SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
A Word from Fr. Bob
Dear Family of God,
For the last twenty-five years I have been celebrating the great Feast of Victory and Completion. This is the Feast of the Ascension. My favorite window is depicted graphically on the east side of our church. This is the wonderful event of total victory as Jesus ascends to heaven. As He promises that now The Father’s Holy Spirit will rush down on them and be present to them as the gospel says, “Go now and proclaim the Good News”. We do that ourselves as part of this church family and part of this community where Jesus is present. We have done a lot of good things these last twenty-five years. We have resisted the temptation of coming to church to get our spiritual fix, but we come to church to be a part of this community and to be very active in proclaiming the Good News by the way we live and love. We have always said, “We enter to pray, but we exit to serve”.
The Feast of the Ascension reminds us today that Jesus is saying, “He is now enthroned in heaven”. We hear these words spoken as He is ascended into heaven. The psalmists proclaim in shouting and praise, “God mounts His throne to shouts of joy; a blare of trumpets for the Lord.” And He goes on to say, “All peoples praise, clap your hands, shout to God with cries of gladness.” There is victory in Jesus’ ascension. We can also imagine the angel coming down and standing among the apostles at the very end. The Book of Acts proclaims and says to us, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen Him going into heaven.” We have the prediction of the Holy Spirit coming upon us as this church family of St. Augustine and we have our mission to go out to love and be concerned. So, come around and pray with us during the week, if at all possible, and just see how we try to gladden people’s hearts with a little blessing of help. It is just good to be part of that. We reach out to others as we nourish ourselves and we also become family and have concern for one another. Celebrate this great victory today of our Lord ascending in glory. But He is always calling us forth to go out and proclaim the Good News. Alleluia! What a sublime call each of us has!
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers! I pray for all our mothers, living and deceased. We thank the Lord for all the ways they have mothered us. As a result of receiving love we give love, especially mothers giving love to their children. Alleluia! Church celebrate your mothering today and being mothered in a great spirit of thanksgiving. Hear the challenge and the ideal, “Love one another,” Jesus said, “as I have loved you.”
Love, Fr. Bob
No comments yet.