Allowing God to Change Us

The Solemnity of the Ascension celebrates the return of the Lord into heaven, where He is seated in glory at the right hand of the Father. With the apostles who stood gazing into the clouds, we are prodded by the angels to prepare ourselves for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The days between the Ascension and Pentecost are meant to be a time of prayer. We need to be willing to receive whatever gifts God intends to give us. Then, having received them, we need to use them for the building up of the Kingdom. Through His death and resurrection Jesus has overcome the powers of sin and death. By means of His ascension into heaven, he has brought the human race back into communion with the Father. Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit the Father and the Son continue to renew the face of the earth.

Each of us has a part to play in God’s plan to build up His kingdom. But in order to do our part, we must wait upon the movement of the Spirit. This is where patience is required because no one can declare Jesus Christ as Lord unless the Spirit move him or her to do so. The Acts of the Apostles tells of the enthusiasm of Apollos. Albeit he was a scholar of the Jewish Scriptures, he had to experience the Risen Lord. He had to go beyond the letter of the Word to encounter the Person of the Word. Faith is not mere knowledge of doctrines but a personal relationship with the Living God. In order for this relationship to grow in depth, we need the support of the community of faith. It is not good for us to be isolated from others. As Adam needed Eve, as Apollos needed Priscilla and Aquila, so we need our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

In order to grow to the full stature of Christ we need to be open to the Word that echoes in the heart of the Church. The history of persecution has demonstrated that no one can take away the deepest hunger of the human heart -- the longing for God. As members of the Body of Christ we must be willing to accompany one another in the pilgrimage of faith. Through this shared journey we are drawn deeper into the mystery of divine love. Drawing strength from the communion of faith we learn to walk in the light of Truth. Having known the joy of the Spirit we encourage one another to make even greater progress. Because we have been conformed to the Incarnate Word, all that is human concerns us and finds a way into our prayer. Not only that, the cries of the human heart compel us to become a people of mercy and compassion.

Jesus says that everything has changed now. Now we can come to the Father through Jesus. We can ask in Jesus' name, and we will receive. Before Jesus came to redeem us, we did not have this path. Before Jesus came to tell us about the Father and about the way, we did not know it. But now we do. Given the events of  Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have to change the way we think and what we know. We can build on our past, but we have to change with our experience and let Jesus lead us on the right path.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
V. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

--Father Jerome Machar, OSCO