HE IS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH

FEAST OF ASCENSION - Ephesians 1:17-23

As we celebrate the ascension of the Lord, we need to be careful lest we give it a physical meaning and misunderstand the impact and meaning of the ascension. In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke tells us that “as they (the disciples) were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight” (Act 1:9). This going up may lead us to think of going up into the clouds and far beyond the clouds, and we may ask ourselves: Where has he gone?

Whenever we speak, and there is no other way of speaking, we use human language with human concepts that are always formulated taking into account the perception of our senses. But the reality that we perceive is always different from the perceptions we experience. The Ascension is a graphic description of a reality that cannot be touched or measured by our senses. When we speak of the ascension of Jesus, we are speaking of his glorification. In the letter to the Ephesians, we are told that God, “the Father of glory” used his power “to raise him (Jesus) from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand”, in such a way that “he has put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation” (Ep 1:17-23)

The risen and glorified Jesus Christ, as Lord of the universe and head of the Church, is not far away, but he is with us, becoming a source of hope to all those who believe him and live in communion with him.The glorification of Jesus - the Son of man - is a guarantee of glorification to all those who are one body with him. And this is the Good News that we are entrusted with to take it and announce it to all the corners of the world. Jesus entrusts us with the mission he received: “make disciples of all the nations” (Mt 28:19)

In order to carry out this mission, we need the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so that we are filled with the wisdom and the power of the Spirit to be true witnesses of Jesus Christ. During this week, let us prepare ourselves to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit, for him to dwell in us and transform us into temples of the living God.

THE COMING OF THE COMFORTER

VI EASTER SUNDAY - John 14:15-21

Confirmed with the Holy Spirit

During Easter Time, we read the book of the Acts of the Apostles. in which we find the beginning of the Church and then the proclamation of the gospel and life of the first Christian communities. It was in Jerusalem that the Apostles first preached the Gospel and it was there that the first Christian community emerged. And it seems that they cared little about announcing the message of Jesus Christ to all nations of the world. However, little by little, the Holy Spirit forced them out. After the death of Stephen, “a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.” (Act 8:1) And so the evangelisation of Samaria began. Later one, the Holy Spirit would force them to open the doors to the gentiles, welcoming people from everywhere and from every race and nation.

Fleeing Jerusalem, many Christians went to Samaria and Philip started preaching there. Many people converted and were baptised “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Act 8:16). The Apostles, who had remained in Jerusalem, heard about the success of Philip’s mission to the Samaritans and sent Peter and John to confirm them in the faith “and prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit, for as yet he had not come down on any of them” (Act 8:16).

The Spirit of truth

The proclamation of the Gospel, once accepted, is followed by the baptism, but for full communion with the Church and within the Church, there is need of confirmation in the faith with the receiving of the Holy Spirit, and that was done by the Apostles. The Apostles confirmed them and gave them the Holy Spirit by praying for them and laying their hands on them.

The sending of the Holy Spirit was promised by Christ as the “Advocate (Helper or Comforter) to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth” (Jn 14:16).

Muslims and the Paracletos

The Muslims are convinced that Muhammad was announced in the Bible: "O Children of Israel, I am God's Messenger to you, confirming what preceded me of the Torah, and announcing the good news of a messenger who will come after me, whose name is Ahmad.” (Sura 61, verse 6 of the Quran). And so they use the verse in which Jesus speaks of the coming of the “Paracletos” - the Advocate or the Comforter - as referring to Muhammad.

They arrive at that conclusion by saying that “Paracletos” (παράκλητος) is a corrupted word, which took the place of the original one “Periclytos”, meaning “the praised one”, and that is Muhammad since Muhammad means “the praised one”. The problem is that the word “periclytos” does not appear in the manuscripts and Jesus himself made it very clear that he was speaking about the Holy Spirit.

As the day of Pentecost comes closer, we must prepare ourselves to welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives, so that our hearts may be filled with love, enabling us to be true disciples of Jesus Christ.

IN JESUS, THE WAY, OUR HEARTS FIND PEACE

V EASTER SUNDAY - John 14:1-12

Pope Francis came to Fatima in pilgrimage to celebrate 100 years of the apparitions of Our Lady and to declare saints the two siblings Francisco and Jacinta, whose lives were transformed by the experience of God. And since then, during these past hundred years, Fatima has become a place where many people have made an experience of God, which changed their lives. In Fatima, the encounter with Christ and the experience of God has been mediated by Mary, the mother of the Lord. Repeating the words of Pope Paul VI, Pope Francis said: “Indeed, “if we want to be Christian, we must be Marian; in a word, we have to acknowledge the essential, vital and providential relationship uniting Our Lady to Jesus, a relationship that opens before us the way leading to him” (Paul VI, Address at the Shrine of Our Lady of Bonaria, Cagliari, 24 April 1970).” Like in the wedding of Cana, Mary is the one who pays attention to our needs, who address her Son in our behalf and who commands us to do whatever he tells us. And then she hides away. She always avoids the limelight, because belongs Christ.

This Sunday’s gospel makes it very clear that Jesus is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6). He alone is the Saviour and it is through him that we become reconciled with the Father; it is in him that we become God’s children. Sometimes, in popular religiosity, one gets the impression that Mary overtakes Jesus as if she was the Way and the Mediator. We put Jesus far away as if he is unreachable and Mary is the one close to us. That’s why the Pope, greeting the pilgrims, asked which Mary is the one that accompanies us and leads us to Jesus? We are “pilgrims with Mary... But which Mary? A teacher of the spiritual life, the first to follow Jesus on the “narrow way” of the cross by giving us an example, or a Lady “unapproachable” and impossible to imitate? A woman “blessed because she believed” always and everywhere in God’s words (cf. Lk 1:42.45), or a “plaster statue” from whom we beg favours at little cost? The Virgin Mary of the Gospel, venerated by the Church at prayer, or a Mary of our own making: one who restrains the arm of a vengeful God; one sweeter than Jesus the ruthless judge; one more merciful than the Lamb slain for us?”

"Great injustice is done to God’s grace whenever we say that sins are punished by his judgment, without first saying – as the Gospel clearly does – that they are forgiven by his mercy! Mercy has to be put before judgment and, in any case, God’s judgment will always be rendered in the light of his mercy. Obviously, God’s mercy does not deny justice, for Jesus took upon himself the consequences of our sin, together with its due punishment. He did not deny sin, but redeemed it on the cross. Hence, in the faith that unites us to the cross of Christ, we are freed from our sins; we put aside all fear and dread, as unbefitting those who are loved (cf. 1 Jn 4:18).”

It is in Jesus Christ that we find peace: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” (Jn 14:1) It is in him who shared our pain and our sorrows that we find the courage to go on struggling in the sure hope that we will overcome. And the Pope said: “Indeed, God created us to be a source of hope for others, a true and attainable hope, in accordance with each person’s state of life.”

“With Mary’s protection, may we be for our world sentinels of the dawn, contemplating the true face of Jesus the Saviour, resplendent at Easter.  Thus may we rediscover the young and beautiful face of the Church, which shines forth when she is missionary, welcoming, free, faithful, poor in means and rich in love.” (Pope Francis’ homily in Fatima). 

THE JOY OF MARY

Pedro Chey Dianingama, a student at the Faculty of Theology of Porto and a temporary member of Good News Missionary Society, gave us a painting entitled Joy of Mary.

The words in Greek - Χαιρε Μαρια - Rejoice Maria - give the subject of the painting, in which Mary, the Favoured of the Lord (Lk 1:28), is presented as the woman clothed with the sun (Rev 12: 1) or as the Shepherd Children saw her, the Lady brighter than the sun.

THE JOY OF MARY

Rejoice Mary

- Χαιρε Μαρια -

Oh favoured of the Lord (Luke 1:28).

At her feet crushing the snake

- the great seducer that brings

shadows and darkness,

sowing pain and death -

She rises to the heavens,

wrapped in a cloak of fire,

brighter than the sun

made a crown on the head,

involving her upper body

in a heart-shaped form;

as the sun of love becomes

the fruit of her womb

becoming on the cross

the sun of life and salvation.

With Mary and like her,

passing through a world

enticing but violent,

we are called to live

in the light of God that

encircles and elevates us,

a light of love

to set the hearts on fire

transforming us

in images of God

who is love.

Celebrating one hundred years of the Apparitions at Fatima with the presence of Pope Francis, it is good to remember Lucia's description of the Lady:

“When we arrived, about halfway up the slope, almost next to a large holm-oak that was there, we saw another lightning and, after a few steps further on, we saw, on a kermes oak, a Lady, dressed all in white, brighter than the Sun, spreading light, clearer and more intense than a glass of crystal, filled with crystalline water, pierced by the rays of the most ardent sun. We were surprised by the apparition. We were so close that we were in the light that surrounded her or that She was spreading, maybe five feet away, more or less.” (Lúcia, Memories, page173)

MAY THEY HAVE LIFE TO THE FULL

IV EASTER SUNDAY - John 10:1-10

Jesus presents himself as a shepherd, not any kind of a shepherd, but the good shepherd (Jn 10:11). And Jesus speaks of the difference between a shepherd and a thief. The thief doesn’t enter through the gate of the sheepfold; he jumps over the fence and breaks in. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” (Jn 10:10). He cares not about the welfare of the sheep. In fact, he is only concerned with his own welfare and he puts everything and everybody at his service. He wants to enjoy life the easy way.

We can find already in the Old Testament the figure of the shepherd representing the leaders of the people, be it political or religious. They were chosen or appointed to be at the service of the people, guiding, protecting and defending them. However, many allowed themselves to be totally corrupted, in their search for wealth, power and pleasure. Instead of being servants of the people they became masters who demand the obedient service of their slaves. 

As the good shepherd, Jesus tells us: “I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.” Jesus came so that we may find peace, joy, salvation and life. And he sacrificed his life for that: “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (Jn 10:11). In his first letter, Peter tells us that “through his wounds, you have been healed. You had gone astray like sheep but now you have come back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” (1 Pet 2:24-25)

In the Catholic Church, this Sunday is dedicated to the vocations. Looking to Jesus as the good shepherd, we must pray for our shepherds - all our leaders - so that they serve their people as Jesus served. Let us pray to the Lord because we are in big need of shepherds. May he send labourers into his harvest (Mt 9:38)