Homily – May 18, 2010 – Seventh Week of Easter - Tuesday

+ We are now in that in-between period: the Ascension of the Lord occurred last Thursday, Pentecost will be commemorated next Sunday – and with the Apostles we are asked to sit, and wait, and pray, patiently and expectantly. Just as the Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost and the Church was born – so this Pentecost he may stir up in us old gifts given (which are ever new), or new ones that he wants to give us to deal with what we need to deal with. We must remember that the Spirit always is one step ahead of us, lighting the way and preparing us for where we must go and what we must do to remain faithful to God and helpful to one another.

In the gospel passage, Jesus asks the Father to glorify him with the glory he had before the foundation of the world. He prays for the Apostles as well that they may see the glory and might know for certain that Jesus comes from the Father: for if they miss that detail, they miss the whole point of his coming. It is the Father who cared immensely that he could no longer call his human creatures "children." It is the Father who devised the plan of sending Jesus to bring about the "adoption process" so that these creatures could be true spiritually adopted members of his family. If Jesus is the reflection of the Father's image, (which is most certainly is), then when we see Jesus we see the Father; and we can understand that he could be sent to earth by no one other than the Father.

It is up to us, along with Paul of the first reading today, and so many others to bring this message to the whole world: that Jesus is Lord and our Brother, that he is sent from God the Father, that adoption into his family is essential for salvation, and that living a true and authentic Christian life is the goal for all human beings. This is not easy, but this is why we are clothed from on high with power given by the Holy Spirit of God himself. Let us pray earnestly these next few days for an outpouring of Spiritual Gifts – just the ones we each need each day – to do whatever God asks us to do for him!