Jesus has assured us from the beginning that we, His Church, will never be left alone. He has sent us the Divine Spirit of God to lead and guide us. There is a catch. We have to want to be led. One of the most important gifts God gave us from the day of our creation was the gift of free will. This is not only true for ourselves individually, but true for the entire church. We know from our own personal histories and the history of the church what happen.
We are told that he has left us the Paraclete, Advocate, to be our guide. Like we heard in First Peter, the Spirit empowers us to heal the world and bring a message of hope. This is our role as Christians and as a Christian community. This message of hope can only come from hearts that are filled with the peace of the Spirit. God’s peace is more than an absence of violence. It is his indwelling that remains no matter what is happening around us. By being open to the Spirit in our personal prayer and in our communal prayer, we allow the Comforter to comfort us.
It is this Advocate who will give us the words and actions to testify to Christ and His Kingdom. As individuals and as Chrisitan communities, we need to be wary of building our own kingdoms. Change is not easy and often scary, but the Spirit leads us always. When we do not listen and hold tight to what we want or to the past, then we cannot grow. Jesus started something new that day on Calvary and the blood and water that flowed from His side still does. His divine grace took a group of scared people and changed them into something that changed the world.
We are the descendants of those in the Upper Room. The Spirit that inflamed them will inflame us when we open our hearts. We do not need to worry; Jesus did not leave us alone. Through the Spirit, he gives us the words and actions we need. In the Spirit, we can live the Commandments; we can love God, self and others and do it well. From this great commandment, all the rest flows. Loving God first, puts God before all else. Worship of God comes before anything else. Loving God is to love his creation. Loving God is to love all his creatures, even one and another.
My brothers and sisters, starting on Thursday with the Feast of the Ascension, we begin a time of prayer for a renewal of the Spirit in us as believers and for the believing community. May we open our hearts to the living Spirit of God and be led along the paths of righteousness.
Come Holy Spirit, enkindle in us the fire of your love.
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