The Door Is Open For Us All
“At His Ascension our Lord entered Heaven, and He keeps the door open for humanity to enter.” ~ Oswald Chambers
We are quickly coming to the end of the Easter Season. Today, we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord and next Sunday we will celebrate Pentecost, the birth of the Church. After the Masses on Pentecost Sunday, Ordinary Time resumes.
As we come to the end of the Easter Season, we are reminded of two realities: Jesus has accomplished great things for us and entrusts us to continue His mission and we are in need of God’s help which has been promised through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Today is that day of trust in us. Jesus indicated to His followers that He was going to go to heaven in order to complete one final job and that was to prepare a place for us all. Jesus also reminded His followers that His work here on earth was not complete and that they would have to apply themselves to getting it done.
Jesus trusted us to continue His work. Can you believe that? Does that excite you? Or, rather, does it frighten you? How many of us would say, “Lord, we can’t do it without you? We don’t know what to do first or next. Are you going to leave us without any help at all?”
No. Jesus won’t leave us without any help. That was what He assured His followers. He promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to them. The Holy Spirit would give them the grace that they needed. The gifts of the Holy Spirit would be poured out into their lives to make them fitting examples of faith in a world that so needed it.
As it was then, so is it now. The world still needs examples of faith. Jesus still entrusts His mission to us, His followers. If we believe in Him, He will pour out His Spirit into our lives as well so that we can continue His mission.
This is a day not to fear or be anxious. This is a day of joy because Jesus trusts us to continue His mission. You know the drill: pray, do good works, pray, set an example for others to follow, pray, speak boldly to a world that needs to hear the truth, pray, do the works of the Lord, and pray. Did I mention to pray?
Prayer will ground us and keep us humble. It will remind us of our need for God’s help and it will open us up to all that God has to give to us.
FAITH ACTION: Pray that you may have the grace to continue Jesus’ mission to the world.