I often spend time meditating on Jesus leaving us to go to His Father; I ponder Jesus with His Father; I hear Jesus inviting us to trust His promise: I will send you a paraclete, an advocate, a consoler... I will send you my Spirit, you will not be alone. When one is far away from a loved one, the promise of love is a cherished treasure. The Holy Spirit will be and is our gift, the Holy Spirit enlivens and leads us into the heart of the beloved and into the heart of each other. Thank Jesus, you promised to be with us always and you are. Amen.
13. Mary and the Disciples Await the Coming of the Holy Spirit
Waiting together made the waiting more bearable. This was another kind of Holy Saturday, when Jesus was gone from them. They were expecting something and they were fearful at the same time. They might have remembered what Jesus had said about sending the Holy Spirit to them but they probably did not understand what it meant As with so much of what Jesus taught them, it took the coming of the Holy Spirit to really understand and to absorb what he meant. And while they were waiting, they were comforted with the presence of Mary who knew Jesus so well. They all could speak to each other from the heart of their personal knowledge of Jesus. May each of us always try to deepen our personal relationship with Jesus, for ourselves and so we can speak about him to others.
14. Jesus Sends the Spirit Promised by the Father to His Disciples
The long period of waiting is finally ended when the Spirit of the Lord comes to the disciples and Mary, who are gathered together. The Spirit transforms them, taking away their fears and hesitations, giving them the grace to do what they could never do on their own. We also have received the same Holy Spirit, the Spirit who comes and makes us courageous disciples of the Lord. Unless the Spirit is living within us, driving us outward, we would be lacking in the missionary spirit. It is that Spirit who drives our Holy Father, with so much energy and zeal, even at his age, to bring the message of hope that comes only from the Gospel. He is coming in just a few days now, and it will be like another outpouring of the Spirit on our country. How blessed we are to share in this Spirit, who gives life and love to us all!
Msgr. Vaccari and Teresa Monaghen
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