On May 5th, the universal Church celebrated the
Solemnity of the Ascension. Out of obedience, many of us celebrated the Mass of the Ascension on the nearest Sunday.
I have become convinced, after much
reflection, that the Holy Days of Obligation are an indispensable opportunity for
the faithful to learn about and celebrate the faith beyond the Sunday
obligation. The Holy Days in the universal
Church calendar honor our Lord (Christmas, Ascension and Corpus Christi), the
Blessed Mother (Mother of God, Assumption and Immaculate Conception) and the
Saints (Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary and Patron of the Universal Church, and
All Saints). It is reasonable that
Corpus Christi be transferred to a Sunday since it is not tied to a specific
day and a Solemnity of the Lord can pre-empt a Sunday celebration in the table
of feasts. However, because of the
scriptural basis of the Ascension taking place 40 days after the Resurrection, transferring
“Ascension Thursday” to the following Sunday makes no sense. The uniqueness of the Ascension demands a
unique celebration. Accommodating
convenience is a poor reason for making decisions about Church practice. A better reason is facilitating a deeper
relationship with Jesus Christ. Taking
time out of our routine to honor significant events and persons in the story of
salvation is absolutely worth our time.
People today need more time with Jesus, not less; a more radical living
out of their faith instead of minimalism.
Furthermore, in a world where healthy masculinity and virtuous
fatherhood are lacking, we need to “Go to Joseph” for inspiration and
intercession. Therefore, I am convinced
that the salvation of souls would be further enabled by a commitment on the
part of our Church hierarchy to celebrating more Holy Days of Obligation and
doing so with greater zeal. Asking the
baptized to commit to Mass on seven Holy Days throughout the year is not too
much to ask, considering all the activities for which families today manage to
find time. These seven holy days should
thus be celebrated as obligatory without exception: Immaculate Conception,
Christmas, Mother of God, Saint Joseph, Ascension, Assumption, All Saints. The circumstances under which one incurs the
penalty of mortal sin for missing Mass on these days could be modified. For example, work that is necessary to
support the family could be a legitimate excuse to miss Mass. The bottom line is to undertake a campaign of
encouraging people to see the eternal spiritual benefit of celebrating these
feasts with the Church community.
We recall this moment in which Jesus returned to the Father’s
right hand because it signifies the end of His earthly ministry and opens the
way for the spark of the Spirit of the Lord to ignite the kindling which was
the early Church into flame – the fire prophesied by Joel, the fire Jesus came
to cast on the earth and longed to see burning, the fire which spreads its
light and warmth throughout the world as the Gospel is proclaimed. Jesus told the Apostles that He had to leave
them in order for the Spirit to come.
The Church could not hope to flourish without the Spirit. In the meantime, Jesus tells the Apostles to
stay put in Jerusalem, waiting and praying for the promise of the Father to
come upon them. With the power of the
Spirit to encourage them, the Apostles would have the wisdom and courage, in
fact all the gifts of the Spirit, they need in order to be Jesus’ witnesses to
the ends of the earth.
Having ascended through the clouds, Jesus enters into the
heavenly sanctuary accompanied by the blare of trumpets. Each time we enter into the celebration of the Holy Mass, we are drawn up into the heavenly liturgy. We sing with the angels and join in their unceasing worship of God. On Calvary, Jesus offered the one perfect
sacrifice for the salvation of the world.
Rising from the empty grave, He trampled the power of sin and
death. The veil of the sanctuary was
torn in two when Jesus breathed His last, so there is no more daily sacrifices
in the temple at Jerusalem. The Lamb is
the light of the heavenly Temple, the New Jerusalem. The Spirit is the light of the earthly Jerusalem,
where the Apostles suddenly discover they are given the power to speak the one
faith in the language of all peoples. The
Church, she who was born from the saving tide of blood and water flowing from the
side of Christ as He surrendered to death on the Cross, is christened at
Pentecost with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
In the epicenter of the Upper Room an explosion of grace occurs whose
shockwaves have been felt across the continents and down through the
centuries.
The moment of Pentecost – the driving wind and the tongues
of fire – is often conceptualized in a pious manner, especially in sacred
art. The fact is that the Apostles were
ordinary blue-collar men, who never expected to venture outside Galilee and
Judea before they met Jesus. All of a
sudden their best friend rises from the dead, they are compelled by their love
for Him to travel to the ends of the earth preaching the Gospel and they
discover they can speak languages they have never even heard before. So, the wind and fire of the Spirit shook
them to the core. The Apostles’ Baptism
in the Spirit was as knock-your-socks-off powerful an experience then as it is
for those who are prayed over in a charismatic retreat today. Rather than little flames on the heads of
iconic figures frozen in prayer, the Apostles were blown over by what they
felt. The story of Pentecost took place
because the Mary and the Eleven were obedient to Jesus and gathered for nine
days of intense prayer. Jesus asks the
same of us: enter into frequent and sincere contemplative prayer, seeking to
experience a deeper indwelling of the Spirit.
Jesus desires to share an outpouring of the Spirit with every human
person, in order that we all can become His witnesses.
Saint Paul exhorts us in Romans and Galatians to live by the
Spirit and not by the flesh, to exemplify the virtues of the Spirit rather than
be held prisoner by the vices of the flesh.
Often these war within us in spiritual battle. I am fond of this old Native American legend:
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A
fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One
is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity,
guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He
continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity,
humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and
faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person,
too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked
his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
The world tells us to feed the flesh: to eat, drink, use,
abuse and indulge as much as we want.
God tells us to nourish our spiritual life, through prayer, celebrating the
sacraments, practicing the virtues and studying the teachings of the
faith. We need to choose every day,
sometimes hour by hour, to starve the flesh and feed the soul.
The Spirit offers us His gifts: the knowledge of the things of God, a deeper understanding that surpasses the world’s false values, wisdom to perceive life through the
mind of Christ, counsel to make
healthy choices and virtuous decisions, fortitude
in the face of opposition to our faith, reverence
for all that is sacred and a healthy fear
of the Lord that compels us to be totally devoted to God. These gifts form us into disciples, even
saints – but only if we accept them and put them into action in our lives. For this Jesus ascended into Heaven and sent the
promised gift of the Father. The same
precious gift awaits us, too, whenever we sincerely knock at the treasury of
grace.
Come, Holy Spirit!
Fill us with all the gifts of your love that we need to nourish our
spiritual life and be witnesses to Jesus in the world.
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