Reflection for Seventh Sunday of Easter

 After Jesus was taken up into heaven, the apostles returned to the Upper Room in Jerusalem and devoted themselves to constant prayer. They was frightened and confused – like a flock of sheep without a shepherd. It was only after receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit that their  fear  turned to courage, the confusion to peace, and the know that Jesus was with them as their leader. Jesus was their source of  courage and strength. It was God’s will that they would go out into the world, filled with the a Holy Spirit. They would preach the Good News of Jesus Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection, which brought salvation to all the world.
            This was no easy task for the faithful followers of Jesus, for just as he was persecuted for his convictions, his teachings, and his lifestyle, so too, would they experience suffering. They would be persecuted, scorned, ridiculed, beaten, thrown into prison, and even lose their lives because of their belief and conviction that Jesus was the Son of God who came to earth to bring salvation to all people.
          Just as the faithful followers of Christ were persecuted, so too, will Christian in today’s world suffer persecution when they follow the mandate of Jesus. By listening prayerfully to Christ’s message of peace, justice, and love, our own hearts will be touched in such a way that our actions will be Christ-like toward the poor, the suffering, and the downtrodden. In this way we will be striving unceasingly to bring about peace, justice, and love to all people and nations of the world.
           Christians today must struggle to bring about respect for life from conception to death, to fight against the sins of greed, selfishness, and racism; to bring justice to all, especially to the poo, the elderly, the sick, the homeless, and the persecuted. Christ did not give us an easy task to accomplish, but by listening, praying, and performing Christ-like deeds, Jesus will say to us, as he said to the apostles in his prayers to the Father, ” I have made your name known to those you gave me out of the world….I entrusted to them the message you entrusted to me and they received it”
    In these final days of preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, let us pray fervently that God’s Spirit will permeate our live so deeply that our Christ-like words and actions will have an impact on the live of all we meet.
    God bless you all
    Fr. Dominic
    Your brother in Christ