As we continue our collective march toward Pentecost – including today’s observance of The Ascension of the Lord – it has been interesting to watch how the Holy Spirit was present and guided those first missionaries, those first evangelizers.
As if they were suited up with the armor of the Advocate, these first-generation spreaders of the Gospel were able to spread out over a very dark, cold and often dangerous world. Everywhere they went, they shared the warmth and the light of faith in God and salvation through his Son, Jesus.
They did this with the gifts they’d received … wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.
These gifts helped them overcome the hurdles they faced as they tried to convince a skeptical world of the “taste of heaven” they had experienced with Christ present on earth … a taste that was still available to anyone who desired it in their hearts, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
That spirit “officially” comes on Pentecost – the birth of our Church – but in reality, as part of the Holy Trinity, the Spirit has always been with us.
Imagine how those first followers felt when they approached an individual or a group in order to share the good news. Their hearts still burning with the experiences they had shared – those who had actually been with Christ and others who knew him after his Passion, Death and Resurrection – and then seeing him rise above into the sky.
He ascended into heaven … and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead … and his kingdom have no end.
Yes, we say that line every Sunday as we recited the creed – the credo, or what we believe!
That first generation … they walked with purpose.
They had no fear.
It was as if Jesus walked in front of them, behind them, to their left and to their right.
That was the power of the Holy Spirit.
And the Spirit was not just a one-time visitor to those whose journeys we are reading these days of Easter.
The Spirit was with God.
The Spirit was God.
The Spirit is God
And He is still with us, guiding our Church and our hearts as we – today – make our own way out into a dark, cold and often dangerous world.
How do we know? What is the source of this faith in a guiding ghost?
Today’s Gospel:
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things. 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.”
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.
Jesus promised his disciples – and us – that He would be with us always.
We should not fear our journey ahead … He will show us the way.
We should not fear opening our mouths to speak … He will give us the words we need.
More than 2000 years later, there are still soft hearts eager to open up to the love of God.
If only …
