Message from Fr. Con

REFLECTION FOR 7th SUNDAY OF EASTER (YEAR C), Week beginning 26 MAY 2022

We are now in the special Novena period of prayer to the Holy Spirit – the 9 days between the Ascension of Jesus (May 26th) & the Holy Spirit’s Descent at Pentecost (June 5th).
Immediately before His Ascension, as stated at the end of Luke’s Gospel (24:49), Jesus
instructs His apostles as follows: “And now I am sending down to you what the Father
has promised. Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.”
We should reflect, and ask ourselves, what Jesus would be saying to us, as we draw near to a further celebration of Pentecost. For an answer, we can look no further than His words above. We should apply to our daily lives what, for us, is meant by the words “Stay in the city”. It has a figurative rather than a literal meaning. It points to a stability in our lives, as we too are disciples of Him. We hear, and have heard, His call to his followers: “Follow Me”. (“Follow” as in Imitate”).
For His apostles and disciples of 2,000 years ago, the city (Jerusalem) was very much the
centrepiece geographically. It was to be the scene of His Passion, Death & Resurrection. A little distance away, near Bethany, would occur His glorious Ascension. Jerusalem was also to be the setting for the realisation of the Father’s promise to send the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ Name.
For each of us, “Stay in the city” means that we need to establish a “spiritual Jerusalem” in our daily lives – for our intended destiny is the Heavenly Jerusalem of eternity. We need to identify with Him, to empathise with Him. We need to follow Him, in imitation of Him – for in Him, as in the Father, we live and move, and have our being. To that end, we are continually “clothed with the power from on high” (meaning the Holy Spirit).