Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Tuesday in the octave of the Ascension


The coming of the Holy Spirit


Dear Fathers, Friends in Christ, 


Acts 20:17-27
 Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21
 John 17:1-11a




In today's gospel, Jesus tells the Father that He had revealed His name to those the Father had given Him so that they can share in His life with the Father.

 While we can share our phone numbers, addresses, or email contacts with one another after we move on, only Jesus can share with us His Father's name so that we can share in His company with the Father. More to the point, our relationship with God the Father and the Son is not time-based, nor is it dependent on the place we live. Because Jesus had shared the Father's name with His disciples and us, we can have access to both the Father and the Son.

 All this is possible because the Father has sent the Holy Spirit to us to keep alive the living memory of His Son. We, for our part, must make efforts to participate in this living memory by attending Mass, through prayer, spiritual reading, confession and through spiritual direction. More effective than reading a letter, or an email, is the presence of the Holy Trinity in our hearts when we open ourselves to Their presence.


 Father Ed Bakker 
 Anglican Catholic Church / Original Province 
 Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne 
 Bendigo in the Central Goldfields 
 Australia 

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