“ Go into the whole world, and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” That is our mission, given to us by our Lord Himself, and it has not changed. As we celebrate Ascension Sunday, we hear of both our Lord’s ascension back to the Father, but also of the coming gift of the Holy Spirit to be bestowed on us after our Lords Ascension. Our Lord knew we would need this grace in order to carry out the mission that He gave us, as well as to navigate this life in such a manner that we can one day look forward to being with Him in heaven – simply put, there is no other way this can happen. We absolutely NEED the Holy Spirit in our lives to guide us.
It’s no secret that our lives can be a struggle, in particular as we try to conform to God’s teaching in an age that glorifies the rejection of such teaching and delight in the most base and degraded of behaviors. To even understand why so much of what is considered the “norm” today is wrong requires a knowledge of God’s teachings, and to actually reject the allurements that this world presents requires a heart rooted in faith, and the grace of the Holy Spirit within. Our Lord knew this would be so, and because of that, promised that we would not be left alone after He ascended back to the Father, but rather would be given the Holy Spirit to continue to guide us.
We are each granted the grace of the reception of the Spirit through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. It is then up to us, and to those around us who are charged with guiding us in our formative years to accept that gift, and to live in such a way that it will flourish within us. Such a gift is precious and requires care in order for it to yield the fruits that were foretold. This can only come by increasing and maintaining our knowledge of God through His word, and by the frequent reception of the Sacraments. These are all things we are charged to do for a reason – the maintaining and strengthening of this precious gift that is so centric to our salvation.
It’s important to also understand, that while the Spirit within us is crucial to our own salvation, it is also crucial to our collective participation in Christ’s body, the Church. We cannot function as the living stones with which it is built if we are not solid in our structure. When we do not take maintaining our spiritual life seriously, we not only harm ourselves, we harm the foundation of the structure we are meant to each be a strong part of, in order to support the rest. Our own erosion absolutely can cause the erosion of the faith of others. We may not think that others take notice of our casual approach to our faith, but that is far from true. Whether it be our children, family members, or those who observe us at Church, it does not go un-noticed and we need to be continually on guard against this. We do not want to cause others to stumble. In our first reading, the question was asked – “Lord, when are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel?”. That is the crucial question for each of us, because it refers to when our Lord will come again to judge and bring those who are part of His flock to the heavenly reunion that is where God wants each of us to be. This is not our true life, this is not the life that we need to aspire to and work toward during our brief time here on earth. This is not our home, home is where the heart is, and our hearts when filled with the Spirit will guide us to our true home.
Podcast Link
The Deacons Bench 