Visitation of Our Lady

This weekend we celebrate Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles, Mary, and the disciples. They spent 9 days in the Upper Room preparing for the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Apostles received what they were missing before going out into the world, that is the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is often referred to as the birthday of the Church, as this was the first day of the Church as we know it. It was also the first day that the Church began to beget souls and increase in number, as we are told 3,000 souls were added to the Church that day.

This weekend we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. This is one of the solemnities that bishops transfer to Sunday. The Ascension is traditionally celebrated on the Thursday after the 6th Sunday of Easter. I wish it stayed on Thursday. The reasons why I think its better to be celebrated on its traditional day because it is closer to its actual day. What we are told in Scripture is that the Apostles went to the temple rejoicing after Jesus ascended into Heaven. We also know they went into the Upper Room, where Matthias was chosen to replace Judas, and they also prayed. Scripture doesn’t tell us how many days they spent, but the Fathers of the Church hold that they prayed in the Upper Room for 9 days. If we count 9 days back from Pentecost, not counting the day of the Ascension when the Apostles were rejoicing, the Ascension does indeed occur on a Thursday. So keeping it on Thursday retains this chronology that is supported by both Scripture and the Church Fathers.

The second reading, from the Book of Revelation, gives us biblical imagery of what Heaven is like. St. John the Apostle, the author of this book, saw a vision of the heavenly city. Just like cities have boundaries and entrances and streets, so does the heavenly one. The last paragraph from this reading tells us something that is quite remarkable. There is no need for the sun or the moon for illumination in Heaven because the lamp of the city is the Lamb. We know that Jesus is the light of the world. St. John, in his Gospel, uses this image more than once. Jesus is the light that has shone in the darkness. This will reach its fullness in Heaven, as the light of the world, Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb of God, will be the light that illuminates everything in Heaven.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel that we are to love others as He loves us. He told the Apostles this on the night of the Last Supper. He displayed the next day what this really looks like, as He suffered and died for us on the Cross. That’s how He loves us. That’s how we are to love. What does love mean? What is the definition of love? A great definition of love means to will the good of the other. Love cannot be a feeling because feelings come and go. We know this just from experience. Do we always feel like loving our parents or siblings when we’re growing up? Do we always feel like loving our spouse or our children when we’re adults? The answer is no. We don’t always feel like loving another person every moment of every day, but if we have come to the intellectual conviction that we have love for another person, to express it we have to will it.

This weekend is the 4th Sunday of Easter, also referred to as Good Shepherd Sunday. We get an insight into how Jesus shepherds His flock, which is the Church. Last weekend Jesus told Peter to feed His flock. Now we see how Jesus tends and cares for His people. This past year the old wound of clerical abuse was opened up again. We heard, yet again, about priests and bishops behaving badly. Numerous priests, including a cardinal, were shown to have abused many youth and vulnerable young adults. Likewise, it was revealed that many bishops handled these situations very poorly, to say the least. They were not following the example of Christ the Good Shepherd.