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It is the feast of the Ascension as this is being written, and we are almost at the end of the liturgical celebration of the Paschal mystery. Celebration is the correct word here because, during this time from Easter through Pentecost, we are reminded that we are called to be an Alleluia people. Peace and joy are words found frequently in the liturgies of these weeks. All the Easter prefaces say: ‘We praise you with greater joy than ever in this Easter season when Christ became our Paschal sacrifice’. In many of the gospel readings Jesus promises His gift of peace; it is His signature by which He can be recognized. He makes it abundantly clear that He and the Father are one and that, if we believe and keep His commands, they will dwell in us and we will be one with them. He tells us that, as the Father loves Him, He loves us, and He tells us this so His joy may be in us and our joy may be complete. He calls us friend. In these readings, too, we hear Jesus’ promise of the Spirit; His Spirit, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of love. Then, in the gospel of the Ascension, Jesus honors us by entrusting His mission to us, by sending us to spread the good news. This is a phenomenal task but we have His promise: "I am with you always..." Finally, on Pentecost we celebrate the coming of the Spirit upon the women and men who were persevering in prayer with Mary. We see their fear changed into courage, their doubt into enthusiasm, and their sadness into joy. "That was then; this is now," we say. But there are similarities between then and now. We, too, live in an uncertain world. Followers of Jesus are not always popular , and in this world, as in theirs, good and evil struggle. The challenge is great and we are small. Their world was turned upside down. They thought that their security was in jeopardy. We, too, have lost the securities on which we depended in the past. Change is all around us and seems to part and parcel of our lives, and that change seems to threaten those things which we have held dear. But we have received the same exuberant Spirit, who came to those in the Cenacle 2000 years ago; Jesus’ Spirit, the Spirit of courage, enthusiasm and joy. The One who is our security, our only true security, is always with us. He is our hope and He has risen as He said. Alleluia! Alleluia! Sister Annette Mattle, r.c. |
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