Ascension Day

On Wednesday morning I was sitting in St Peters square. The square was packed and there was not a spare space to have had. We were waiting for Pope Francis and you could feel the expectation as the moment for his arrival got closer. What struck me was the crowds and what impressed as well was the fact that they all came from the four corners of the globe. A lot of these people were young people.

 In this carnival like atmosphere I was thinking about two things and they are in a way related to this feast we celebrate today. The first thing that we notice is the gift of  waiting Jesus promises the disciples that there will be the Holy Spirit to help them. He will never abandon his people. The joy of waiting is that it gives us time to truly understand the significance of what we will receive at Pentecost. Waiting can be hard and sometimes painful but the rewards are great. Just think about the joy of a couple who love each other very much meeting after a time apart.  We are waiting now for the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We wait with the disciples for an out pouring of the Holy Spirit on us all to be renewed and live and work in his Church.

One thing I was also aware of in St Peters on that Wednesday morning was the sense of being Church. Often we can have the idea that we are just a small band of followers that come to Mass on Sunday and that are it. For many this is the only experience of Church that they get. But, sitting there with people from all corners of the world showed to me a fresh that the Church is not the building or the local community but global and also us. We are Church. We make the word of God come alive, we are sent we are the ones to tell others. It is no mistake that the last words of Jesus to his disciples were to go out and proclaim the Good news. To tell others .Our mission is this and it was a command. Not a polite request. It is our duty our responsibility to proclaim. This duty is Not just down to the priests and we do it by action by service by being Church. This is our mission this is our command given by Jesus. We await the gift of the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost. Let us pray this week that we will have a fresh out pouring of the Holy Spirit. That the gifts and talents that we have and know we have maybe used to the full to tell others and so everyone can experience what it means to be Church and loved by Jesus.