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Happy Birthday, Church!

5/25/2015

Why do some people refer to today’s feast of Pentecost as the birthday of the Church? Your birthday was when you came forth into the world. When you were born you began an important adventure called life. You began to undertake your mission or purpose in life. As time went on, you accepted responsibility for your life. In that sense, the Church is born on Pentecost through the sending of the Holy Spirit.

In the account of the first Pentecost that we hear in the first reading for this feast, we read that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples (the apostles, Mary, and some others) who were locked up in a room. We hear another description of the coming of the Holy Spirit in today’s gospel when Jesus breathed the Spirit on the disciples at the Last Supper.

The coming of the Holy Spirit changed them and began something new. From fearful disciples, they became courageous witnesses. We could say that they came alive. The Holy Spirit breathed life into them: a real birthday.

They also realized that they were not only individuals. They were also part of the Body of Christ. They were to continue, as a body, to be Christ’s presence in the world. St. Paul reflects on this important truth in the second reading for the feast. He tells us that we are each a part of the body of Christ. We each have been given gifts by the one Spirit – no exceptions!

He goes on to say that we are many parts, but one body. It is all these parts joined together that make up the Body of Christ. It is the Spirit who gives us these gifts. The Spirit unites us as one body. Yet within this unity there is great diversity in the Church, the Body of Christ. And this diversity is a good thing. Different gifts, different cultures, different abilities working together for the one mission of the Church.

So Pentecost is our birthday. “Happy Birthday, Church!” The Holy Spirit has breathed life into us all. But this is not a private party. It is a worldwide celebration. We rejoice today as we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon those first disciples of Jesus. He brought life to our Church.

But that was not a one-time event that only happened 2,000 years ago. Jesus still sends the Holy Spirit upon us today and every day. The Holy Spirit still breathes life into us. That gift of the Spirit is always there to make us able to be his witnesses in the world. Our individual gifts work together to make us able to share in the Church’s mission.

All of us are called to come alive and witness to our faith. This is a time to allow the Holy Spirit to reawaken in our own hearts the fire of God’s love. It is a time for us to use our gifts to stir up the faith of others: in our families, our schools, our workplaces, our families, our society, the whole world.

As individuals and as a Church, we rely on the gifts that the Holy Spirit showers upon us. We thank God for the call to be his witnesses in the world. On this Pentecost, we pledge ourselves once again to be his witnesses in the world.

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The absence of Jesus

5/15/2015

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by: Fr. Ron Bagley, CJM

This feast of the Ascension of the Lord is really about the absence of Jesus. It celebrates his departure from this world. The New Testament tells us that after his resurrection he remained with his disciples for a while. While the gospel says it was forty days, the number may be more symbolic than literal.

The important point that the scriptures stress is that after the death and resurrection of Jesus, his disciples saw his crucified body alive, they heard him, they saw him eat. They shared meals. They knew it is Jesus. They knew he was risen. But he also told them that he would be leaving them.

But he wanted them to be ready to continue the work he had begun. They were to announce the Good News that the Reign of God had begun. They were to continue to heal and expel demons as signs that the Reign of God had begun. They were to proclaim forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus. They were to announce that he was risen from the dead. This is the work Jesus left them to do.

So it is the absence of Jesus (at least in his physical body) that is the catalyst for the disciples going forth in his name. As he is taken up from their sight, he commissions them to go forth to every part of the world. He has to leave in order for them to take up the work he has given them.

In his absence, a vacuum is created. Now we all learned in school, “nature abhors a vacuum.” The absence of Jesus creates a vacuum that the apostles fill. They take his place. They continue the same work he was doing. They are to minister in his name.

Notice that in the account of the Ascension, the disciples are not sad. They don’t plead with Jesus not to go. They don’t weep. They are not sad like they were when he said goodbye at the Last Supper or when he died on the cross. They understand now. They are ready to step in and continue his work.

We still experience the absence of Jesus. Yes, in some ways he is still with us. We feel his spiritual presence. We hear him speak through the Scriptures. We receive him in Holy Communion. We know that he is with us when two or three gather in his name. We know he promised to be with us until the end of time.

Yet, in a very real way he is absent. We cannot see him or touch him. He is not physically present to us as he was to the first disciples. His crucified and risen body has left this world. We are left with signs of his presence.

One of the great signs of the presence of the risen Lord is the community he left behind. We call it the Church, the Body of Christ. And since we are all the Church, every one of us, we are all called to be his presence for others.

Perhaps you know this beautiful prayer attributed to St. Teresa. It was set to music by John Michael Talbot.

Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
Compassion on this world
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good

Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world
Yours are the hands
Yours are the feet
Yours are the eyes
You are His body
Christ has no body now on earth but yours

Our celebration of the Ascension tells us that the absence of Jesus challenges us to be his presence. Jesus continues to heal through us. He continues to preach through us. He continues to bring compassion through us. He still continues to feed the hungry through us. He still confronts evil through us. He inspires faith in others through us.

It is a challenge for every baptized person to be the presence of Jesus Christ in our homes, our schools, our workplaces, our parishes, our neighborhoods and our world.

Jesus becomes present in so many ways through his followers:

·    A nurse brings healing through her profession, but a mother brings healing when she stays awake at night caring for her child.

·    A student confronts evil when he refuses to allow someone else to cheat off his paper.

·    A father inspires faith in his children when he accompanies them to church every Sunday and then discusses the Bible readings with his family.

·    Any of us feeds the hungry when we share what we have with those in need or go out of our way to assist in a feeding program or another ministry that feeds the hungry.

·    We bring the compassion of Christ to others when we take time to listen to the problems of a friend or neighbor, when we visit someone in prison, when we comfort someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one.

·    And there are so many other ways that we can be the hands, the feet, the voice, the body of Christ in our world.

As we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, the absence of Jesus, let us look for the many ways that we can be his presence in our world.

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Happy Birthday, Church!

The absence of Jesus

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Happy Birthday, C﻿hurch!

The absence of Jesus

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Happy Birthday, Church!