The Second Greatest Feast of the Liturgical Year

Sunday's Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/060814-day-mass.cfm

When we think of the times the church is most full, we think of Christmas and Easter (or Guadalupe for the Hispanics!).  But today’s celebration of Pentecost should be up there among the most well-attended Masses during the liturgical year.  Why?  Because in the hierarchy of the Church’s feasts, Pentecost is second only to Easter.  (Most people think Christmas is second to Easter, but interestingly Epiphany and Pentecost are considered more important feasts than Christmas.)  So, why is the church not as full today as at Christmas and Easter?  Maybe because we have forgotten the importance of the Holy Spirit — that He is not just some vague force — but that He is the Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity.  Just as at Christmas we celebrate the eternal Son of God becoming flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so Pentecost is a celebration of the Holy Spirit taking flesh in the Body of Christ — the Church — in us as His members at work in the world.

In the Nicene Creed on Sundays, we say: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.”  What does it mean that the Holy Spirit “gives life”?  Yes, of course we owe our biological life to God, and the Holy Spirit is intimately connected with creation (see Genesis 1).  However, we know that the Holy Spirit gives us supernatural life.  He is, in Himself, grace!  So, what does this have to do with real life?  The answer is: Everything.  God’s commandments to love, to grow in virtue, to be holy are not just nice directives for us to remember, but He gives us Himself through the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts, words and actions in real life.  Yes, we still have temptations.  And yes, we still sin.  But it does not mean the Holy Spirit is not present in our lives; and it does not mean the Holy Spirit is not there to assist us in our daily struggles with the world, the flesh, and the devil.  (Remember: Our choices to commit evil are just that — our choices!).

Hopefully, you prayed for a special grace or favor during the past nine days — a gift of the Holy Spirit.  If not, why not ask Him today to “set you on fire” with your Catholic faith?  If you are bored or lukewarm in your faith, it is only because you want to be!  We do not have to stay there, though.  Our Lord wants us to be saints – holy ones – and the ultimate tragedy in this world is to not to have been a saint.  Ask the Holy Spirit to make you holy today: holy in our little Catholic community; holy in your family; holy in your marriage; a holy one who will bring the Light of Christ to a world that desperately needs it.  Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Amen.

Christ’s Ascension and Promise

Every Sunday in the Nicene Creed, we say: “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”  When we meditate on the Ascension of Jesus into the heavens (for example, in the Second Glorious Mystery of the Rosary), we might have this image in our minds of Jesus going into the clouds, waving “bye-bye” to His disciples — almost an anti-climactic moment in the life of our Lord.  However, let us take for a moment what Jesus says before he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight (Acts 1:9): “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).  Jesus is reminding the disciples that He has universal power.  Furthermore, He speaks about His own [past] suffering and death before He ascends into heaven (Luke 24:46).  The Catechism of the Catholic Church 662 teaches: “The lifting up of Jesus on the cross signifies and announces His lifting up by His Ascension into heaven.”  Pope Francis, when reflecting on what the Ascension means in the Christian life, said that “to enter into the glory of God exacts daily fidelity to His will, even when it requires sacrifice, when it requires at times that we change our plans.”

Before He ascends to the Father, “Jesus raised his hands, and blessed them” (Luke 24:50).  This is a priestly action, and the disciples respond with faith by kneeling and bowing their heads.  As Eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ intercedes for us before the Father (see Hebrews 10).  Pope Francis preached, “We have One who always defends us. He defends us from the insidiousness of the Devil, He defends us from ourselves, from our sins!”  Christ further assures His disciples: “And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).  And, and then [they] returned to Jerusalem with great joy (Luke 24:52).  In one week, we will celebrate the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise, not as something 2,000 years ago, but as the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity alive and active today.  What do we want to receive from the Holy Spirit this year?  This week, in your meditation, I encourage you to ask the Lord for the spiritual gift you want this year: It might be joy; it might be a virtue; it might be a stronger devotion to daily Mass and Adoration; it might be a greater flexibility when our plans are not God’s plans.  Whatever your spiritual desire, ask with great devotion and sincerity.  You never know. . . you might receive a spiritual gift that changes everything.