The conclusion of the Easter season is quickly approaching for each of us. Very soon we will arrive at the Ascension where our Lord returned to His Father. We will then celebrate Pentecost Sunday where our Lord gave the apostles the gift of the Holy Spirit. This Sunday our Lord is preparing His apostles and each of us for these events that will soon unfold. To fathom that very soon the apostles will find themselves all alone once more, but Christ wants them to understand that in all reality they will not be left alone. We to often need to be reminded that we have not been left alone to figure things out for ourself because we have the gift of the Holy Spirit. Our world and even those of the Catholic faith need to rediscover this reality, so that they can be guided in areas of religion and morality. Christ does not tell His apostles that they can now do as they wish, or that religion and morality cannot have objective truth, but instead He tells them that He is sending the Holy Spirit and "He will teach you all truth."
We live in a world that cannot trust in these words. We would rather take religion and in return form it into our own image as if we are God. We want a religion that makes us feel good and therefore anything that makes us feel bad must be rejected. This of course cannot be the Catholic faith because it is guided by the Holy Spirit who leads the Church into all truth. The Church does not ordain women, not because she hates them, but instead because she is obedient to the truth that was revealed to us by Christ and is continued to be preserved by the Holy Spirit. The Church does not speak out against contraception because she hates human sexuality, but instead because through the truth of the Holy Spirit she understands what sexuality was meant to be. The Church does not define marriage as being between a man and a woman because she hates a certain group of people, but instead through the light of the Holy Spirit she understands what marriage was actually meant to be and therefore has no authority to pervert it.
Jesus Christ was indeed a very nice guy, but because He was nice does not mean that He was accepting of falsehood. If He wanted to institute a Church that was without moral authority He never would of sent the Holy Spirit to guide the Church in truth. To have truth means that something must be correct and therefore something must also be false. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would shed light upon sin, justice, and judgement. None of this would be possible if these areas were simply relativistic and therefore without absolute truth. We know that the members of the Church, even the clergy, can fall into error and sin, but because this happens does not mean that the Church has been led into error. The Church is guided by the gift of the Holy Spirit and will therefore always reflect the light of truth through her teachings. As light is shed upon sin, justice, and judgement may we prevail our hearts to this great gift and allow ourselves to become united in our faith instead of divided within it.
As we prepare for the Ascension of Christ and then for Pentecost Sunday may we join with the apostles in preparing ourself for such a great event. May we make room in our hearts to where we will allow the Holy Spirit to guide us away from falsehood and thus towards the truth. Where the Holy Spirit may be guiding us may seem to be a most difficult path, but allowing ourself to trust in such a path will indeed truly liberate us from our vileness. To run away from the promptings of the Holy Spirit comes easily, but in the end will only leave us enslaved. As we prepare for the days that lie ahead may we make time for devotion to the Holy Spirit. May we meditate upon the third glorious mystery of the Rosary, the Descent of the Holy Spirit. It was in this event that the Holy Spirit came down upon the Church and guided it in the truth that it continues to defend and preserve to this day. May we seek out other devotions to the Holy Spirit and truly allow them to guide us in our journey away from falsehood and towards God.
May we truly allow ourself to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and thus allow ourself to be able to proclaim with our whole heart "Send forth your Spirit and you shall renew the face of the earth" as we prevail ourself to the pursuit of truth and the abandonment of falsehood. Only in this manner can we truly be open to the gift of the Holy Spirit who opens our hearts to sin, justice, and judgement and leads us towards true conversion of heart.
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