May 12, 2015
First Reading
Acts 16:22-34
22The crowd joined in attacking them; and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. 24Having received this charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's fetters were unfastened. 27When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." 29And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30and brought them out and said, "Men, what must I do to be saved?" 31And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."32And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house. 33And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, with all his family. 34Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them; and he rejoiced with all his household that he had believed in God.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 138:1-3, 7-8
1I give thee thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing thy praise; 2I bow down toward thy holy temple and give thanks to thy name for thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness; for thou hast exalted above everything thy name and thy word. 3On the day I called, thou didst answer me, my strength of soul thou didst increase. 7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou dost preserve my life; thou dost stretch out thy hand against the wrath of my enemies, and thy right hand delivers me. 8The LORD will fulfil his purpose for me; thy steadfast love, O LORD, endures for ever. Do not forsake the work of thy hands.
Gospel
John 16:5-11
5But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 7Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;10concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more;11concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Commentary Saint Anthony of Padua
The Holy Spirit is the wheat that comforts us along the road to the fatherland, the wine that gives us joy in tribulation, the oil that sweetens life's sorrows. This threefold support was needed by the apostles who had to go out to preach through the whole world. This is why Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to them. They are filled with him – filled, so that no impure spirits might gain entrance into them: when a container is completely full nothing else can be put into it. The Holy Spirit « will teach you » (Jn 16,13) so that you can know; he will prompt you so that you can will. He gives both knowledge and will; add to this our "ability" according to the measure of our strength and we shall be temples of the Holy Spirit (1Cor 6,19).
Comment: Fr. Joseph A. PELLEGRINO (Tarpon Springs, Florida, United States)
It is better for you that I go away
Today, we are presented with a deeper understanding of the reality of the Ascension of the Lord. In the reading from the Gospel of John on Easter Sunday, Mary of Magdala is told not to cling to the Lord because «I have not yet ascended to my Father» (Jn 20:17). In today's Gospel Jesus notes that the disciples «are overcome with grief because of what I have said», but that «it is better for you that I go away» (Jn 16:6-7). Jesus must ascend to the Father. Yet, He still remains with us.
How can he go, yet still remain? This mystery was explained by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI: «Given that God embraces and sustains the whole cosmos, the Lord's Ascension means that Christ has not gone far away from us, but now, thanks to the fact that He is with the Father, He is close to each one of us forever».
Our hope is in Jesus Christ. His conquest of death gave us the life that death can never destroy, His Life. His resurrection is a verification that the spiritual is real. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing can diminish our hope. The negatives of the world cannot destroy the positive of Jesus Christ.
The imperfect world we live in, a world where the innocent suffer, can point us to pessimism. But Jesus Christ has transformed us into eternal optimists.
The living presence of the Lord in our community, in our families, in those aspects of our society that can rightfully be called "Christian" have given us a reason for hope. The Living Presence of the Lord within each one of us has given us joy. No matter how great the barrage of negatives that the media delights in presenting, the positives of the world far outweigh the negatives, for Jesus Christ has risen.
He ascended, but He has not left us.
Comment: + Fr. Lluís ROQUÉ i Roqué (Manresa, Barcelona, Spain)
It is better for you that I go away
Today, we contemplate another farewell by Jesus, necessary for the setting up of his Kingdom. There is, however, a promise included therein: «As long as I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go away, it is to send him to you» (Jn 16:7).
A promise come true in a most striking way in Whitsun Day, ten days after Jesus ascended into Heaven. In addition to remove all sadness from the Apostles' hearts and from those gathered around the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus (cf. Acts 1:13-14) that day, so much confirms and strengthens their faith, that «they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim» (Acts 2:4).
A fact that, throughout centuries, "becomes present" through the only one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, inasmuch as, by the action of the same promised Spirit, it is announced, everywhere and to everybody, that Jesus of Nazareth —God's Son, born of the Virgin Mary, who was crucified, suffered, died and was buried— truly resurrected and is seated in glory at the right hand of the Father (cf. Creed) and is living among ourselves. His Spirit lives in us through our Baptism, constituting us to be the Son's children, and reaffirming his presence in each one of us through the sacrament of Confirmation. All this, to carry out our vocation towards sanctity and to reinforce our mission to bring others closer to God, too.
Thus, thanks to the Father's will, to the Son's redemption and to the constant action of the Holy Spirit, we can all react in faithfulness to that call, by becoming saints; and, with a bold apostolic charity, without any exclusivity, to carry out the mission to a good end, to propose and help others towards sanctity, too.
And as the first ones did —as the ever faithful ones did— with Mary, we pray, and trusting that the Helper will come again in glory and that there will be a new Pentecost, we say: «Send forth your Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your Love» (Pentecost Alleluia).
