Descent of the Holy Spirit

In the Third Glorious Mystery, we contemplate the coming of the Holy Spirit.

From the Acts of the Apostles (1:14; 2:1-4)
All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. (…) When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Commentary by St. Basil:
The Spirit infuses us with a life-giving force, making our souls pass from death to full life. This is what it means to be born again of water and the Spirit.

Meditation 1
After the Ascension, the disciples who had accompanied Jesus to the Mount of Olives returned to the city, to the upper room where the Eucharist had been instituted. There, they remained in prayer with Mary, waiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. This is the Church in its infancy, the body of Christ wounded by the death of its Lord, an almost lifeless body, still too weak to face the world and its difficulties. A vulnerable body...

The Holy Spirit came to give them life. He is the soul of the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church. The Holy Spirit is the soul of this new Body, this new presence of Jesus among us. Thus, we believe in the Holy Church because Christ, who founded it, is Holy, and the Holy Spirit, who guides, animates, and governs it, is Holy.

The Church was conceived in the upper room during the Lord’s Last Supper, as the community that celebrates the memory of its Lord, the Eucharist. However, the Church was really born when the Holy Spirit joined with this already existing body, becoming the soul that animates the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church.

Without the Holy Spirit, the Church would have ceased to exist long ago. It has faced revolutions, crises, and ideologies over 2000 years. The fact that a billion people are united in faith is a miracle that can only be explained by the fact that it is the Body of Christ, sustained by the living presence of the Holy Spirit as the soul of this Body.

Meditation 2
We contemplate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles gathered with the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem. The coming of the Promised One, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete: the advocate and defender. The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father sent in Jesus’ name, would teach us all things and remind us of everything He had told us.

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so that we would not be left orphans, as He is the soul of the Church and the center of our existence. He came to remain with us, to be God within us, inspiring, comforting, guiding, and giving us courage to face the world in our mission of evangelization.

With the coming of the Holy Spirit, God's revelation to humanity is complete. God the Father is the Creator of the world; God the Son is the Redeemer of the world, who became man and entered human history to save it. After completing His mission and returning to the Father, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit, who is God’s new presence, no longer in the world but in each one of us.

God the Father is God above us; God the Son, Jesus Christ, is Emmanuel, God with us; and God the Holy Spirit is God in us, dwelling within us. At every moment, He reminds us of the Gospel and gives us the strength to embody and proclaim it to those who do not yet know it.

Prayer
Divine Holy Spirit,
come to us as You did on that day of Pentecost,
and fill our hearts with Your presence.
Just as You filled the apostles with life and courage,
grant us too the strength to be faithful witnesses of the Gospel,
so that we may bring the light of Christ to the world.

Spirit of God, who is the soul of the Church,
renew our faith and missionary zeal.
May Your flame purify us,
enlighten us, and lead us on the path of truth,
so that we may be, at every moment instruments of Your love and peace.

You who dwell within us, 
inspire us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps
and to live according to Your will.
Be our guide and defender,
our comfort in trials, and our strength when we falter.
Help us to live the Gospel in our daily lives
and to be living signs of Your presence in the world.

Divine Holy Spirit,
fill us with Your gifts
of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God.
May each of these gifts draw us closer to You
and empower us to live fully the mission You have entrusted to us.

Come, Holy Spirit,
renew the face of the earth and make us instruments of Your grace.
May we always feel Your living presence within us,
and may our lives reflect Your holiness and love. Amen.

Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC

The Ascension

In the Second Glorious Mystery, we contemplate the Ascension into Heaven.

From the Book of the Acts of the Apostles (1:8-11)
‘(...) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’

Commentary by Saint Augustine
Christ paid our ransom when He was hung on the cross; now, seated in heaven at the right hand of God the Father, He gathers to Himself those He has bought with His blood.

Meditation 1 
Jesus, in His glorious body, did not immediately ascend to the Father, as He told Mary Magdalene. He remained in this world for 40 days, appearing to His disciples to strengthen their faith and to give them final instructions before ascending definitively to the Father. He promised them He would send the Holy Spirit, and after saying goodbye, He ascended to the right hand of the Father.

The apostles watched Him depart with sadness, as they had become accustomed to His physical presence among them. However, that physical presence could not continue. They would now be Christ’s physical presence in all times and places. Since Christ's ascension to Heaven, we are the physical and mystical body of Christ, present in all times, from generation to generation, and in all places.

The Lord's Ascension is the reverse of His Incarnation: if, in the Incarnation, Christ stripped Himself of His divinity to live among us, in the Ascension He returns to the Father, but He takes with Him a “souvenir” of ours — the marks of the crucifixion, which forever changed and marked the second person of the Holy Trinity. He returned to the place He always occupied, at the right hand of the Father, where He eternally intercedes for us (Hebrews 7:25). Nevertheless, in another dimension, He remains with us until the end of time, as He Himself had promised.

Meditation 2 
Our Lord said to His apostles, before leaving them: "If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I am going to the Father." He repeats these words to us today as well. If we truly love Him, we should rejoice in His glorification. We rejoice because, after completing His mission on earth, He ascends to the right hand of the Father, to be exalted above all the heavens, in infinite glory.

But Jesus ascended into heaven so to go before us; He does not separate himself from us, nor does he separate us from Himself. If He enters His glorious Kingdom, it is to prepare a place for us. He has promised to return one day to take us with Him, so that, as He says, "where I am, there you will also be."

In fact, we are already united with Christ in His glory and happiness, by our title as His heirs; but one day we will truly be there. Did Christ not ask this of His Father? "Father, I desire that where I am that they may also be, whom you have given to me.”

Just as Jesus did not ascend to Heaven without first completing His mission on earth, so too will we only ascend after fulfilling our mission here, which is to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all creatures. We can rejoice, not because demons obey us, as Jesus said, but because our names are written in Heaven.

Prayer 
Lord Jesus, 
We contemplate Your glorious Ascension into Heaven, 
and, like the apostles, we lift our eyes in adoration and hope. 
You, who after completing Your mission on earth, 
ascended to the Father, 
did not leave us alone but promised to be with us until the end of time.

Lord, strengthen us with the same faith You gave to Your disciples, 
so that we may be Your witnesses, 
taking Your Gospel to the ends of the earth. 
May the Holy Spirit, whom You promised and sent, 
dwell in us, giving us the strength and wisdom to live and proclaim Your Word.

As we celebrate Your glorification together with the Father,
 help us to remember that Your Ascension is also a promise to us. 
You are preparing a place for each of us in Your Kingdom, 
and one day, by Your mercy, we will be with You in eternal glory.

Lord, guide us in fulfilling our mission on earth, 
give us the courage to live as Your Mystical Body, 
present in every time and place. 
May our lives reflect Your presence, 
and as we journey through this world, 
may our gaze be always fixed on Heaven, 
where our names are written. Amen.

Fr. Jorge Amaro,  IMC