Seventh Sunday of Easter – Ascension
“Wait for the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
To be baptized into the life of the Blessed Trinity – what significance does this have for us?
If it has none, then it recalls Jesus’ parables and sayings where God comes with a great invitation to life and we say, ‘Oh I have something more important to attend to!’
Today when we are so easily made aware of all kinds of evils going on, but there are people who desire a life of holiness! This is the action of the Holy Spirit in hearts! “May the eyes of [your] hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe….” Eph 1:18
In the mystery of the Ascension we enter the arena of hope. “Pilgrims of hope” is the theme Pope Francis gave the Holy Year, 2025. The catechism explains hope as “the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.” #1817
God’s call is not to become a hero on a pedestal. Many people do heroic acts and loving deeds that no one sees or will ever know about. They did not do them to be seen and congratulated! They were acts of love in the power of Christ and after his example of unselfish love.
But sanctity is not first and foremost a moral effort, though it involves that. Nor is it something we have to figure out, although surely that too will be involved. Rather, it is Someone, the Holy Spirit, with whom we must willingly welcome within us through inspirations, invitations, opportunities. These are the daily, ordinary pieces of our lives where God is waiting for us to cooperate with his graces!
Answering God’s call to holiness, which is intimacy with Him, is both easier and harder than we make it! It is easier because it does not usually consist in big deeds that we do; it is harder because it requires a degree of effacement and hiddenness that is hard for us to accept. We can put up with all kinds of things if we know the public is there looking on and applauding. But when it comes to what is hidden – that is another matter.
‘A saint is not a saint at every moment, but my grace is always with you.’
Reflection by Fr. Xavier Nacke, OSB
Posted in Article for Easter, Daily Reflections