On this Sixth Sunday of Easter we come to anticipate our Lord’s Ascension and the eventual pouring forth of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles at Pentecost. As a local church we anticipate the coming of Pentecost for with it we will resume our public celebration of Mass. I cannot wait until we have that opportunity to once again gather inside of this church. In these past months we have endured a lot, but despite how we might of felt none of us have been left alone.
Our Gospel passage comes prior to the events of the Lord’s Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven. As our Lord instructs: “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live.” Saint John Crysostom puts this into context by stating: “The death of the cross shall not separate you from Me forever, but only hide Me from you for a moment.”
In these past couple of months each of us has had a lot stripped away from us. There are some who have lost their jobs. There are some who haven’t seen certain family members in person for quite some time. There are some who fear getting sick and do everything in their power to avoid it overcoming them. There are some who know someone who has gotten this virus and even died from it. There are some who have lost the freedoms that they are used to enjoying and very soon there will be a whole list of mandates that will be asked of us if we are to return to the public celebration of Mass.
In the midst of everything that has befallen us it is very easy to think that we have been left alone. I have heard some state that they feel as if the church has abandoned them during this time of turmoil. I am sure that the apostles felt abandoned at the time of the crucifixion and afraid at the Ascension. Nevertheless, no matter how we might feel concerning these events and what we have endured may we never be tempted to believe that we have been abandoned.
Pentecost is known as the birth of the church. It was at Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles like a strong driving wind. The Holy Spirit led the apostles into the world to spread the faith to all the world’s corners. Despite their fear and shortcomings they were never left alone, but strengthened by this great gift.
The same continues to be true for us in this day and age. There are many that want us to stay caught up in doom and gloom. They want us to lose our sense of hope. We cannot allow this negativity to win. For we too have received this great gift that came upon the apostles and hopefully we continue to trust in the Holy Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us forth into the world no matter the difficulty that may be encountered there.
Again none of us have been left abandoned. We must trust that our Lord died upon the cross in order to free us from the weight of sin. We must trust that despite the hardships of the cross that He has risen from the dead in order that we too may anticipate this hope in the midst of all hardship. He was taken up to Heaven in the Ascension in order to show us where we are now oriented, the Kingdom of Heaven. The gift of the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon us to guide us through all these turbulent times. Truly none of us have been left as orphans.
