Not Orphans

We can imagine a certain sadness among the Apostles as well as a bit of confusion,  "what next?" after Jesus ascended to our Father and told them to wait.  Their good and constant friend was no longer with them daily or even occasionally, leaving them feeling empty and lonely.  How long would they have to wait?  How could they possibly "move on" without him?  Would the forces that put him to death trample them down and pound them into useless powder?
We ourselves have occasionally felt this "desolation," especially when we face transtitions:  the death of a family member or friend...a change of job or a major move to another city or part of the country, and more especially these days with high schools, colleges and universities sending forth their graduates into a world full of challenges after four relaively comfortable years.  Yet neither they nor we have been left orphans.  Jesus eventually sent the Holy Spirit to the group gathered in the upper room, and a volcanic thrust of divine energy was unleashed that has not ceased spreading to this day.
This was markedly apparent yesterday at the 119th Commencement Excercises at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.  The class speaker, Liam Richard Concannon, with whom I had the honor to speak at length before his talk, spoke simply and directly of what he had digested from his college experience.  He spent time in South Africa and in one of the worst sections of Philadelphia as part of his service component, facing enormous odds as he witnessed poverty beyond his imagination.  He learned that no matter what the odds, he could make a difference to someone, and in that exchange, little by little could "renew the face of the earth", as the Disciples, a small band in a huge world, went forth under the power of the Holy Spirit and eventually spread the message of Jesus to the whole Roman Empire. Listening to Liam in our conversation and in his address to his classmates, I was again convinced that the Holy Spirit is as much alive today as he was on Pentecost.  Because of God's Spirit within us, we certainly are not orphans!
Bro. Rene