+ As we advance in our celebration of Easter Day, we shift now
into a mode of remembering! First,
it is almost time for Jesus to finish his work on earth that required his
physical presence. He would be returning to the Father soon, ascending into heaven on a cloud.
Since his resurrection, he has
done his best to get his apostles to “remember” all that he taught them, so
that they would be ready to be sent out ten days after the Ascension on the
Feast of Pentecost. And so they remembered his birth in a stable,
his hidden childhood, his Baptism in the Jordan which inaugurated him as
Suffering Servant of the Lord – who would free God’s people from their sins and
open the gates of eternal life to them once and for all!
Before he accomplished this by
a brutal experience of death on a Cross, he told them to remember all the events in his life by a meal of remembrance which would be called Eucharist: The Mass. And,
lastly he wanted them to remember
that with his leaving – the Holy Spirit would come to them to empower them to
bring the gospel and the sacraments of the Church to all the world until the end of time! Yes, this is quite a time of remembrance for us as Catholic
Christians.
Perhaps sometime this day,
this Sunday in the now winding-down Easter Season – we can pause, reflect,
remember and put ourselves in an attitude of thanksgiving, wonder and awe at
the God who remembers us each moment of our lives – or we would simply cease to
exist – and who arranges circumstances, events, and happenings in our day –
aligning us with the people, places and things that we need to advance in agenda
of building a family of kind, caring, compassionate, patient brothers and
sisters with God as our Father, Mary as our Mother, Jesus as our brother and
the Holy Spirit who is the love-dynamic that keeps it all spinning, purring and
alive with endless possibilities of creativity, ingenuity and resourcefulness!
It is true: whoever loves Jesus will keep his word, and
his Father will also love him and will come to him and be their strength, their
protection and their peace and their joy forever!
Amen. Alleluia. Alleluia.
No comments:
Post a Comment