Deacon John Writes:
From Easter to Pentecost the readings all concentrate on the preaching of the Good News of salvation and on the promises Jesus made to his disciples, culminating with the promise that all would receive the Holy Spirit. This Sunday we hear about the Holy Spirit and how we can experience Him in our daily lives.
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles begins by describing how the Deacon, Philip, in Samaria, converted many of the Samaritans to Christianity and then how Peter and John were sent to follow this up through prayer and laying on of hands to bring the Holy Spirit to them.
The reading from the first letter of Peter reassures us that life is possible when we suffer in any way so long as we continue to live our Christian lives of love in the midst of any kind of suffering, be it from a virus or any other difficult situation. The Gospel contains Jesus’ promise to his disciples of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, and is part of the long “Farewell Discourse” near the end of John’s Gospel. The Gospel tells us quite specifically that, providing we live as Jesus commands, the Holy Spirit will accompany us in all that we do in the name of Jesus – our faith will be nurtured, we will see Jesus in the poor, the sick and in all those in need, so enabling us to be healers of discord in our world. We are assured that we will never have to face any trial alone—even death—if we walk with Jesus. There is a sentence in the second Eucharistic Prayer when the priest holds his hands over the offerings and says: “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It has only been during the lockdown that Tessa & I have actually noticed the word ‘dewfall’ at this point while listening to Mass!
Next Thursday is Ascension Day, the day on which Jesus was taken up to heaven. We can perhaps imagine him flying up from the land and vanishing into cloud in front of our eyes. Jesus invites all of us to prepare ourselves for a similar flight. Set our eyes towards heaven. Keep our hearts open to receive the Holy Spirit to help us achieve that goal. Surely that is what He is inviting, encouraging, helping us to do.