27th May. Pentecost Sunday

Acts 2:1-11. The spirit of God’s power gives energy to the apostles and sends them out on their mission. This scene in the beginning of the Church which will grow to include all peoples.
1 Cor 12:3-7,12-13. The spirit is the way in which Christ works in his community, the Church and manifests himself in diverse ways within one body.
Jn 20:19-23. The disciples receive the life-giving power of the Spirit to continue the mission of Jesus.Through this Spirit they grow in his life and communicate it to those willing to believe.

The Better Impulse

(Joseph Cassidy)

The Holy Spirit used to be the forgotten person of the Trinity. Perhaps he suffered from being a spirit. For many of us, only concrete things are real. The Father and Son make an impact because one took flesh and the other was given a beard. Have you ever imagined the Holy Spirit with a beard? Whatever the reason, even among devout Christians, the Holy Spirit had been overlooked. He had been cast in the role of a third candidate, valued for his transfers to the front-runners, but never earmarked for a seat in the House, much less a post in the Cabinet. It’s only recently that he has been coming into his own.

It’s about time too! There are several reasons why we should never forget the Spirit. The first is that he wasn’t forgotten by Christ. On the contrary. On the eve of Christ’s Passion, he promised to send him to the disciples. In fact, he took pains to emphasise the importance of the Spirit’s role. Here was no poor substitute – a duckling doing “locum” for a swan. He would be a helper, a counsellor, a teacher – a replacement for Christ himself. Indeed, Our Lord’s words of introduction are rather startling: “It is for your own good that I am going, because unless I go, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (Jn 16:7).

To our advantage? People in public life, when they come to retire, sometimes pay compliments, with calculated modesty to their less illustrious successors. Our Lord was not being modest. He was not patronising the Spirit. He was speaking the truth. The advantage of which he spoke lay in this. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ himself. Christ, as man, was limited by space and time. He could only work with and through the people of his own generation. He couldn’t talk, no more than you can, to the people in Timbuctoo. The Spirit of Christ would not be limited in that way. He would have the freedom of the wind. He would have the freedom of every heart in every generation. Instead of living with some, he could now live within all. He would have the world at his fingertips. So the Spirit’s presence would make good Christ’s promise: “And know, that I am with you always; yes to the end of time” (Mt 28:20).

There is a second reason for acknowledging the Spirit. It is the example given by the early Christians. He made such a difference to their lives that they could never forget him. Before his coming they were timid and afraid, like children huddling together in a storm. When he descended upon them in a miraculous confusion of wind, fire and speech, they were utterly transformed. “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4), St Luke tells us, and we think of billowing sails or mothers filled with child. But some of the bystanders were less poetic in their reaction. “They’re drunk” (Acts 2:13), they sneered, and for once the cynics were right, drunk they were – drunk with the Spirit of Christ’s love and their own furious eagerness to proclaim his message. The Spirit was breathing where he would and from now on “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor 12:3) would be shouted from the housetops.

The early Christians stayed drunk for life. They were never to be sober again. For as long as they lived, the Spirit would stay in the bloodstream. Every decision they made would be Spirit-shaped: the choice of seven deacons; the admission of Gentiles to the Church; the sending of Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. And the influence of the Spirit was not confined to decision-making at executive level. It was felt at the ordinary level too, at what politicians love to call the “grassroots.” It was felt in the gifts that were Spirit, sent for the service of the Church – unusual gifts like healing or prophecy, designed to meet the needs of an infant Church, but ordinary gifts too, required to meet the needs of God’s children everywhere – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self control” (Ga 5:22).

It is by exercising these gifts that we remember the Spirit best. When we are loyal to a demanding partner, when we are cheerful and courageous, when we console the bereaved, link the old or encourage the young, we are doing the work of the Holy Spirit. When we curb our evil instincts, we honour him. When we respond to the better impulse, we honour him more. The Holy Spirit is “the rising sap’. He is also the climbing warmth in our hearts. It is through and with our better instincts that the Spirit works. “Whether we’re aware of it or not, he is never idle. Our part is to grunt and heave with him and to push our stalling lives to the top of the hill.

On Breathing and Birthdays
(Kathryn Williams)

Do you remember celebrating a birthday with all the trimmings – cake, candles, balloons and the familiar happy birthday song? In later years the trimmings might change, but the fact remains that with each passing birthday we celebrate that moment when we took our first breath, however gasping or bad-tempered those first greedy gulps may have seemed to those around us.

Looking more closely, we celebrate two kinds of birthdays, only from our present perspective, the second one is more somber and it’s usually called an anniversary. We usually look forward to the first kind … celebrating our birth into this beautiful world with it appeals and attractions and in which we now live, breathe and struggle.

We look towards the second kind of birthday with slightly less eagerness. That will be the moment when our breath literally does cease. In that breath-taking experience we are really out-of-this-world and born (and borne) into another one. It frequently happens with struggling and gasping too, for we are not entirely sure of what awaits us there either.

Today we celebrate Pentecost, the Church’s birthday. In his dying moments when Jesus struggled to breathe, he breathed out forgiveness. Today when he stands among the disciples, Jesus breathes on them and gifts them (and us) with another divine gift, the power to forgive.

First Reading: Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs-in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”

Second Reading: First Epistle to the Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Gospel: John 20:19-23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

John 21:20ff. John concludes: the world could not contain all that could said about Jesus.

Ending on a high note

The readings for this day are drawn from the final verses of Acts and of John’s gospel. Acts rounds out the total theological purpose of St. Luke, which extended from his earlier book, the gospel, into his second book, called The Acts of the Apostles. Luke’s gospel moves from Old Testament Jerusalem (Chs. 1-2) or from the Jordan River where the conquest of the Promised Land once began under Joshua (Ch. 3), full circle back again to Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified and glorified and where the disciples are back again in the temple, praising God (Chs. 22-24). One of the central features in Luke’s gospel is found in the “Journey Narrative” (Lk 9:51; 19:28) during which Jesus’ entire ministry is put in the context of going up to Jerusalem, as a way toward the cross and glorification.

Acts too begins in Jerusalem. Its central action consists in Paul’s “Journey Narrative” (Chs. 13-28). Paul travels through the Greek speaking world several times, founding churches, almost always by way of bringing the synagogue and its Jewish worshipers (or many of them at least) into the Christian community. All of Paul’s activity leads up to Rome, where the hope of Israel triumphs in a world manifestation of the Lord. Rome, then, is the new Jerusalem where the disciples praise the Lord. Here too is the sign of the cross in the suffering and martyrdom of the saints (Paul, however, at this time was to be set free) and here also is fulfilment of centuries of waiting and prediction.

The “Journey Narrative” of Luke’s gospel and of Acts must find a path in our lives. It must work its way to the center. Every other moment and every other experience, good or bad, easy or difficult, is pointed toward this new “Jerusalem,” this “Rome.” Here we praise God for his wonderful acts in our lives. Prophecies are fulfilled. At this point the words of Jesus to the beloved disciple come to mind: “I want him to stay until I come.” As Jesus explained to Peter, this statement does not mean that we will never die but rather Jesus will come to get us. Jesus comes at the final fulfilment of all prophecies in our lives.

Both the gospel and Acts then inflame our faith and confidence. No moment is to be considered lost and useless. All can be turned into the direction of Jerusalem. That road has all kinds of stops or stages along its route. There are stages of triumph and joy; others of strenuous effort; still others of blunder and error. At times we have to go around a barrier, and then for a while we are going backward. There is the necessity of resting and recouping strength. All of these moments are found in the gospel and in Acts. Jesus can turn each experience, no matter what it may have been, into a new turn in the road toward our destination, the heavenly Jerusalem.

“If I want him to stay until I come”, Jesus’ statement about John and now about ourselves, can have an extended meaning. “Wait!” I come anew each moment of eternity. I come to revive your memories. I come to share the memories of all your brothers and sisters. “Wait until I come.” Eternity will be the continuation of the final moment in our earthly Jerusalem – Rome. Jesus comes wondrously – and he comes again and again. Even as we meditate now on the gospels for our consolation, in heaven these and thousands of other memories, too many for the world to contain the books, will be re-experienced. Our prayer now is a foretaste of that heavenly joy. What Paul said to his Jewish visitors in Rome, he says to us: we share the hope of Israel, as fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus at Jerusalem.

As Pentecost brings an end to the Easter season we read the final sentences in the Acts and the fourth Gospel, both endings that open up a life-giving future for those who trust in Jesus.

First Reading: Acts 28:16-20, 30-31

When we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him. Three days later he called together the local leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, yet I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. When they had examined me, the Romans wanted to release me, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to the emperor – even though I had no charge to bring against my nation. For this reason therefore I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is for the sake of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.” They replied, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken anything evil about you. But we would like to hear from you what you think, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.”

After they had set a day to meet with him, they came to him at his lodgings in great numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. Some were convinced by what he had said, while others refused to believe. So they disagreed with each other; and as they were leaving, Paul made one further statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah,

‘Go to this people and say, You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn – and I would heal them.’ Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

He lived there two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

Gospel: John 21:20-25

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

John 21:15ff. Jesus entrusts Peter with the responsibility: “Feed my sheep.”

A Sacred Trust

In our more active days, with many possibilities opening out before us, we fail at times to choose what is best. This also happened to the apostle Peter. Three times out of fear he denied Jesus (Mark 14:66-72). After the resurrection when the apostles had returned to their former trade of fishing, seemingly because their vision of Jesus had evaporated in his death, Jesus appeared to them. He singled out Peter and three times asked, “Do you love me?” Peter no longer seems to be the impulsive, dominant man of his earlier days. He has felt humiliation, he has failed even to the extent of betraying Jesus, he has returned to the only occupation which he could manage. Peter has been sobered by failure and is ready to enter the next stage of his life.  He has learned compassion by his own need for forgiveness and mercy. This is the kind of man who can lead the Church. Not once, not twice, but three times Jesus asks and insists, “Do you love me?” When Peter answers with humble love, with total surrender, “Lord, you know everything,” then Jesus commissions him to “Feed my sheep.”

Moving out from Jerusalem, Peter summons his energy and moves to Antioch and then to Rome. Love, humility, compunction and obedience to the Lord are to be the hallmarks of his ministry. As such, he is the rock of the Church and head of the apostolic band. Even though Peter acts with all his power, still there is a quality of patience about that exercise: to love and to be loved, to be humble and open to others in their ideas and talents, to be sorrowful for sin and able to appreciate the weakness of others, to obey Jesus at all costs. This is the kind of authentic Petrine ministry that the Church needs to maintain and pray for. Jesus not only singled out Peter from all the apostles but called him particularly to “Feed my sheep.” He was to be the supreme pastor of the Church.

Jesus does not have to ask us: “Do you love me?” He knows it and we know it. He says simply, “Follow me!” Like Peter we respond with our entire self, lovingly, actively, making a gift of our entire self to Jesus.

First Reading: Acts 25:13-21

After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to welcome Festus. Since they were staying there several days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man here who was left in prison by Felix. When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him and asked for a sentence against him. I told them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone before the accused had met the accusers face to face and had been given an opportunity to make a defense against the charge. So when they met here, I lost no time, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. When the accusers stood up, they did not charge him with any of the crimes that I was expecting. Instead they had certain points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. Since I was at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wished to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges. But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of his Imperial Majesty, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to the emperor.” Agrippa said to Festus, I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he said, “you will hear him.”

Gospel: John 21:15-19

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

John 17:20ff. The final part of Jesus’ high-priestly prayer

Vital Task: Striving for Unity

Jesus signals unity as the most characteristic mark of his disciples, a vital goal of true faith, when he prayed: “that they may be one in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.” In today’s reading, Paul of Tarsus appears not as a messenger of peace and unity. He deliberately stirred a discussion, which he knew would turn into a shouting match and into physical abuse. He got the Sadducees pitted against the Pharisees on the subject of the resurrection from the dead. Paul aligned himself with the Pharisees (23:6).

Paul wrote eloquently about peace and unity in 1 Corinthians 11-13 and in Ephesians 4. He was not always stirring up trouble. Jesus for his part was not always a messenger of peace. Jesus had put this question before his disciples: “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? I assure you, the contrary is true; I have come for division. From now on, a household of five will be divided three against two and two against three; father will be split against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother” (Luke 12:51-53).

Jesus’ disciples were not united around the weak principle that nobody will ever hurt the feelings of anyone else, but rather around an intense desire to enable one another to seek and share the best. Jesus stirred his followers to see a vision of goodness, of kindliness, of peace and justice, of fidelity and honesty. This vision beckoned at times to overwhelming happiness, at other times to the cross and the loss of all that one holds dear. More than anything else according to the gospel for today, this unity was to be modelled upon that of the Holy Trinity. Jesus in turn will share with his disciples the glory given to him by the Father before the world began, “so that your love for me may live in them, and I may live in them.”

Looking at some of the procedures of our Church leadership. one has to wonder if they have forgotten that unity is to be generously striven for, not imposed. Jesus puts a vision before us that leads us beyond what we consider possible.  He places that desire at the heart of our existence in the person of himself. “with I living in them, you [Father] living in me, may their unity be complete.”

First Reading: Acts 22:30; 23:6-11

Since he wanted to find out what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and the entire council to meet. He brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

When Paul noticed that some were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he called out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” When he said this, a dissension began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge all three.) Then a great clamor arose, and certain scribes of the Pharisees’ group stood up and contended, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” When the dissension became violent, the tribune, fearing that they would tear Paul to pieces, ordered the soldiers to go down, take him by force, and bring him into the barracks. That night the Lord stood near him and said, “Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.”

Gospel: John 17:20-26

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

John 17:11ff. Before leaving them, he prays to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth.”

More Blessed to Give

Paul refers to wolves who will distort the truth and says to be on one’s guard against them. Prudence and common sense dictate that we be reasonably cautious and not permit ourselves to be swept along by every wind of an idea! But he gives much more attention to other advice. The elders are to remember Paul’s blood and tears, his manual labour and his tireless preaching of the gospel. Strength of conviction and strong emotional ties are revealed in his words: “I never ceased warning you individually even to the point of tears.” His pastoral care reached to each person individually and it came from an overflowing heart. The gospel message came from Paul’s heart, and the words were soaked with his tears and blood. In a literal sense, he mingled his own tears with those of Jesus, from whose dying side came water and blood (John 19:34). The elders too are to preach with truth but equally with emotional conviction.

After Paul explicitly describes how he worked to support himself and his companions, he did so in an open gesture (“with these hands of mine”,) and tells the elders to do the same. “It is by such hard work that you must help the weak.” We are to provide for our future by making it even more insecure, giving away what little we possess. Paul quotes from Jesus who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” This precise statement cannot be found in any of the gospels, and it is very surprising that Luke did not include it in his collection of Jesus’ sayings. Paul must be depending upon an oral tradition and we see how true it is that there would not be “room enough in the entire world to hold the books” if all that Jesus said and did were written down (John 21:24-25).

Despite the difficulties and trials ahead of us, we are encouraged to live joyfully. Jesus intends “that they may share in my joy completely.” If this joy is deep it brings tranquillity, bears the fruit of patience, and fits us well to face what the future may bring.

First Reading: Acts 20:28-38

Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to warn everyone with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified. I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing. You know for yourselves that I worked with my own hands to support myself and my companions. In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

When he had finished speaking, he knelt down with them all and prayed. There was much weeping among them all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, grieving especially because of what he had said, that they would not see him again. Then they brought him to the ship.

Gospel: John 17:11-19

Jesus said to them, “And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

John 17:1ff. The high priestly prayer of Jesus, for those he must leave behind in this world.

Famous Last Words

Paul and Jesus indicate that an important phase of their ministry has been completed: Paul must proceed to Jerusalem and if he survives the persecutions in that city, he hopes to sail westward to Rome and then to Spain; Jesus declares that he has finished the work given to him by the heavenly Father and now asks: “Do you now, Father, give me glory at your side?” Paul’s words take the form of a final address in which he sums up the duties of pastors and religious leaders. Jesus, on the other hand, prays aloud and offers us one of those rare insights. We are told the content of his prayer to the Father.

Whether in sermon or in prayer, each looks to the future with calm faith and free conscience. Both Paul and Jesus confess from their heart that they have done their very best. Paul states plainly to the elders: “You know how I lived among you from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia, how I served the Lord with humility through the sorrows and trials that came my way from the plotting of some people.” As Jesus prays that the Father give him glory at his side, he adds: “These men you gave me were yours; they have kept your word. I have made your name known to them.” Paul too faces a future of uncertainty, knowing that chains and hardships await him at Jerusalem. Jesus, for his part, prays for his disciples. Their future is uncertain because of the dangers and tensions  of the apostolate. “For these I pray … I am in the world no more, but these are in the world as I come to you.” Jesus could not, or at least did not predict exactly what lies ahead; he would only pray that his followers remain faithful to his person and to his teaching.

We too can face the future calmly. For when we finish the work given to us by the Father, God will take us to Himself.

First Reading: Acts 20:17-27

From Miletus he sent a message to Ephesus, asking the elders of the church to meet him. When they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, enduring the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house, as I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus. And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me. But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.

“And now I know that none of you, among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom, will ever see my face again. Therefore I declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.

Gospel: John 17:1-11

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

John 16:29ff. Close to his Passion, Jesus says “Take courage; I have conquered the world!”

Plainly Speaking

“I am speaking to you plainly,” he said, yet the plain language of Jesus’ discourse in John’s gospel still baffles us. Why will the disciples find peace in Jesus, once they are scattered, and Jesus is left alone? How does such a disintegration of loyalties and friendship convince the disciples that Jesus knows everything and has come from God?

When we read this gospel along with the selection from Acts, the “plain” language is scrambled still more as the disciples speak in tongues and prophesy. Such an extraordinary manifestation of the Spirit draws us beyond rational discourse. When God’s Spirit descends into our midst in such a way, we can do one of two things: either declare it all a hoax and walk away, or acknowledge that God is present, beyond all doubt and beyond all discussion. Earlier in the Acts of the Apostles, when a group of gentiles began to speak in tongues, Peter declared: “What can stop these people who have received the Holy Spirit, even as we have, from being baptized with water?” (Acts 10:47). And when Peter was later challenged about it his only defence was: “the Holy Spirit came upon them … Who was I to interfere with him?” (Acts 11:15,17). The Church was left with no other option but to accept this intervention of the Holy Spirit.

Normally, plain speech functions in a different way. It moves with clear ideas and in logical sequence. We are able to obtain further clarification and more nuanced reasons. We can express our difficulties about the logic. If our minds are alert and if we are able to express our ideas clearly, we are in control. Unless logical reasons are presented, we will remain unconvinced and uncommitted. We are free to accept or reject on the logic of the reasoning.

Tongues and prophecy, on the contrary, reach beyond the limits of logic and plain speech. Tongues are an ecstatic expression of the experience of the Holy Spirit. Tongues reach into foreign languages and beyond, like the many stops of an organ, opened up in full power, as the fingers touch one key after another. The sound is overwhelmingly beautiful, so much so that it drowns out and prohibits the accompanying sound of a singer’s words. Communication is more by experience; it happens by touching the strings of emotion and the memory fibers in the heart. Such reactions are not subject to logic; they just happen! And if they happen, one can only say: yes! amen! hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Or as Peter responded: “the Holy Spirit came upon them…. Who was I to interfere?”

Jesus’ plain speech touches that divinely inspired gift in all of us to act beyond reason (not against reason) and to do what can be explained only afterwards as healthy, beautiful and good. Even though the disciples scattered and left Jesus alone, still Jesus then manifested such strength and resourcefulness, that all will confess: we are not alone; Jesus and the Father are with us. At no time does Jesus’ example of forgiving others call us to forgive so heroically as in the story of his Passion. Jesus exemplifies the plain speech of forgiving seventy times seven (Matt 18:22) and of loving to the extent of dying for one’s friends (John 15:13).

First Reading: Acts 19:1-8

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied – altogether there were about twelve of them.

He entered the synagogue and for three months spoke out boldly, and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God.

Gospel: John 16:29-33

His disciples said, “Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”

The Ascension of the Lord is celebrated today. The Church also calls this Sunday ‘World Communications Day’. As he left his disciples, Jesus sent them out to spread the Good News. This is our task too. We ask for the grace we need. Penitential rite: As we gather to celebrate the glory of our risen and ascended Lord, let us call to mind our sins: (pause) Lord Jesus, you raise us to new life … you forgive us our sins … you feed us with your body and blood: Lord, have mercy.

Introduction to the Scripture Readings

Acts 1:1-11 — This gives Luke’s description of the event we celebrate today, taken from the very start of the book of Acts.

Ephesians 4:1-13 — Paul appeals to Christians to live in peace and unity, and lists some of the gifts the ascended Lord has passed on.

Mark 16:15-20 — These last verses of Mark’s Gospel show how Jesus remains with us. When the Church proclaims and lives the Gospel, the Lord himself is at work.

BIDDING PRAYERS

Introduction (by the Presider) With confidence, let us bring our prayers before God, the Most High.

1. For all Christians, that by their lives they may pass on the Good News (pause for silent prayer). Lord, hear us.
2. For those called to work as missionaries, that they may do the Lord’s work in today’s world (pause for silent prayer). Lord, hear us.
3. For broadcasters and journalists, and all who work in the media, that their work may advance the cause of truth and justice (pause for silent prayer). Lord, hear us.
4. For those preparing for exams over this weekend, that they may have the Spirit’s help, according to their needs (pause for silent prayer). Lord, hear us.
5. For people who feel lonely or undervalued, that our friendship may help them realise how much they are loved (pause for silent prayer) . Lord, hear us.
6. For all our bothers and sisters who have died (especially N & N), that where Christ has gone, they may soon follow (pause for silent prayer). Lord, hear us.

Conclusion (by the Presider) Lord Most High, great king over all the earth, you calm your people in their distress: hear and grant the prayers we make to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Liturgical Suggestions Today is World Communications Day, a day to highlight those involved in communications ministry locally (eg in the parish newsletter, website etc). Penitential Act v (page 1387). Use shorter form of Second Reading (Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13). Preface I of the Ascension of the Lord (page 436). Eucharistic Prayer 3. Solemn Blessing 7 (Ascension). Songs ‘Let The Earth Rejoice And Sing’; ‘Now the Green Blade Rises’, This is the Day the Lord has made’; ‘He is Lord’.

Eph 1:17-23. Paul’s view of the ascension is that God not only raised Jesus above all earthly powers, but made him head of the Church, and Lord of creation.

Mk 16:15-20. Before returning from this earth to heaven, Jesus Christ sends his apostles to preach the Gospel to the whole world.

Theme: We celebrate Christ’s ascension to his eternal glory. Today we express our hope that where he has gone, we will one day follow, to live forever in the kingdom of our Father.

Homecoming
(Kathryn Williams)

Whenever I ask someone where home is, the usual answer is the place where he or she was first nurtured and loved. No matter how many homes you and I have lived in, home is always that place where those particular people are. Be they parents, grandparents or friends, they have etched a memory in our hearts.

As I write this I am preparing to go home to New Zealand. I imagine the sort of homecoming that awaits me too. Without fail, Mum will be at the airport. As we drive home it will be good to see the familiar places where I spent the first twenty years of my life.

As we reflect on today’s Gospel, we might wonder about Jesus’ homecoming. For thirty-three years he has been away from home, an itinerant, living rough – and dying even more roughly. His Ascension reminds us that deeply etched in our hearts there is still another place we can claim to call our home. We don’t remember it, but it was where we were firstly created, loved and nurtured. Jesus, our oldest brother gets home first. He gives us a glimpse of the beauty our future home and the more wonderful thing is that he is still with us to teach us how to get there.

Breaking the Barrier
(Joseph Cassidy)

The curtain closes at the end of the show! The audience starts to applaud. Backstage, the actors hurry into a self-conscious line. Somebody shouts “Open the curtain!” Another advises, “No, wait, hold on a minute.” A flustered performer rushes from the dressing-room to a chorus of whispered exhortation and slips into place, breathless but composed. The curtain twitches, sweeps quickly back, the applause rises to a crescendo. The actors bow, the grand finale. A waving of hands, the curtain closes again, the show is over!

Most of us think of Our Lord’s Ascension as a finale to the greatest show on earth. Our Lord had spoken his lines, performed his wonders, played the principal role in the tragic drama of Crucifixion. He had made his audience gasp with the startling brightness of his Resurrection and now with his Ascension, he was taking his final bow, except that, instead of a curtain, it was a cloud that swept across and hid him from human sight! (Acts 1:9).

To think of Our Lord’s Ascension as a finale is to miss the point altogether! Our Lord did not go back to heaven, in the same way that an actor goes back to the dressing-room, leaving the rest of us to make our way home. There is a real sense in which we, you and I, ascended to heaven with Our Lord and it is this mass-ascension that we might think about now.

When Our Lord ascended to heaven, he took his human nature with him. This means that a human nature like ours has broken the barrier between earth and heaven. “In Jesus, the Son of God,” says St Paul, “we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest heaven” (Heb 4:14). But it’s not just a human nature like ours. It’s a human nature representative of ours. All human beings ascended with Christ, in promise at least. He died for us, rose for us, ascended for us, so that we could ascend with him. In his Ascension, he blazed a trail that we can follow – provided we ready ourselves for “take off,” his going up is a guarantee that we will go up too. We are familiar with guarantees that go with cars, shoes or whatever. They last six months, or a year! The guarantee going with Christ’s Ascension lasts for all eternity: “I am going now to prepare a place for you” (Jn 14:2). St Paul is so sure of that guarantee that he does not hesitate to describe Christian people as having access in the here and no to the dwelling place of God: “This is the anchor our souls have, reaching right through inside the curtain where Jesus has entered as a forerunner on our behalf” (Heb 6:20).

If you stood in a queue outside the cinema, if you had your seat booked and if you had a friend standing inside the door with the tickets, you’d be pretty sure of getting in. The Christ of the Ascension has booked a place in heaven for us. He paid for our seat with his blood! He sits at the right hand of the Father waiting for us – no – praying for us to come in! (Heb 7-25; 9:24)

There is a passage in the book of Job that, predictably enough, is a rather desolate reflection on the human condition: “A human being, born of woman, whose life is short but full of trouble. Like a flower, such a one blossoms and withers, fleeting as a shadow, transient” (Jb 14:1, 2). “His palm trees will wither before their time and his branches never again be green” (Jb 15:3 1). Some time ago I was asked to say a prayer for a young woman who was suffering from an incurable disease. Her fingers had turned black. Then they began to decay. All the doctors could do at the time was to amputate so as to keep one step ahead for as long as possible. This progressive and consuming disease, even if it’s not a general experience, is still a dark and powerful symbol of the destructiveness of time and our own vulnerability

All through our lives we’re trying to keep one step ahead – making the most of it, yes, not consciously fleeing in fear, yet knowing in our hearts that inevitably our heels will be clipped and the chase will come to an end. Yet the end of the chase, unwelcome or hateful though it be, should be different for believers. As Christians, we don’t die direction-less. We die in the knowledge of where Christ has gone. He told us in John (Jn 12:32) that when he was lifted up from the earth, he would draw all people to himself. He began the process on the cross and completes it in the Ascension. The cross and the Ascension are part of one great, sweeping, saving movement, part of the same escalator. The progression is heavenward all the time. There will always be darkness in life and the inevitability of death. But we, children of the light, can look up through the darkness, to where our ascended Christ has “set the frail substance of our human nature on the right hand of the Father.”- He has set there a goal we can aim at. And we know it’s a goal we can reach. Our hearts are full of hope that, with the help of the Lord who has gone before us and in the words of the opening prayer of the Mass, “we may follow him into the new creation.”

Don’t Search the Sky
(Martin Hogan)

The word “process” has been much in vogue. In Ireland we associate the word in particular with the phrase, “the peace process.” The word “process” in that connection suggests that the attainment of a lasting peace will only happen in stages, and that one stage needs to finish before another stage can begin. A process that has many stages calls for patience, for perseverance and for a hopeful stance. People who like instant success, who want it all to happen now, will be impatient with talk of a process. Yet, so much of life is the experience of process, of moving from one stage in a project onto another. Our own individual lives can be understood as a process. As we go through life we find ourselves moving through a series of stages or seasons. The transition from one stage to another always involves some element of letting go and moving on. Part of the challenge of life is to address and deal with the various moments of letting go and moving on that the process of living entails.

The life of Jesus was a unique life because he was a unique person, being, as he was, God in human form. Yet, his life, like every human life, was a process that involved a succession of stages. His hidden years in Nazareth might be understood as one stage in his life, his public ministry as another stage. His baptism was the transition moment between these two stages. His death on the cross was another transition moment between his public ministry and the short period during which he appeared in bodily form in his glorified state to his disciples. The struggle that his disciples had to let him go at that moment is captured well by St. John in his scene, outside the empty tomb, when the risen Lord meets with Mary Magdalene and has to tell her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father.”

Yet the moving on of Jesus in his ascension did not entail his complete absence from his disciples. Today’s gospel reading ends, “the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven.” Yet, the next sentence reads, “the Lord was working with the disciples and confirming their preaching by the signs that accompanied it.” The Lord was taken up, he was taken away, and yet he was working with them. The Lord did not distance himself from the church, but is even closer to his church, albeit invisibly. How clearly St. Paul understood this as a result of his meeting with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus. After persecuting the church with grim zeal, he met the risen Lord who asked him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” In persecuting the church, Saul came to realize that he was persecuting the Lord because, as today’s gospel says, the Lord was working with those who worked for him. Today’s feast then is more about presence than about absence. We celebrate the Lord’s presence in the church. His Spirit has been poured into our hearts and, together, we are his body. As the second reading reminds us today, the Lord ascended in order to give gifts to his followers, “for building up the body of Christ.” Today’s feast directs our gaze to the body of Christ here on earth in and through which Christ is ever-present.

First Reading: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Second Reading: Letter to the Ephesians 1:17-23

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Gospel: Mark 16:15-20

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

Second Reading. ad libitum: Letter to the Galatians 5:16-25

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

Gospel ad libitum: John 15:26-27; 16:12-15

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

John 16:23ff. ‘Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.’

Lay Apostles

While the gospel implies a direct communication between ourselves and the heavenly Father, the first reading seems to take a different slant. Acts points out that despite his brilliance, learning and eloquence Apollos had not advanced beyond the teaching of John the Baptist. He was certainly on the way toward being a disciple of Jesus and was a man of tremendous good will. Yet, good will was not enough, and in the plan of God, Apollos would be led into the mystery of Jesus through the ministry of the couple Priscilla and Aquila.

We note how the wife’s name precedes that of her husband, contrary to the customs of the time and indicative of the strong role of this woman in the Church’s ministry. Texts like this help us appreciate the attitude of St. Paul toward women and toward the teamwork by married people in the apostolate of the Church. This couple not only acted as a welcoming committee at Ephesus but also as educators in theology. To dialogue with someone as sharp as Apollos and to lead him beyond the Hebrew Scriptures and the preaching of John the Baptist meant that the couple were well informed, capable of making distinctions and advancing the discussion, and most of all open to incisive insights from the Holy Spirit.

Apollos had to be ready to go beyond the limits of what he knew and controlled. He had to be drawn like Job into new insights. What he knew, he knew exceptionally well; but he was also convinced that the fulfilment of his desires lay beyond himself. He was risking his security, and his renown as a preacher to be led beyond the borders of his previous knowledge and eloquence. And he made that journey under the direction of two interpreters of spirit, Priscilla and Aquila. Evidently the Spirit is received while people share spirit with one another. A community of faith must be formed in which all open to what the Spirit will reveal. And so it was that the Holy Spirit was granted to God’s servant Apollos.

Jesus himself exemplified this process of conversion and transformation. He must leave this world in order to send the Holy Spirit. In this respect there is a good comparison with the risks of leaving behind the tried and true, as experienced by Apollos. Today’s biblical readings then lay out a plan for spiritual direction. More than that, they show the absolute necessity of seeking and receiving advice in a context of total sharing of the Spirit.

First Reading: Acts 18:23-28

After spending some time there he departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Now there came to Ephesus a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures. He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately. And when he wished to cross over to Achaia, the believers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who through grace had become believers, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus.

Gospel: John 16:23-28

On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”