday

Sheep need someone who knows them and can call them by name.  Sheep need someone who will lead them to food and water.  When sheep fall and are unable to get back up, they need someone who will pick them up and set them on their feet again.  Sheep need someone to lead them, someone they can follow so as not to get into trouble, and when there is trouble approaching, they need someone who will protect them.  And in the dark of night, when danger is all about, they need someone who will stay with them and will ward off thieves or wolves who seek to steal them or kill them. 

Learning about sheep made the reality of Jesus being the Good Shepherd more meaningful for me.  How often we are like sheep and are in need of help or rescue.  How often we are like sheep and need someone to call us by name, someone whose voice brings us a sense of peace and security.  And there are times when we, like sheep, fall and either can’t or won’t get up again.   We need someone stronger than ourselves to lift us up and stay with us with the promise that all will be well.  Jesus can and will do all of that for each and every one of us.

We need to come to know his voice and to respond to his call and directions.  We need to be humble enough to follow him and look to him when we sense there may be trouble at hand.  The Good Shepherd will be there for us, but we need to call out to him and ask for help. 

I once heard a story about a little lamb would not stay with the shepherd.  Instead, he always went off on his own and got into all kinds of trouble.  So the shepherd took the lamb and broke one of his legs, rendering him unable to walk.  Then the shepherd placed the lamb on his shoulders and carried him everywhere until the leg was healed.  As a result of spending all that time so close to the shepherd, the lamb never strayed again, but always kept close.

The point of the story is that God may allow some of the suffering in our lives in order to bring us closer to the Lord than we ever could have imagined.  Scripture tells us that the Lord is close to the broken-hearted and when we are brought so low that we have nowhere else to go, God is always there waiting for us.  And when we seek comfort and stay close to him, like the little lamb, we learn that we never want to stray far from the Lord again.

In the middle of the joyous Easter Season, it is good that we take the time each year on the fourth Sunday to remember that the Risen Lord is our shepherd, and when we stay close to him, there is nothing we shall want.