Separation Time

Note:  This slice was intended for Ascension Thursday, but there was no time after our Mass to write and post it.  BlogSpot send out an older slice (May 5), for your reflection so you were not left totally hungry.

40 days have elapsed since Easter Sunday, and after 7 weeks of reflection on that event, and two weeks of hearing Jesus prepare his disciples for his departure, it has now happened.  Of course, it happened 2,000 years ago, but in our present Easter Cycle of reliving those days, the separation they experienced we now relive.  It is a joyous feast, celebrating the return of Jesus to the right hand of his Father, that part of the mission being accomplished.  It is also a grieving period, as for the next nine days, we'll see a confused group of disciples wondering "what comes next?", despite the promise of the Spirit having been made clear.
How often do we find ourselves with that same question, especially after a death in the family, or after a graduation, or loss of a job?  It's a difficult position in which to be: no answers, only promises.
We don't give up; we trust, we keep moving forward with faith increasing and hearts being purified. The Holy Spirit gives us all we lack, as Jesus promised.  A fast-forward to Pentecost tells us that.  Since then, through the centuries, this Spirit has never left us, even in the darkest times and will continue to do so.  Though separated from the physical Jesus, he walks with us as ever, through his Spirit.
Bro. Rene