Our Mission
The Feast of the Ascension is an important
feast because it signifies the ending of Christ’s work on earth, through his
physical body. His mission continues in
and through his Mystical Body. Jesus
fulfilled all the promises made to the chosen people through the prophets. Not
only are all the promises fulfilled, but God has established a New Covenant, a
New Israel, a New People. This God did,
in and through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Jesus touched people while on earth with
his physical body, now he touches people through the Church. In all the works of the Church, the mission
of Jesus is carried on. St. Augustine
said that in the Mass and the Sacraments, it is Jesus who consecrates, Jesus
who baptizes. Jesus is at work in and through
the community he established as the New Israel.
For us as the New People of God, we are reminded of the many parables
where there will be accounting for all the great gifts God has given us in and
through Jesus. We cannot bury these
gifts. They must be use for the good of
the community and the Glory of God. What
an awesome responsibility is ours!
Before Jesus ascended into Heaven, he commissioned his Apostles to go
into the whole world and proclaim the “Good News” (Mark 16:15). As the people of the New Israel, we have the
responsibility of living and sharing the faith.
Through baptism we are incorporated into the Church, the Body of
Christ. We are called to holiness, to
follow Jesus and share the Good News of our faith with others. Like the people of Israel, we are counted a
kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation.
We cannot spend our time looking back at the Jesus who walked the earth
with his Apostles and disciples. No, we
are to go forth, in the power and presence of the Risen Lord – to carry out the
mission entrusted to us. To carry out
our mission, we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation to
empower us to witness to the Gospel. The
Holy Spirit gives us the courage and strength to carry out the command of
Jesus.
We can pay to God in thanksgiving for the work we have been given, that
of drawing others into the faith. And we
can thank God for the feast that reminds us that we are not alone, but the
Risen Lord himself is with us, both praying for us and working with us.
Novena
to the Holy Spirit
With the feast of the Ascension behind us, and Pentecost on the horizon
next Sunday, we spend these days praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit
upon the Church. The time between the
two great feasts at the end of the Easter season is a kind of novena of prayer,
days spent asking God to renew the Spirit in us that we received in baptism. We Christians have great power: Christ at
work in us. What gift of the Spirit do
you have that can be unleashed in the world?
What holy thing is God calling you to this very day? We pray the Novena
to the Holy Spirit for 9 days and ask that the Holy Spirit comes into our lives
and communities and leads us to peace and serenity.