MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST - A

MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST – A
(Deut 8:2-3, 14b-16a; 1Cor 10:16-17; John 6:51-58)
Theme: let us nourished by the body and blood of Christ so that we are full of life

Reflections

- Solemnity of the Most Holy Body an Blood of Christ:
o Most Holy, in the Catholic Liturgy, is used only for God and his nature: therefore, we have in the first instance ‘the Most Holy Trinity’ which we have celebrated last week and now we have another instance where we again contact this usage today ‘the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ’. In the no other instance or to the none other person is given this adjective ‘Most Holy’. Even for Mary once in one occasion this title is used and that too ONLY in her maternal relation to God: ‘Mother of God Mary most holy’.
o It is theologically very apt to call the Body and Blood of Christ a Most Holy and at least for two reasons: one, the Body and Blood of Christ IS the Same Person of Jesus Christ who is present in the form of bread and wine and his presence is perpetual and therefore IT IS THE SECOND PERSON of the Trinity himself who is present in the midst of his people as He promised; and second, the Body and Blood of Christ, the bread from heaven, is the GREAT GIFT OF LOVE OF THE TRINITY to the humanity.
- This solemnity nourishes on our journey towards heavenly Jerusalem:
o We have restarted the Ordinary Time of the Liturgical Year with the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity after completing the Time of Lent and Easter: with this we have started again our Journey in and with the Name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
o In our journey which we have re-initiated with the reflections of the Kingdom of God we need nourishment and that too the spiritual nutriment: And this is the Spiritual Nourishment which empowers and encourages us to walk along in the journey of life with its strength and energy.
- Supermarket and Supreme Market: Analogical Comparison
o Supermarket:
 The time: we prefer to go to the supermarket once in a week or sometimes even more fewer times as once in two weeks and still once in a month;
 The intention: Even before entering into the supermarket we know where to go exactly and what to buy and we add little more when we find something good and attractive;
 The tempting prices and offers: the prices in the supermarket are little lower than the other markets and there will be also sometimes the offer of the week;
 The observation: we observe well everything and in particular, the content, the quality and also the quantity;
 Filling: we fill our bags/sacks with everything we want to buy and get back home content, happy and without bothering for another few days/weeks;
 The people: In the supermarket, most of the time, we find a group of individuals who come, buy and leave it without any instance of interaction;
 The result: as the individual business and individual shopping each one buys what he needs and eat alone and live alone and so there is individual joy;
o Supreme Market:
 Time: Even to the Church we come once a week and sometime still less: once in two weeks or monthly participation;
 The Intention: We already know to which Church to go and what we have to do, like participating, praying and receiving communion and we add little more wisdom and force of faith when we listen to the Word of God read and proclaimed in the homily;
 The prices: Even we have to pay for what we buy; if we need to have grace we have to pay the price of faith, hope and charity; we have also sometimes the free invitation by God which we can be sure with the prophecy of Isaiah through whom God invites: “You who are all thirsty come to the water, who has no money equally come; buy and eat without money and wine and milt without freely” (Is 55:1).
 Observation and reflection: we observe what is being done and what is being said and in summery what is being celebrated: the context (the content) of the Word of God and reflection of what it signifies (the quality) and how much (quantity) it signifies to our day-to-day life;
 Fill up: with all the attentive and prayerful participation we refill our hearts (the sacks and bags) with the joy of the Lord and go home with the full of life and spiritual energy;
 The people: as in the supermarket the people enter into the Supreme Market, the Church, as individuals and do not remain as a group of individuals but as a family and as a community; in the exchange of peace we come into interaction with each other and we become One Family and One Community for the Lord;
 The result: in the Supreme Market, the Church, it is no more individual business but it is collective/communitarian prayer and participation and therefore, we do not strive only for what we need but we pray also for what other need (common prayer and community which prays together) and thus WE EAT TOGETHER THE ONE BREAD AND WE LIVE TOGETHER FOR ONE LORD.
o Supreme Market, the Church!
 If we consider a market as a place where people gather for selling and buying, then, the Church could be a market, but a Supreme Market, where unlike just supermarket, there is the life of togetherness, the interaction of intimacy and bond of mutual and reciprocal love;
 It is only analogical, not theological, that we can always enter into the Supreme Market with its invitation to bag a grace of God, as in the supermarket where people come to bag what they need through the invitation of its publicity;
First Reading:
- The Memory of the Journey:
o Moses makes the people of Israel to remember the marvelous deeds that God has fulfilled in their midst and in a special way how He has brought them out from the slavery of Egypt and guides them towards the promised land: the land of honey and milk (once again Supreme Market);
o Moses asks them to recall how God has nourished them in their journey towards the salvation: about
 The bread: which He has provided them in the desert under the species of Manna;
 The water: which He has produced for them from the rock;
 The Word: above all, how He has led them through his words in the form of commandments;
 Those who eat the manna and drink the water live only in the desert/in the journey but they do not reach the promised land/salvation unless they FOLLOW His Words and Commands;
o Moses, finally, tells them that a man cannot live by bread alone but from the every word which comes from the mouth of God and Jesus also confirms this, in his confrontation with the devil and his temptations exactly at the beginning of his redemptive mission;
- The book of Deuteronomy is the collection of different fascinating homilies of deliverance from the land of slavery to the land of salvation:
o The main themes of this book are: the Law and the Gift of land
o Chapter 8 from which we have our reading for today is exactly the time of well being of Israel and their establishment as nation which has the culture of goods and values of progress and also the danger of sin of pride and self-continence.
o Here, Moses makes the appeal of the great phrase: “Remember” and this is the fundamental invitation to Israel to ‘Recall’ and to ‘Remember’. For:
 ‘Remembering’ makes them to increase their faith;
 ‘Recalling’ makes them to renovate/renew their alliance/covenant with God;
 ‘Memory’ makes them not to forget, in their well being and secure life and in their indifferent religiosity, the marvelous and wonderful deeds of the Living God in their lives;
o ‘remembrance’ in the biblical sense introduces us again into the story of salvation in which we re-actualize today all the events of the past and for this reason even Jesus makes this appeal to ‘make this in memory of me’ all events he has accomplished and in a important way, the event of Eucharist in which He has given his own Body and Blood for the salvation of all;

Second Reading:
- The Only Bread of Life is the Eucharist:
o Paul recalls (again the theme of remembering of the first reading) the Passover of Jesus and especially how has offered his life and given us in the form of bread and wine in which we really receive the ‘body’ and drink the ‘blood’ of Christ and so we have the eternal life in us;
o Above all, the same and one bread (the food of heaven) in which all of us participate/take part makes us not many but ONE PEOPLE in Christ: though we enter as individual into the Supreme Market, we become One just because we share only One Bread: Christ.
- The participation in this One Bread of Life makes us recall our authenticity in the Eucharistic celebration we have every day:
o After participating are we becoming One Body though we are different from each other?
o Are we really in communion with the other members of our community as the result of the one participation in the one and the same sacrifice of the Lord?
- This Pauline text is the basis for the communion/fellowship of Christians in living and in giving testimony to the life of Jesus and this text leads also the ‘communion’ aspect which Didache speaks about:
o As the grains of wheat which are collected from different fields and gathered together to make one bread, in the same manner, God gathers different people together and makes One Church;
o As the grapes which are collected from different wine fields and gathered together to make one product, so also, the Church, in the blood of Christ, feels united and nourished from the same aliments.


The Gospel Reading:
- Eat my flesh and drink my blood:
o The words of Jesus which seem and which are in reality, more radical and more orthodox, seems to create frustration and confusion among the listeners, in particular way, to the Jews who never understood the word ‘flesh’ beyond its material significance;
o God becoming man (incarnation) itself is incomprehensive reality for them and when he talks about ‘giving of his body and blood’ (Eucharist/sacrifice on the Cross) it becomes still more furious because they do not fall in their spheres of knowledge and in ‘the law’ which was given to them;
o Therefore, God’s birth (incarnation) and God’s death and resurrection (Paschal mystery) are most insignificant and they consider them as heresies and there they still do not believe in Christ, the Incarnated Person of God.
- The life for the recipient and the world:
o He who eats his body has the eternal life (v.51) and therefore, the individual believer who participates, celebrates and eats the body of Christ which was offered on the cross and re-enumerated on the table of Eucharist in ‘his memory’ has a life and life in eternity; the unique solution for our quest of eternal life, therefore, is eating his body;
o For the life of the world (v.51): there is also reference of the life of the world, not just of the individual; it signifies that the ‘body and blood of Jesus’ were offered on the cross and given as a food to all the world; therefore, the possibility is open to all but it is on the part of the world either to accept or reject this food of life with its free and willing participation or indifference.
- The four effects of ‘eating his body and drinking his blood’: one who does this
o Has the eternal life (v.54) – the grace which is already given on earth will be accomplished with the life in God;
o Will be raised up on the last day (v.54) – the glory which is already promised and nourished each day with the bread from heaven, will be final when the individual meets God face to face;
o remains in Jesus and Jesus in him (v.56) – the perpetual and permanent presence of Jesus in the participant of the Eucharist and his own gracious presence will manifest the life of God to others;
o live for Jesus (v.57) – the task and responsibility of the participant of the Eucharist; it does not go in vain; the reception of the body and blood of Christ will cloth the recipient with the testimony of life by the word and by the deed;


Conclusion:
- The Eucharist is the greatest of all the gifts that God has given us in Christ because:
o It contains the presence of the Trinitarian life: the grace of God, the love of Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit;
o It is the eternal presence of Jesus with and amidst his people;
o It is the Divine Source from which the Church gushes out and the Church, which itself is the Body of Christ, which makes the Eucharist through the consecrated priesthood;
o It is the Fountain of all other life and ministries in the Church both sacramental and ministerial.
- The Eucharist makes the receiver to share the life received:
o The one who participates in this celestial meal, cannot but live the life of Christ and share it with others;
o If that happens and if one cannot share his life of faith and grace with others it means that it is ‘the bread received is the bread received with unworthiness and it is bread which is equal to that of what Jesus speaks fallen from the table.’
- The bread of the Angels: bread that is shared, bread by one to the other:
o There was a small story, I am not aware of its origin, but looks very meaningful for today’s reflection;
o The bread of devils: there is a dinner prepared for all the devils in a single and huge dish; there was a big spoon with which they have to eat; each one takes that big and try to eat but could not reach their mouth because the spoon is so long; each one tried and tried until they have left with lot of dissatisfaction and discouragement;
o The bread of the angels: the same kind of dinner was prepared and in the same manner also for the angels; but each angel started to feed the other with the same long spoon which is easier; and finally each had full and everyone is satisfied;
o The only difference is: the angels know how to share the bread and it is by feeding others and on the other hand, the devils were so selfish that they could not imagine of feeding other; when the bread of Christ is shared and life of Christ itself is shared;
- The Eucharist and the Fraternal Communion:
o The bread from heaven: is for all and to be consumed in fellowship; it has to be celebrated in the fraternal worship and eaten with the divine love because it is the gift of love of Christ to me, to you and to the world;
- Let us be nourished by the body and blood of Christ so that we are full of joy;

HOLY TRINITY - TO HIM BE THE GLORY

HOLY TRINITY SUNDAY – A (Ex 34:4-6,8-9; 2Cor 13:11-13; John 3:16-18)
Theme: Our Glory is in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Reflections:

- We have completed the celebration of the Paschal Time and now we start again with the Ordinary Time of the Liturgical Year and thus we continue with the mediation of the Gospel of Mathew in this year A.
- The Church admonishes us to begin this Ordinary Time of the Year again in the Holy Name of the Trinity because He is the foundation of our faith, life, journey and our final destiny: we live, move and have our being in HIM.
- It is apt and necessary to meditate and make our own the mystery of the Trinity once again so that each time when we invoke the name of the Trinity we would really be mindful of the PRESENCE and EFFECT of the Three Divine Persons who is, in a mystery, the Holy Trinity.
- We have already reflection on the feast of the Pentecost, last week: there are Three Divine Persons and all existing as one God; although we can attribute some events and interventions to each of the Persons, such as, the creation to the Father, the redemption to the Son and the sanctification to the Holy Spirit, they in reality, are not divided; indeed, each event is the act of the three persons together;
- We can revise once again the mystery of the unity of the Trinity in relation to the creation and salvation of man and the world:
o in the creation, though it is attributed exclusively to God the Father, there is the presence of the Son in form of the Word spoken and there is also the presence of the Spirit hovering on the waters;
o in the redemption, though it is attributed exclusively to God the Son, there is the presence of the Father in form of the Will fulfilled and Plan accomplished and there is also the presence of the Spirit which has led the Son to carry on the mission that the Father has commissioned him;
o and finally in the sanctification, though it is attributed exclusively to God the Spirit, there is the presence of the Father who is the fountain of all sanctity and holiness and there is the merit of Son’s death and resurrection through which the purification and sanctification flow and to give full completion, the Spirit who sanctifies comes from the Father and the Son and therefore, there could not be the Spirit except in and through the Father and the Son.
- This unity of the Trinity also proves and gives foundation to the unity of whole creation and whole human race:
o though we find it hard to prove, in the human level and in the human concepts, the mystical union of the Three Divine Persons, we can find from the revelation either in the Old Testament or in the New Testament the presence and the effect of the united work of the Trinity with regard to the human being and to the whole creation.
o In the Old Testament we see the complete design of God for the salvation of man and creation and we see how he has chosen a people for himself and how he wanted to extend this redemption to all through this chosen people. It is the mystery of God in the promise of salvation.
o In the New Testament we see the will and design of God has been fully obeyed and brought to the completion (it is accomplished – the final words of Jesus on the cross) by the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. This is the mystery of God in the process of salvation.
o In the New Covenant, the Church and the time followed till today and the ages to come till the eschatological consummation of all again in God, we see the presence of the Holy Spirit who inspires and sanctifies and leads all to the communion in God. This is the mystery of God in the progress of salvation.
o In this way, it is the whole Trinity who has worked for the salvation of man and creation. Not just single person but the totality of the Three Persons who is the cause of creation, redemption and the sanctification.
- We can also reflect the at most mysteries and how the unity of the Trinity is presence in the work of salvation:
o The creation: we have just seen above how the Trinity is present in the work of creation;
o The project of salvation: it is the Father who promises the savior, it is Son, who is present in every Word spoken by the prophets and it is the Spirit who is present in transmitting the word by the Father;
o The Incarnation: it is the Father who has sent the angel Gabriel to Mary with the good news of salvation and blessings of grace; it is the Son who has taken human form in her womb; and it is the Holy Spirit who has come down upon her.
o The Paschal event: the passion-death-resurrection of Jesus Christ: it is the Father who wills, it is Jesus who obeys and completes it and it is the Spirit who strengthens Jesus to accept and fulfill this will of the Father for the salvation of humanity.
o The Pentecost: we have seen already in the last week about this: it is Father who sends the Spirit in and through the merits of Jesus Christ his, Son and finally it is the Spirit who descends to initiate his mission of sanctification of the world and leading it the Father.
o The Eucharist and other Sacraments: in the Eucharist, the fountain and culmination of all the sacraments, it is the Word of the Father Spoken, it is the Deed of the Son enacted and it is the Power of the Spirit that effects the fruit of salvation:
 It is the Father who sends the word
 It is the Word/Son who is spoken
 It is the Spirit that speaks
 Therefore, in our time, it is the Eucharist which is the fullest manifestation of the Holy Trinity and we can contact and interact with God the Trinity in our daily Liturgy.
o The Church: the Church is a mystery and therefore, we can see the presence and effect of the Holy Trinity in the Church too:
 Church is the People of God, the Father (the people who are chosen/elected, bought and redeemed and in a word, the people that God called for himself)
 Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, the Son (the body which has Jesus as its Head, the Spouse who is washed and prepared by the Bride-groom for himself)
 Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit (the temple in which the Spirit pitches his tent, the holy place in which the Spirit dwells, the holy edifice where the Spirit acts).
 Church is One (Trinitarian)
 Church is Holy (belongs to the Father)
 Church is Catholic (universal property of Jesus who has died for all)
 Church is Apostolic (the succession that is transmitted by the power of the Holy Spirit).
- God is monotheistic or polytheistic? In the Christian Faith God is One but not monotheistic as in the Jewish and Islamic belief who believe just one God, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God is neither polytheistic in the Christina understanding just because there are Three Divine Persons because Three Person, each being God in himself, constitutes only One God. This is the mystery but not an abstract mystery but mystery revealed and manifested in the Second Person Jesus Christ:
o We cannot simply say and leave out the mystery of Trinity because Jesus himself proclaims in his word and deed that:
 He is sent by the Father (it is Father who sent me and I am in the Father and the Father is in me)
 He himself is the witness of the Father (I have not done what is mine but what my Father has told me to do)
 He promises the Spirit who will be sent after his return to his Father;
o In the baptism of Jesus once again the Trinity is revealed as it was in the Incarnation:
 Jesus who has gone to river Jordan to be baptized
 Father speaks about his son: “he is my beloved son, listen to him”.
 The Spirit comes down on him in the form of a dove.
o Therefore, if we really believe in Christ, we believe also his words and we accept his deeds with faith in which there is the manifestation of the Trinitarian God. So Our God is neither monotheistic because there are Three Individual Divine Persons (God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit), nor he is polytheistic because these Three Persons are not three God but one God (Triune God).

First reading:

- The Book of Exodus is the very important event in the chosen people of God; it manifests the total design of God who has brought his people out from the bondage of God promising the land of honey and milk; though these people, many a times have gone astray from his path and command, God reveals himself as a Merciful and Kind, Slow in Anger and Faithful to his promise (v.6).
- Already this exodus of Israel is the pre-figuration of the Great Exodus which Jesus prepares and fulfills for all the people in the future.
- We see the wonderful supplication of Moses to God to be “in the midst of his people” and God is so faithful to his word that He remained always “with his people” making them “his own”. Not only in the Old Covenant but also in the New He is “Emmanuel” – “God with us”.
- He was present in the story of the people of Israel in the various forms and one of the form is the ‘cloud’ (v.5); He was present in the process of the salvation in the person of Jesus; He is present now in the Church and in the world, always ‘amidst us’, in the person of the Holy Spirit. His Presence and effect is with us because he has made us ‘his heredity’ (v.9) and He is our God and we are his people.

Second Reading:

- The salute of Paul at the end of his letters to the Corinthians is very theological (v.13):
o The grace of Jesus Christ: the Second Person of the Trinity is the foundation of all the graces, because it is for him and because of him that God has created everything that is in heaven, on the earth and under the earth. All the graces of God flow through the Son, therefore, for Paul the grace belongs to Jesus Christ, who by his passion and death has merited every grace for the man.
o The love of God: God is love and in love all is one; once there is love there cannot be any difference or any division; in love there are no proportions (high or low; big or small). For Paul God is love and in and through this love that God generates his Son (generation) and produces the Spirit (Spiration) and yet they are not divided and different with the proportions just because they are all in love and LOVE IS ONE. This love makes God to be God, although a Father of the Son; this love makes the Son to be God although he is generated eternally by the Father and Father becomes the Father just because of the love of the Son; this love makes the Spirit to be God although he proceeds from the Father and the Son. Each one is God and yet Only One God just because of the Love and God is Love.
o The communion of the Holy Spirit: the source of the unity is the Spirit; when there is Spirit there is unity and communion; this is the effect and the fruit of the presence of the Spirit; For Paul, we are all united in the bond of communion just because the Spirit is present is each one of us; therefore, the ultimate manifestation of the Spirit should be the unity of all the believers in Christ; this truth leads us to reflect whether we are really Christians who follow Christ and who have the Spirit dwelling with us? this question arises just because of the disunity and lack of communion that exists between various believers in Christ;
o Be with you all: this is the blessing of the Trinity that is with us – the grace – the love – the communion, although seems to be three words and three attributions but in reality they constitute single presence of God, the presence of the Trinity;
- The same salutation is inserted into the celebration of the Eucharist: it is with this salutation that the priest greets the assembly of the faithful inviting them into the life of God the Trinity.

Gospel:

- “So that the World would saved through Him” (v.17):
o Though this gospel passage does not speak of the Trinity immediately, it proclaims the ‘Love of God’ (v.16) who wills to send his Son just because he loves to see the salvation of everyone who could participate in the same love; the same John the Evangelist who loves to speaks of “Love of God” mentions it very often both in his Gospel and in his epistles and he admonishes his community ‘to be in that love’ (we love each other because love comes from God – 1John 4:7).
o But in this Chapter, in the same discourse with the Nicodemus, Jesus speaks of the design of the Trinitarian God; in the precedent verses Jesus speaks of being born in the Spirit; he speaks of the Baptism which everyone has to receive in the Spirit of God for having “Eternal Life” (v. 16) and the Life itself is the Spirit.
o Here we see the mysterious words of John in which the presence of the Trinity is seen: “God has loved” – “Sent his Son” – “may have Life” (v.16).
- Two words noteworthy: the Life and the Salvation
o Only who has the life can produce and offer life: it is God himself
o Only who has the Omnipotence can save man: it is God who comes down to save the humanity who has fallen into the pit of destruction and who has no capacity to save himself and who looks always upwards (towards God with the hands lifted up – the sign of cry for redemption) and who seeks for God who saves him.

Conclusion:

- Trinity is Unity and Community in Love
o Trinity is Unity: as we have reflected the Three Persons in Godhead are United just because they are in Love and they are the love;
o Trinity is the Community: Three divine person, not being divided, makes the community:
 Trinity is a family without borders of hatred and heredity;
 He is a society without barriers of race and color;
 He is a world without limits of war and aggression. In this way, the Trinity stands as a model for the family-society-world and on the whole: to the whole humanity and creation itself.
o This is in the bond of Love: love is not an act of a single person; there should be at least three elements which constitute love:
 One who loves (the Father)
 One who is love (the Son)
 The love that passes from one to the other (the Spirit)
- The knowledge and understanding of the Trinity is possible only in Faith and Love:
o Ideas fails because they are personal (each one has his own idea and his own background for thinking and finally the personal thinking is always limited to the self)
o Philosophy fails because it is not objective (each philosophy has its reasons when the reason has limits and cannot go ahead it concludes that ‘the object’ doesn’t exist just because it is not conceivable, tangible and do not fall in the spheres of knowledge)
o Theology also fails because it is only a search towards the Objective Truth (theology can really go beyond the reason and really work hard to search and can coin many words: for example : hypostatic union in the matter of Christ’s humanity and divinity; consubstantiation: to explain the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist; it is nice to see the progressive aspect in the theology but it has its limits to reach and to express the Truth)
o Only Faith understands it and Only Love reaches it:
 In Faith: we leave aside our own limited ideas, leave aside the philosophical reasoning, leave aside also theological failures and we can, more than knowing God in concepts and words, Adore him as he is;
 In Love: as we have seen, love has no limits either personal or not even common (because majority believes it need not be true in the matter of God); it reaches beyond; it lives this moment of unity and community;
- The immediate action we have to do is:
o Keeping aside thinking how God looks like, how is he and where is and all (all the questions are only in the human mind; God has no questions, instead, stands as an ANSWER for all;
o Living in faith and love: when we are not able to come out of our own mind to understand others giving them the chance of talking, when we are not able to come out of our own homes to meet others giving them the chance of entering, when we are not able to sacrifice our own life to give other a chance of living, HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND GOD and his presence and effect in us;
o The only way is TO BELIEVE AND TO LOVE (our unity and our community makes us understand the unity and community of God because “God and We, are united in the LOVE” and God is love.
- Therefore, let us take glory only in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and glorify him saying: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world without end, Amen.

PENTECOST - FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

PENTECOST SUNDAY – A: (Acts 2:1-11; 1Cor 12:3-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23)

Theme: WE ARE FULL OF JOY BECAUSE WE ARE FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Reflections:
- Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Holy Spirit
- We commemorate today the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and from that until today, his continuous and efficacious presence amidst the world.
- Holy Spirit is the gift of the Father and of the Son Jesus but it is not like any other gift: but it is the Gift of all the gifts and the Giver of all the gifts.
- He is not just the great gift of God and His Son but He is God himself and He is the Third person of the Trinity.
- God the Father’s presence in the world is made known in many forms in the Old Testament and the Best Form he has chosen is the ‘human form in the person of his son’. The Son Jesus is the fullness of revelation of the presence and plan of the Father.
- Jesus who is the second person of the Triune God and who is God himself has revealed himself and the Father’s love for the humanity in ‘time and space’ and so we have the Christ-Event which happened in the history.
- After the event of Christ, it is the turn and the time of the Spirit to continue to this revelation of the God’s designs and Christ’s redemptive merits in the world.
- This does not mean that they divide the work and do it separately. In each and every thought and the deed that come out from the mind and hand of God is the work of the Trinity. Though the work is attributed to the one particular person of the Trinity in the given period of revelation, still the work is done by the Trinity. There is no and there could be no event in which there is the missing of even a single person.
- The works commonly attributed to each single person of the trinity are: to the Father the work of the creation but there is the presence of the Son in the form of the Word and the presence of the Spirit which was hovering on the waters; to the Son Jesus Christ the work of redemptive but there is the presence of the Father in form of obedience of the son and the presence of the Spirit in the form of sacrifice of the Son; and finally to the Holy Spirit the work of ‘leading the humanity to the Truth’ which includes both sanctification and making the disciples remember what Jesus said and so there is the presence of the Son and the presence of the Father because the spirit is the bread of God the Father himself.
- After the forty days of resurrection and ten days of his ascension Jesus sends the Holy Spirit as he has already promised and given in the word and symbol: in the word – receive the Holy Spirit; in the symbol – he breathed on them (today’s gospel).

First Reading:

- Pentecost is the ‘fiftieth day’: the day of liberation and salvation
o In the Old Testament there is a good significance for the fiftieth day because it is the day of Joy and Liberation for all the slaves; there was a command of God for all the people of Israel to release their slaves on the year after seven times seven, that is, the fiftieth year.
o The revelation of God is always connected to the human and historical events; God has made use of this ‘important fiftieth’ (Pentecost) day for the sending of the Holy Spirit. The fiftieth day after the ‘Paschal Resurrection’ in and through which Jesus has entered into the glory and has gloried God in a perfect manner, God sends the Holy Spirit and therefore to fulfill also the Old Testament revelation of total liberation of the humanity with the descent of the Holy Spirit.
o The fullness of liberation from the bondage of sin and death is given to us in the Holy Spirit: the disciples have fully understood the mystery of Christ not when he was with them and not when they looked and lived all the moments with Jesus but with the coming of the Holy Spirit; the disciples who were incapable of understanding the mysteries of God’s salvation and fearful of the same authority and closed themselves up into the room are NOW have become the WITNESSES of the new life of resurrection of Jesus; they have been liberated fully from the fear and incomprehension with the Holy Spirit. The merits of Christ event will be fruitful in us with the work of the sanctification of the Holy Spirit.
o In this way the resurrection of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit are intimately connected and they are interlinked with each other because the Holy Spirit is the gift of the Risen Jesus and the Resurrection of Jesus is the work of the Father in the Spirit.
- Pentecost is the beginning of the mystery and ministry of the Church:
o Jesus when he has initiated his work of salvation and the predication of the kingdom of God, he has done it with the power of the Holy Spirit. We see, according to the gospel of Luke, that in the beginning of his proclamation, in the temple of Jerusalem, he was given a book to read and as he opened it he found immediately these words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and he has anointed me to preach the good news of salvation”. With this acknowledgement of the presence of the Spirit Jesus has started his ministry. And in all his words and action there is the Spirit of the Father working in it.
o Now it is the time for the Church, the first Christian community of the Risen Christ, to start its proclamation of the Gospel of Salvation. Now it is the time because there is the presence and power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has empowered the disciples of Jesus to come out of the closed room, to come out of the closed hearts with the fear and to come out of the proper life and enter into the world as the preachers of the Word and the witness of the Life. When the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit they have started proclaiming the all the mysteries of God (v.4).
o This is just a beginning of His Mission and, from that moment and from that day the Spirit has never stopped his work of sanctification of the humanity and of the world through the life and ministry of the Church. The number of the witnesses that were sprouted is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The message of love and peace that was spread out is the breath of the Holy Spirit.
- Pentecost is the revelation of the Trinitarian Presence:
o Jesus has manifested in his words and in his deeds the Father and the Spirit; in fact there was an event of the Father who led whole history of Israel with the promises and prophecies and in the appointed/elected time, there was an even of the Son who led this chosen people and all the humanity into the possibility of salvation through his death and resurrection; though these events are undoubtedly and unconditionally the working of all the Three Persons but in history and time, there is also the particular event of the Holy Spirit and that happens today and continues till the end;
o In this way the event of the Pentecost reveal once again the fullness of the Trinity to the world and to the humanity.
- Pentecost is the revelation of the fullness of symbolism: the wind and the fire
o The wind:
 could be the breath of God at the time of creation; not only the breath God has breathed but also the breeze that was on the waters;
 could be also the presence of God as we see in the Old Testament: God appears in the form of the wind;
 could be also the force that can sweep away everything so that there is a space for the new beginning/new creation;
o the fire:
 could be the presence of the Father YHWH who was amidst the people of Israel to guide them in the form of the pillar of the fire;
 could be the descent of God’s blessing and his acceptance in the time of Elijah when the fire came and taken away the offerings (1Kings 18:38 – fire of the Lord);
 could be also the substance that can burn everything so that there is a possibility for the new blossom and new start;
o Holy Spirit is the Wind that can blow away what is Old and what is existing and create the occasion for the New Creation; Holy Spirit is the Fire that can burn what is filthy and impure and create the possibility for the New Being.
- Pentecost is the language of the heart/soul: gift of tongues but one proclamation
o Tower of Bebel and Tower of confusion: there was an instance in the Old Testament in which men, out of their pride and arrogance, wanted to reach God and go above him; for this they wanted to construct a big tower; when God saw this he sent different languages so that they do not understand each other; there was confusion of comprehension and finally they failed to construct what they desired for; their manifestation of pride and power fell to the ground;
o Edifice of New Bebel and Tower of comprehension/the Church: this is the instance which happened with the coming of the Holy Spirit; men of Risen Jesus, out of their docility and meekness, wanted to reach God and his salvation; When God saw them and their desire to be with him he has sent the ‘Person of the Consolation’ who has given them the gift of tongues to speak in different languages not to create confusion but to create communication and communion of the Gospel proclamation; and New Edifice/the Church is constructed; their proclamation has reached to the ends of the earth with everyone understanding it in their own language.
o Not the different language which are more important to understand the mysteries of God and of his salvation for us; but it is the language of the heart and the soul which is important and only this language could lead us to the love of God and the love of neighbor and once again this is also the working of the Holy Spirit.

Second Reading:

- Pauline Pentecost: Holy Spirit is the fountain
o Of Faith: Only He can create in a man the faith in Jesus Christ and only He can make him to call God ‘Abba, Father’ (Rom 8:15-16) and He can only make him to accept and say that “Jesus is the Lord” (1Cor 12:3).
o Of Common Good: only He can generate the common good of the community because he has given each, one particular charisma of manifestation of his proper life; each one is called to the communion of fraternity and we can see this effect immediately and clearly in the first Christian Community who were sharing everything they have for the common good (Acts 2:42ff).
o Of Unity: only He can bring everyone together into the one body and one construction; Christ is the head and we are all members but all make One Body and this is the work of the Spirit to keep up this unity intact. This unity is possible because of the Spirit that all of us have received in the Baptism. And therefore, the Holy Spirit is the Cause of the Unity.

Gospel Reading:

- The First Day of the Week and the Evening of the same day (v.19)
o The First Day theology in St. John’s Gospel:
 First Day is the day in which God has created the world and all that it holds including man; therefore, the beginning of the first creation.
 First Day is the day in which God has made Christ to be risen from the dead and the day of victory over death and evil; therefore, the beginning of new creation/new being.
 Now again the First Day is the day in which Christ has appeared to the disciples to breath them the Holy Spirit; therefore, the beginning of new life in the forgiveness of sins.
o The Evening: the evening is the ‘hour of the Holy Spirit’
 Morning is the ‘hour of the Father’ who has began his creation with the calling of light/the day;
 Noon is the ‘hour of the Son’ who has suffered on the cross and breathed his last and there was a clouds and night;
 Evening is the ‘hour of the Holy Spirit’ who has been given to the disciples by Jesus (v.1) and he has come down on the apostles in the evening because the day was about to end (First reading: Acts 2:1);
 In this way the DAY is the ‘Day of the Trinity’/Day of the Lord and we sing along with the Psalmist that ‘this is the Day that the Lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it.’
- Passage from the fear to the peace:
o Peace is the first gift of the Risen Jesus and this peace is possible and complete with the presence of the Holy Spirit; the disciples who were fearful and afraid of the Jews (v.19) wanted first of all nothing else than the peace and Jesus, who knows each of them well, gives exactly what they for that time needed: the peace and he says ‘peace be with you’ (v.20).
o The mission of ‘the sent’: Jesus is always conscious of his mission of being sent and mission of sending his disciples because the kingdom of God is a ‘mission in growth’ and ‘mission in process’; it has to continue till the consummation of the creation and it happens with the sending of the Holy Spirit; the mission of the Father and the Son is now being transferred/give to the Spirit and the disciples; The disciples are sent to proclaim not as an ‘isolates/isolation’ but with the ‘consolation’ and here is the mission of ‘the sent’ of the Holy Spirit.
- Breathed on them (v.22)
o God has breathed into the nostrils of the first man whom he has created in his image and likeness; he has to be the image of God in the world.
o Christ has breathed onto the first men who were re-created with newness of image and likeness and they have to be the images of Christ and his salvation to the world;
- Holy Spirit and the Sanctification:
o Receive the Holy Spirit (v.22) and the Forgiveness of the Sins (v.23)
o The presence of the Holy Spirit is always connected to the sanctification of man. He calls man into holiness by creating in him the humility to accept his sins and thus gain the forgiveness and thus to be in the state of purity.
o This shows how the Holy Spirit’s presence is very efficacious not only in the Baptism and the Confirmation but also in the sacrament of the Reconciliation; someone would say that to err is human and to forgive is divine; no one can forgive or receive forgiveness unless there is the action of the Holy Spirit.
o With the sanctification and with blowing of the sins (Spirit as a Wind) and with the burning of the old nature (Spirit as a Fire) the recipient of the grace becomes new creation and new being and thus will have New Life/New breath (the perfect and full presence of the Holy Spirit).

Conclusion:

- Proclamation – Profession – Pardon:
o If we have the Holy Spirit in us – we will PROCLAIM the great and marvelous deeds of God (Acts 2:11 – First Reading);
o If we have the Holy Spirit in us – we will PROFESS with the authentic faith that Jesus is the Lord (1Cor 12:3 – Second Reading);
o If we have the Holy Spirit in us – we will PARDON with the fraternal love and we are chosen and sent into the world for that purpose only (John 20:23 – Gospel);
- Thanking the Lord for the GIFT of the HOLY SPIRIT for our sanctification and salvation we will Listen to his Voice in us and live according to him;
- Now we are full of Joy because we are full of the Holy Spirit.

ASCENSION OF THE LORD - Way towards the GLORY

ASCENSION OF THE LORD – A: (Acts 1:1-11; Eph 1:17-23; Math 28:16-20)
Theme: Let us follow Jesus faithful and we can also climb to the kingdom of God

Reflection:
- After the resurrection from the dead Jesus appeared to the disciples and others for forty days manifesting his risen glory and the mission of the resurrection.
- The Ascension of Jesus is the final manifestation of earthly presence. His descent onto the earth (into the world) started with the Annunciation-Incarnation is now on the way of its ascent today with the Resurrection-Ascension.
- His historical life in the space and time is the ‘design of God’s manifestation of love in him’ so that the man who has ‘come down’ (fate of descent and loss of paradise) from the presence of God by his disobedience and rejection of the communion with God, now has the possibility to ‘go up’ (grace of ascension and regain of Father’s house) or to reach back into the presence of God with his obedience and acceptance of the mission of Christian life.
- Therefore, the Ascension of Jesus is the seed of hope for the man to climb up to the God’s bosom of love. For this we have to follow Jesus faithful and we reach the heavens where we are with Him and see the Father face to face, for which the Christian life is destined.

First Reading:
- Ascension of Jesus into heaven is the great glorious epiphany of the Lord which only evangelist Luke mentions about it little more with the details than other Gospel writers. Luke ends his Gospel with the words “while he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven” (24:51) and he begins his work of Acts of the Apostles in continuation to his Gospel and says “as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). Among other gospel writers only Mark just says it in a single line: “after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God” (16:19), but this part comes in the longer ending of Mark which is in reality is only attributed to him and which is doubtfully belongs exclusively to Mark. Therefore, the witness of the recount of Luke, either in his Gospel or in his Acts, is important to come to know the truth of Ascension of Jesus.
- With the proclamation of the Ascension of Jesus Luke presents to us the ancient and traditional symbolism of the man and the world. Man and the world are posted between the ‘heavens’ which is above (high above the skies) and the ‘hell’ which is below (deep into the earth). Therefore, man has the possibility of reaching either to the heights of the glory or to the Hades of death. Jesus life on earth is exactly for making the man to rise up and make a move towards the heavens (to be in the path of ascension). For this reason only Jesus has ‘come down’ in order that the human being and the whole world itself will be ‘raised up’ and he has opened the door of the possibility of ascending (ladder of perfection) which were closed by human disobedience.
- Therefore, we need not and should not connect the ascension of Jesus to the time and space, that is, to the historical facts which were officially accepted and recognized by the historians. It falls into or it is inserted into the manifestations of the divinity of Jesus. One of his revelations, as those of resurrection, ascension reveal to us the glory of Jesus in his return to his Father which he himself has said number of times that he would have to return to the Father from where he has come down. The truth of his words is once again revealed in his ascension. Therefore, we treat this ascension of Jesus as the symbolic manifestation which would encourage humanity to have hope and to strive towards ‘reaching of the heights of heavens’, for which, God has created man and offered the possibility of salvation so that man can be in eternal communion with God.
- It is interesting to go through the discourse between Jesus and his disciples just before his ascension. They ask him whether this is the time when God will restore the kingdom to Israel. “Is this the time” for the apostles is an important point.
o They have seen the power of political authorities by which Jesus, whom they have thought to be the messiah, was arrested, insulted and finally put to death. With this they thought that may be Jesus, who with meekness (like a sheep to the slaughter’s house did not speak a word) accepted the death, is the not the actual messiah for the restoration of Israel’s kingdom. But in three days everything is changed. The story has taken its return journey.
o They have seen Jesus now, apart and above from the power of the political authorities, who has come into life again with the glory of the resurrection. Now they believed Jesus again with little more firmness that he is the messiah who could restore the kingdom to the Israel because they by this time knew that no political powers and not even the death could do any harm to him.
o May be thought also ‘this could be the right time’/time of his glory, for the restoration and so they ask: “Lord, is this the time when YOU will restore the kingdom to Israel?” We can understand two important aspects: the ‘time’ (is this the time) of restoration and the ‘subject’ (you) of the restoration.
o From this we understand that after the three years of his proclamation and wonderful doings, after three days of passion-death-resurrection, and after the forty days of his appearance after his resurrection, the disciples have NOT YET understood what it means the restoration of the kingdom, and how Jesus has already restored it in the way God designed.
- Jesus knows that they have not yet understood the complete design of God for the salvation the humanity. Therefore, he replies them “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority” and continues with the reception of the power of the Holy Spirit.
o The first part of the answer of Jesus reveals that ‘they do not require to know the times and periods’ because it is not only in times and periods that God acts. His actions and revelation go even beyond the time and history. This is in contrast to the authority of the world (political and historical which act in time and space) that the authority of God (in time and out of time because he is timeless) works and acts. The authority of the world has put Jesus to death and in time and space, but the authority of God has made him raised from the dead and it is in time and space and into eternity.
o Therefore, Jesus tells them not to worry either about the time or about the restoration, because, they did not and they cannot understand the meaning of the restoration and its completion on the cross which has already happened, unless they receive the Holy Spirit who will remind them all the words spoken to them and the meaning of all the action being accomplished before their eyes.
o Even Jesus is not in hurry or worried much because of his disciples’ failure to understand the real meaning of what has been fulfilled because he know that it the work of the Spirit to make them the witnesses (“you will be my witnesses” v.8 and this is possible after the coming of the Holy Spirit). Everything has to be place in the hands of God and everything has to be delivered into his authority because He alone knows the times and periods of manifestation or revelation of his glory.
- Once Jesus has finished telling them the design of the Father for humanity he was lifted up and they were still gazing up toward heaven. Jesus who has come down to restore the humanity to its original and eternal communion with God, has fulfilled it perfectly and completely opening also the doors of the possibility for man to reaching it and now has returned to his Father in ascension.


Second reading:
- Glorification of Christ: Paul speaks of the glory that Jesus Christ is endowed with by his Father for his obedient fulfillment of the plan of salvation for humanity. This glory is given to Jesus Christ, not as the gift of nothing, but as the gift for what he has accomplished. In his each and every word and action he has glorified his Father. Even in his passion and death he has completely thrown himself to the will of his Father. This is the reason why God has glorified him in the resurrection from the dead and now with the ascension and by making him to sit at his right hand (v.20); now the Father who is pleased with his son and his doing has crowned him with the power over everything and for every time, not only in this age but also in the age to come (v.21); and the same Father who has created everything in heaven and under the earth in him and for him, now makes him the head of all the things (v.22). All this was possible only because he has given himself fully for the eternal plan of God’s salvation for the humanity.
- Transformation of Man: Paul speaks also of the glory that each and every disciple can receive in and through Christ. In fact, man is called for this glory of resurrection and the ascension and he can hope for this and Paul confirms it by his proclamation saying: “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” (vv.18-19). The transformation of the believer is in his hope because he is called not lose the heart and not to lose the life for the authority of the world or the powers of evil. As Jesus, his head and leader (v.22), he has to commit himself for the will of God so that like him, he will also receive the glorious inheritance (resurrection of the body and ascension into the Father’s house) and the immeasurable greatness of his power (to be witnesses unto the ends of the earth).

Gospel Reading:
- The reality of the ascension of Jesus is an invitation for us to climb up into heavens; this climbing up is a process upwards;
o Ascetics, who pave the way of perfection through their endurance of earthly desires, are the models for the journey of Christian life towards the heights of glory. They have the ‘ladder of perfection’; the ladder which is grounded to the earth and raised to the heavens; the ascetic, who practices the life of perfects has to first of all, detach himself from what is earthly and start climbing the different stages of the ladder of perfection and finally reach the peak stage which is the communion with God. The ascension has the symbolism of the asceticism in the Christian life. It’s a process upwards or a journey towards reaching to the oneness into God. That’s what the ascension of Jesus symbolizes for the Christian life. On the one hand, it is a reality that Jesus after his descent into the world and accomplishing the plan of salvation, has ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father and to be the head (second reading) of everything; on the other hand, it a symbolism of ‘ladder of perfection’ by which man/believer has the possibility to journey always upwards to reach into full communion with God.
o Also the symbolism of mountain during the ascension of Jesus help the Christian believer to be always in the heights of glory; Jesus has indicated a mountain to reach and the disciples have come to that mountain as Jesus has directed them (v.16); this symbolism of mountain is not an exception here. It is very common in the revelation or manifestation of God: in the Old Testament, the great example of this is the mountain of Sinai on which God has given Moses the commandments so that the people of Israel reach the mountain of perfection; while in the New Testament, Christ himself has utilized this symbolism and made use of some mountains for the manifestation of God’s designs for humanity: it was on the mountain (called as the mountain of beatitudes), that Jesus has given the new law (it was said… now I tell you – 5-7 chapters of Mathew); it was on the mountain that Jesus personally/individually or with the company of his disciples, prayed very often; it was on the mountain that Jesus has been transfigured to manifest his glory; it was on the mountain of olives that Jesus has undergone his agony; it was again on the mountain of Calvary that Jesus has offered his life for the will of God for the humanity; and now it is again on the mountain, which is in Galilee, that Jesus has called all his twelve once again, to manifest his final glory of ascension.
o Symbolism of mountain is: that the world is like a mountain on which every disciple has to reach to contact his master, Jesus. The disciple/ascetic has to stand ON the mountain of the world/or ABOVE the world (which includes that renouncing of immersion into the worldly desires and bodily pleasures, that means, every follower of Christ has to rise above the world and its challenges) in order to BE with the Lord; the mountain of sanctity is the basement for the ascending towards the communion with the Lord; and now the mountain of ascension is the symbol/model and culmination of all other mountains of revelation.
- When the disciples have come to the mountain they have worshipped him and some have doubted (v. 17):
o on the one hand, the adoration of the disciples show their complete commitment of life and their complete surrender to God in front of the King of the Universe who has Risen from the dead and who has made them the heirs of this inheritance (second reading), on the other hand, the doubt of the some disciples show their journey towards full knowledge and acknowledgement of him as the true Lord and Savior.
o Though adoration and doubt seem to be an opposite poles in the thought of the world, in the way of Christian perfection, they can seem to be complimenting each other because one completes the other: there is an adoration because all the doubts are cleared and there is doubt because the way is paved towards full acknowledgment which leads to adoration.
o In the Christian sense, doubt is not a negative aspect but it connotes the positive character of knowing the truth. The doubt is not the negation of the truth but the will to know the truth: after the doubt that Joseph has accepted Mary as his wife; after the doubt that Jesus leads Peter into the acknowledgement of him; after the doubt that Thomas has exclaimed Jesus as ‘my Lord and my God’. Through the process of doubt one can reach the certainty of truth.
o Therefore, here the disciples even in the doubt they have worshipped him; this means that their doubt is not to negate but to confirm and to affirm the real person of Jesus who is about to ascend to his Father.
- Commission of Jesus to the disciples to baptize and to teach them:
o Baptism not in his name alone but in the name of the Trinity – because – the one who receives symbolic baptism shares in the reality of the Trinitarian life.
o Teaching not the commandments but teaching the obedience to the commands of Jesus – because all the commandments are intrinsically linked in the command of the Lord Jesus which is the very life of Jesus: the command of Jesus is the life of Jesus itself. Teaching to obey is teaching to obey Jesus; This obedience to the authority/headship of Jesus (in eternity – second reading) is always in contrast to the obedience to the powers of the world (in time and periods – first reading).
o Another important aspect is the commission of Jesus ‘first to baptize them and then, to teach them to obey’ (vv.19-20): these words are marked only by Mathew because he is writing to the Jews. They already know the commandments therefore, what they have to know is ‘to be baptized’ in the Trinity which Jesus himself showed in his words and actions and ‘to obey’ the command of the Lord (in which all the commandments they have received from the YHWH are comprised).
- The promise of eternal presence with his disciples:
o Remember that I am with you always (v.20): Jesus’ assurance of his presence is always there but it is we who have to remember this presence without forgetting or neglecting it in our daily trails and worries; his promise is of his presence, not of his removal of our daily and day to day sufferings. Many a time we forget this truth and blame that if he is really with us whey these difficulties and inconveniences for us. He did not promise that these situations will not exist but he promised that even in these times of difficulty he is there with us and we have to REMEMBER his presence so that we can easily endure them.
o Remember is also the presence of the Holy Spirit; according to John, the remembrance is the Holy Spirit: when the Holy Spirit comes he will make you remember all that I have told you (John 14:25-26). Therefore, there is also the eternal presence of the Holy Spirit when we remember that Jesus is with us.

Conclusion:
- In the conclusion I want to sum up everything into four words:
- The MOUNT: as we have seen, the mountain is the place of ‘gathering of the people around the Lord’. It is on the mountain the Jesus and his disciples are gathered together. This mountain is not any mountain in the world but a mountain that Jesus himself has ‘DIRECTED’ (Mathew 28:16):
o Individually this mountain could mean – the FAITH: the faith by which we come to the Lord and Lord comes to us; in the faith we reach into communion with God;
o Collectively this mountain could mean – the CHURCH: the church in and through which the interaction of God and his people can be made easy; this could be the local church as the Christian community of believers and this could be also the UNIVERSAL CHURCH as the community of all the believers in Christ;
o Finally we have to note that this is not any church/any mountain that we have to gather upon but the mountain/the Church which CHRIST HAS DIRECTED.
- The POWER: the indication of power is previously known in Jesus’ “knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands” (John 13:3) and with all the power which he had he sets himself up to wash the feet of the disciples as the mission of love to be accomplished as the part of the plan of his Father; now we see Jesus himself saying that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mathew 28:18) and with all the power he sends his disciples to the mission of love (through baptism and teaching).
o The important and enriching point here is not that Jesus has power over all the earth and heavens but his utilization of the power;
o He has the power to do whatever he wants but he has utilized his power not for his own will but the will of his Father; in this way he becomes a model for every man in power and to how to use this power for the love of God and for the love of the neighbor (the mission of the Gospel);
o We all have the power/we are given the power (to choose whatever we want in freedom) but the ultimate meaning of its use is always in the accomplishing the will of God for the humanity (the well being and glory of every being).
- The GAZING upwards: the disciples were still watching upwards when Jesus was being ascended into heavens (Acts 1:10)
o This is the hope with which we have to carry on our lives fixing our eyes on the Lord; even in the difficulties we need not look on to earth with the desperation but with the courage and confidence that our Jesus was raised up from among all these situations and we also have the hope that these are not permanent situations and that one day we will be liberated from all these.
o In fact, we are not the people of the earth or of the world but people called to be above; we are called to make our journey always upwards into the communion with the Lord than to be entangled with the wants of this world.
- The ‘ASCENT’ into heavens: the invitation of Jesus to us all to ascend into the kingdom of God
o This ascension is not a simple word to listen or a simple reality to admire at; but it is a Christian task to strive at;
o We need to ‘step by step’ (ladder of perfection as we have meditated little while ago) have to climb up with faith, hope and charity (all are united in one word: love).
o With our daily acceptance and living of life’s joys and sorrows we can climb up or we can ascend into the life of perfection;
- Therefore, let us follow Christ faithfully and we can also participate in the ascension of the Lord.

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER: LOVE BY KEEPING COMMANDMENTS

Sixth Sunday of Easter – A: (Acts 8:5-8,14-17; 1Pet 3:15-18; John 14:15-21)
Theme: LOVING THE LORD IS IN KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS

Reflections:
- In this sixth Sunday of Easter we are reminded, once again, of the joy of resurrection; to reach this joy, today’s readings provide for us, the way of living and leading Christian life; loving the Lord is the first step and that, automatically, leads us to the second step of keeping his commandments.
- Last week in the discourse of the Father’s house we have learnt that Christ has gone ahead of us to prepare rooms for us so that we would be with him where he is; God’s will is, that we are with Him and we are with Him where He is; only the immense love makes us to be with the other; only when we love God we desire to stay with Him. He loves us very much and we know it in the mystery of His Son (Jn 3:16); It is because of this love for the humanity He came down ‘TO BE’ with the humanity and he promised this loving and eternal presence with men (Mt 28).
- That is from the part of God’s immense love for humanity and what has to be from our part is also the same love; Love for God makes us always strive ‘to be’ with Him. We do not hate the presence of the one whom we love, although, this presence demands our attention, observance and at times also demands our ‘renouncing of our desires and our personal necessities’. It is same when we love God.
- And Jesus’ words today affirm this: if you love me, keep my commandments; this means going out of ourselves and out of our way in order to reaching the way of God (love for God) and the way of others (love for the neighbors).

First Reading:
- There was great joy in that city (v.8): Joy is the fruit of eager listening of the Word of God and seeing of His wonderful deeds.
o When deacon Philip was preaching and doing the wonderful miracles in Samaria, the people received him and his message with one accord (v.6) and we will again remember that Samaria is the place which was rejected by the Jews and even the disciples were wonderstruck when Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well (Jn 4) because it was prohibited even to talk with them. Now these people show much interest and desire in listening to the preaching of Philip and seeing the signs he did (v.6). And there was a great joy in that city (v.8).
o There was a joy indeed but this joy is the result of the ‘Word of God’ proclaimed, heard and accepted and the result of the ‘Deed of God’ done, seen and received;
o Not only the proclamation of the ‘Word of God’ is necessary but also its acceptance into one’s life;
o Not only the fulfillment of the ‘wonders of God’ is necessary but also its reception into one’s being;
o Only then there will be joy, not mere joy, but great joy in the life of the receiver;
o If our community has to have this Joy we have to listen to the word of God eagerly and observe the deeds of God keenly.
- Philip as a deacon has preached the word of God and baptized all those who believed in the Gospel; but he did not give the confirmation, or, the gift of the Holy Spirit, because it was reserved only to the Apostles; and so they sent for the Apostles because they wanted to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit after their baptism.
- ‘Laying of hands’ for the reception of the Holy Spirit:
o Apostles have already received the Holy Spirit and therefore, now they have the power to transmit this gift to those who believe.
o Peter and John have come to Samaria to give them the gift of the Holy Spirit;
o They have ‘laid upon them their hands’ and they have received the Holy Spirit;
o This laying of hands and praying for the Holy Spirit and His descent upon the people is the ‘ancient’ practice and even till today it is being continued in the sacrament of Confirmation.
- There was a joy because they have listened to the word of God and seen His wonders and this joy will remain because they have received the Holy Spirit.

Second Reading:
- Peter exhorts the first Christians to be attentive to the sufferings and persecutions which they have to accept:
o With the ‘hope’ (v.15) that our Christ is alive and so we will also be alive; and for the ‘good’ (v.17) because God’s will is that we always do what is good and worthy of living; and for the ‘reaching to God’ and for the ‘life in the Spirit’ (v.18) because it is the destiny of Christian life, the followers of Christ have to face the hardships and persecutors.
o The attitude that the Christians have to display with the persecutors is: with the ‘non-violence’ (gentleness v.15) and with the ‘openness and tolerance’ (reverence v.16) and with the sincerity (clear conscience v.16) and finally with the ‘unlimited generosity’ (even if they abuse the good conduct v.16 and even to suffer for good v.18).
- This is the exact attitude that Peter asks us today to cultivate in our daily testimony of Christian life:
o Not an eye for eye or tooth for tooth but loving enemies, praying for them (Lk 6:27): this should be our behavior with those who laugh at us for our faith.
o Leaving what we have to others than quarrelling with them for the goods that pass away because a man can achieve everything and finally loses his soul and what would be his end: this should be our consideration towards what blocks us from being witness for God’s Word.

Gospel Reading:
- The mystery of the Trinity and their intimacy of love:
o John’s theology is known as theology of love; He, both in his Gospel and in his three letters, speaks mostly and primarily only of ‘love’ of God. Love of God made manifested in the Incarnated Word Jesus Christ; Christ is the fullness of revelation of God’s loving face to humanity; John pens down all the ‘mystery of the Trinity and their love for humanity’ in this chapter 14; we remember that this discourse of Jesus falls in the context of final and precious words of Jesus (from chapters 13-17) during the Last Supper and before his arrest. Once he has revealed his love for his friends by washing of their feet and admonishing them to do the same (chapter 13), now He leads them slowly into the mystery of God, who is Triune and one in three in the bond of love; this chapter serves as the introduction also for the coming chapters in which he will speak of intimacy that has to exist between God and his disciple (united as the branches to the vine and therefore the commandment of love – chapter 15), of the gift of the Holy Spirit who will reveal the Truth and keep all who believe stay firm in the truth revealed and the how the Spirit turns all the sorrow into joy (chapter 16) and finally ‘interpersonal love between the Three Persons of God’ and the prayer of Jesus that all those who believe in him are united and ‘be firm’ in Him (chapter 17).
o Just before today’s passage of Gospel, Jesus already spoke (as we have meditated last week) the way that leads us to this intimacy of love of the Trinity and the way is, ‘He Himself’. We need to just follow the way that Jesus has prepared and walked himself; the way, not of roses as we would like but, of the cross, that is, the insults, sufferings and even the death; Only through this way we reach to the House of God and to see Him face to face and to remain with Him and in Him (intimacy of love). Thus, we partake in the life of the Trinity for which we embraced this faith and sustaining our faith with our daily endurances. That’s what, as we have heard, Peter exhorts us to do in the second reading.
- Love game between God and Man:
o Jesus’ words are very clear but all rotate around the point of love: “I am in the Father, you in me and I am in you” (v.20): Love game started between God and Man and it is Jesus who has started and in the movement of the Holy Spirit.
o The words of assurance: “if you love me” (v.15), “I will pray to the Father” (v.16), “Holy Spirit stays with you forever” (v.16), “My Father loves him and I also will love him” (v.21); they reveal the fruit of reciprocal love between God and his faithful. The words are different and expressions are various but the effect is the same: Remaining in the Love (God in Man and Man in God).
- Love and observance of commandments:
o Love has to lead to the keeping of commandments and observance of the commandments will result in the love of God;
 ‘If you love me’: we have to note the words of Jesus; Jesus do not say if you love (this could be love in general) but he says ‘if you love ME’ and this signifies the personal will to love Jesus and it is comes from the free choice, not of obligation/or out of force and therefore there is no curtailing of freedom of the person. ‘If you love Me’ can also have the opposite ‘if you don’t love me’; So it is purely ‘personal and free will’ on the part of the one who wants to have this love; love never forces anybody;
 ‘keep my commandments’: we again observe carefully the words of Jesus; he does not speak of any commandments which include the ‘law of Moses’ and ‘the commandments of the Old Covenant’; but he speaks of ‘MY’ commandments and some time back he spoke of his commandment: “love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34-35); It implies that Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Law, Prophets and Psalms as he himself told: “I have not come to abolish what was said but to fulfill it and make it perfect” (Mt 5:17). He has become the ‘ONLY LAW/ONLY COMMANDMENT’ that has to be followed/or observed. Once we follow Him we do everything that is in him and for him (In Him: we love God the Father and strive to be at his House; and For Him: we love our neighbor as He has loved us and gave us himself for us).
o Be in love or be out of love and there is no way of pretension;
 The words ‘ME’ and ‘MY’ of Jesus are to be meditated carefully to become mature in the love of God. There exists only one way: either we love him we keep his commandments or we don’t love and do not observe his commandments; either BE IN LOVE or BE OUT OF LOVE. There is no other way;
 We cannot pretend to love him without listening to him (the content of the first reading) and without enduring and taking risk of hardships (the content of the second reading) and without keeping the commandment of loving (the Gospel).
 It all depends on the free choice we make and personal decision we take; afterwards, no use of blaming God for the consequences; Jesus did not promise a soft life for those who follow him in this world; he promised a life in God in the future and in another world; If we remain in this world and still want to love him, there is no other way than the way of the cross that will lead us to the glory of resurrection;
- Holy Spirit – the Advocate:
o He reveals the truth and the truth will set us free from all these bondages of fear of the world and attractions of the world;
o The world (that is immersed in its own pride and power) cannot love God and keep his commandments because it does not know the Holy Spirit and thus does not know the Truth and the only Truth is: God and His love for Humanity;
o He is with us always; He is sent to us not as a temporary advocate (who defends us against the worldly and fleshy desires) but a permanent advocate who remains and guards us if only we heed to him.
o The Holy Spirit is ‘another Advocate’: The first advocate is Jesus Himself who intercedes for us with the Father; now once the first advocate Jesus has accomplished his mission of bringing the people into the love of God (the house of the Father), in the history and in time, now comes the Holy Spirit, another advocate, to be with us and to be for us who love and keep the commandments of Jesus.
o We are not orphans: we are not left alone; once we are called into the communion and fellowship of love with God the Father through the merits of Christ’s mystery, we are no more in the power of the world but in the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Love for keeping the commandments and keep the commandments for loving:
o Today’s Gospel passage starts and ends (v.15 and v.21) with this commandment of love and in the centre (v.18) there is the ‘presence and power of the Holy Spirit’.
o Therefore, loving and keeping the commandments is the action of the Holy Spirit in the believer; we have to just give in ourselves to the presence of the Spirit that is already in us and which has come to us with the Baptism and Confirmation and in the particular and perfect manner in the Holy Eucharist;
o We just offer ourselves for the prompting and power of the Spirit with docility and dedication and the rest will be done him because he is our Advocate.
- Love gives love and love receives love (v.21):
o If we love God, God also loves us; in the better words, it is with the love that God has for us that we love God; He loved us first and thus even our love takes its root and base from the same love that God has for us.
o In this way, there are no two loves: God’s love for us and our love for God; but there is only ONE LOVE, that is, GOD HIMSELF. In him we live, move and have our being.
o Everything is evolving around the ‘BOND OF LOVE’.

Conclusion:
- We are nearing the Ascension of Jesus and thus Jesus brings his promises of Resurrection to the perfect end: Everything is Love and In Love ‘united both God and humanity’.
- In the season of Easter we are blessed with the joy of hope and eternal happiness which will be brought into completion by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
- In fact, Holy Spirit is the gift of Risen Jesus to the Christian Community that is ‘in the way of becoming one with the Father’ (Father is in me and I am in you and you are in me, v.20).
- To reach this we have to accept the way of love: if we love him, let us, with sincerity and honest and commitment, keep his commandments.
- Let us remain in His Love by keeping his commandments of loving God and our neighbors as He has loved us.
- Therefore, let us come out of our pretension and ‘BE in His Love’ because we are called to participate in the love play.