Dear Friends,
This Thursday, May 13, is the celebration of the Ascension of the Lord, normally a holy day of obligation, but again this year, due to the pandemic, the obligation to attend Mass remains suspended. Nevertheless, there will be four Masses celebrated on Thursday, at 7:00 AM and 12:05 PM at St. Mary’s Church and at 9:00 AM and 5:30 PM at St. Agnes’ Church.
The liturgical celebration of the Ascension marks a decided shift in focus for the fiftydays long celebration of the Easter mystery. Beginning Thursday and leading right up to the celebration of Pentecost, the conclusion of the Easter Season, on May 23, the focus becomes more fixed on the coming of the Holy Spirit, the important role of the Spirit in our lives, and who the Holy Spirit is.
With the Ascension, the physical earthly appearances of the Risen Lord to the disciples came to an end. Jesus prepared the disciples for this departure by assuring them that he was not abandoning them, leaving them as orphans, but that he would continue to be with them in a whole new way, in the Spirit whom he would send from the Father. This Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is divine, God himself, whom we reverence and worship as the Third Per-son of the Most Holy Trinity, often spoken of as the bond of perfect love between the Father and the Son. The Spirit is the presence, the power, and the action of God in the world throughout the ages. We may not see the Spirit, but the Spirit is presence and at work in us and all around us, guiding our lives, guiding the course of human history.
Our duty, our task, is to try to sense the presence and the action of the Holy Spirit in our own lives, in the lives of those around us, in the world around us. Wherever and whenever something good is accomplished, the Holy Spirit is present and at work. As St. Paul lists them in his Letter to the Galatians, the fruits of the Spirit are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, selfcontrol.” Perhaps as we celebrate the Ascension this week and look forward to Pentecost, it might be a good resolution on the part of all of us to ask the Holy Spirit to cultivate in our own lives these gifts, these attitudes, these approaches to living life fully and well. God knows that we ourselves need it and the world around us, especially in these trying times, needs it as well.
The Governor has announced that as of May 19, next Wednesday, some further lifting of restrictions con-nected to the pandemic will take place, most notably the requirement for social distancing. The use of masks in-doors will be necessary for a while longer. We await word from Archbishop Blair as to how this further adjust-ment in pandemic restrictions will affect our worship as a faith community. In the meantime, for my part, I encour-age all who can do safely and who have not yet received a vaccination to do so, not only for your own health and safety, but for the health and safety of your loved ones and those around you. Our state has done quite well in vac-cinating our citizens. We all hope and pray for a return to normalcy. One key way to insure that is for everyone possible to be fully vaccinated.
Have a good week!