FEAST OF PENTECOST

The readings of today’s liturgy – liturgy of the feast of Pentecost – are full of insights on the work of Holy Spirit.

• Paul (1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13) tell us that faith in Jesus Christ not possible, but through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who leads us to Christ, enlightening our minds to recognise him and opening our hearts to accept him as the Son of God, who came to save us.
• After the resurrection, Jesus’ disciples were no more than a closed group, gathering in secret and living in fear. They had not the strength and the courage to come into the open, to address the crowds and to give witness to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit change all that. Their hearts were fired up and their voices were raised to proclaim that Jesus is Lord and Saviour and to give witness that he is alive.
• On the day of Pentecost (Act 2:1-11), the disciples went through an extraordinary experience. The Holy Spirit, like a strong wind, forced the doors open and filled them with a zeal that nothing could extinguish. The discipleship of Jesus Christ cannot be hidden or reduced to privacy of our rooms or the secrecy of our hearts. The message of the Gospel – the good news of God’s Love and mercy, who redeems us in Jesus Christ – must be proclaimed everywhere and to everybody. 
• And they spoke in tongues, so all peoples of the world can hear the message and proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is universal; it must be addressed to all, because his salvation is offered to all. In the old story of the Tower of Babel, people wanted to storm God’s place and take it by force. That arrogance brought out division and insurmountable differences. Speaking different languages, they went their own ways. Guided by the Holy Spirit and strengthened by his power, the different languages and cultures are no more a barrier separating people; instead, they are the building blocks of a new society called to unity built on love and truth.
• Finally, according to John’s Gospel (Jo 20:19-23), the Holy Spirit makes reconciliation possible. The ministry of reconciliation is entrusted to the Church, and the Church must be an instrument of reconciliation and peace.

FEAST OF ASCENSION: Acts 1:1-11

THE CHURCH IS NOT AFTER POLITICAL POWER

Up to the end, the Apostles were concerned with earthly matters and striving for political power. However, Jesus did not come for political power, and his mission was not to establish an earthly kingdom, or a super-state, in which he would be the ruler of the world and his close friends would have the top positions in the political establishment.

To his disciples he entrusted his own mission: to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God, which is a message of reconciliation, of peace, of justice, of life and of salvation. The Church was not given a political mission and she does not aspire to political power. The leaders of the Church, even when they try, are never good political leaders. We should not fall in the trap and the illusion of thinking that if the religious leaders were the rulers of the world, the world would be better. They would corrupt both the religious and the political order.

The Church’s mission is to be Jesus’ witnesses up to the end of the earth (Act 1:8), proclaiming his good news and facilitating the encounter with Jesus, so that in him all may find salvation and life. However, the Church’s mission has political implications, even though is not political. Faith is concerned with the whole life and cannot be hidden in the secrets of the heart or reduced to the privacy of the house. In order to go to heaven, Christians have to direct their attention and set their hearts on the daily realities of their own lives and the realities of the world in which they live. That’s why the angels told the Apostles: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?” (Act 1:11). Faith in Jesus Christ leads to look at the reality around us and to work for its transformation so that it becomes more and more according to God’s plans and will.

VI SUNDAY OF EASTER: GOD IS LOVE

In his first letter, John is very clear: God is love; and only the ones who love know God.

It may be difficult to understand and to accept, when we are daily confronted with a world full of evil. We may ask ourselves if God is really in charge, because the world seems to be in the hands of a dark and evil power, not only the world outside us but the world within our hearts as well.

The word love is repeated endless times in all kinds of situations, and it may mean a lot of very different things; for instance, lust and selfishness are taken for love. Whenever a man wants to seduce a woman, he will tell her: I love you, even if he just wants to have sex with her; afterward, he dumps her, as a used object that lost all its value. That is not love at all; in fact, it is a total misrepresentation of love.

Jesus’ guidelines for true love

Today’s Gospel (Jo 15:9-17) is one of my preferred passages, which I use many times in reflexions for married couples. Jesus presents us with some very important points about love.

• Remain in love. Love cannot be for a moment or for a few days only. True love is for life. To remain in love, one has to make a choice: the choice to protect, defend and enhance love, always remembering that true love comes from God.
• Keep the commandments of love. There is no love without rules. That’s why in the tradition, marriage teachings were so important. There is need of self and mutual respect; and they go together with dialogue and cooperation, with care and kindness. Never abuse your partner, never take him/ her for granted; and be always attentive to the needs of the other. When you give, you shall receive. If you choose to receive only, then you will loose even the little you have.
• The rules and the commandments of love are not oppressive; instead, they support and protect. They make us aware of our weaknesses and shortcomings; and they guide us in a straight path, that brings joy and happiness. Jesus wants that “my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (Jo 9:11).
• The measure of love, according to Jesus, is to be able to suffer for the ones  we love. We can see it quite clearly in our parents' love. As today is the mothers’ day, it is good to reflect about that. True parents work and suffer for the children, and they hardly feel the pain of that suffering. True love gives the strength, the courage and the boldness to work and to suffer for the ones we love. And that is the measure of true love in marriage as well.
• In love, there are no servants. The relationship of love makes those in the relationship equal. If one is low, the one in higher position comes down and raises his/ her beloved up. That’s what Jesus did. He humbled himself and became one like us, to raise us to the dignity of children of God.
• In love, there are no secrets. Jesus told his disciples that he revealed to them everything told to him by the Father. True love is based on trust and grows up on trust. The more they trust each other, the more they open their hearts to each other.

May God bless all those who are in marriage and all those who have started walking together the journey of love.

A POEM OF VINICIUS DE MORAES

Vinicius de Moraes was a poet, a composer, a singer, a diplomat. He was a man of many trades, who enjoyed the limelight, and who had a big influence in Brazilian society. I found this nice poem in the blog of my Parish Priest, and I decided to translate it for you. Enjoy the wisdom, and strengthen your faith.

If I die before you, make me a favour.

Cry as much as you like,

but don’t quarrel with God for having taken me.

If you don’t feel like crying, then don’t.

If you cannot cry, don’t worry.

If you feel like laughing, just do so.

If some friends tell something about me,

listen and add your version.

If they overdue the singing of my praises,

correct the exaggeration.

If they overdue the criticism, defend me.

If they want to make me a saint, only because I died,

show them that I had a bit of a saint,

but that I was far from being the kind of saint they imagine.

If they want to make me a devil,

show them that maybe I had a bit of a devil,

but that I tried to be good and friendly in my whole life.

If they speak of me more than of Jesus Christ,

warn them.

If you long for me and want to talk to me,

talk to Jesus and I will listen.

I hope to be with him enough time,

so that I can be useful to you, there where I am.

If you want to write something about me,

Say only a sentence.

This one:

“He was my friend,

he believed in me,

and he wanted me to be closer to God!”

Yes, there you can shed some tears.

I will not be there to dry them,

but it doesn’t matter.

Other friends will do that in my place.

Seeing that I have a good substitute,

Myself I will concentrate on my new task in Heaven.

However, from time to time,

give a look towards God.

You will not see me,

but I will be very pleased seeing you looking at him.

And when your turn comes to go to the Father,

there, without any veil separating us,

we will live in God the friendship

that, here, he prepared us for him.

Do you believe these things?

Yes?

Then pray so that both of us

may live as someone who knows

that one day will die,

and that we may die

as someone who knew how to live straight.

Friendship only makes sense

if it brings Heaven closer to us,

and if it initiates here its very beginning.

I am not going to find Heaven strange…

Do you know why?

Because…

Being your friend is already a piece of it!”