Ascension Thursday is this week. Forty days since Easter. Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure by promising the Holy Spirit, a promise they did not fully understand until Pentecost, and which still somewhat eludes us today. Jesus anticipated their sadness and even anxiety at his impending return to the Father, so he assured them that there was nothing to fear, he would always be with them (us) through the Holy Spirit, who, as St. Augustine put it, is the Love between the Lover (God the Father ) and the Beloved, (God the Son...Jesus).
Michael Himes, noted Catholic writer and speaker, uses the term "Self-Gift" to define love. Since God IS love, God is SELF-GIFT The Holy Spirit enables that Self-Gift to live in us and like a magnet draws us into it, to become part of it. God pulls us into himself. His love begets love in us, his gift of self triggers the gift of ourselves to God. This would not be happening unless Jesus returned to the Father so that he could send the Spirit into us. Today, and until Pentecost, let us take time in our prayer to reflect on what it means to live in the Spirit, to give ourselves to God, to be pulled into God.
Bro. Rene
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