"In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt. 28, 19).
All these Sundays are full of very important celebrations, the Ascension of the Lord Jesus, the celebration of Pentecost and the solemnity of the Very Holy Trinity. Therefore it is important to prepare us for these events of renovation of our Christian life.
In the framework of these celebrations we approach the end of the Easter time. During this time we have celebrated Christ’s victory over death and the mysteries of our salvation. On the sixth and seventh Sunday of Easter, our Lord Jesus reminds us clearly the great commandment of love, love that must be manifested in our relations to our brothers and sisters and in the daily life. To love everybody is very difficult, but it is possible thanks to the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is only the Spirit of God, the Spirit of LOVE, who will give us the grace to love Jesus and our brothers with a sincere and humble heart.
Before ascending to heaven, Jesus gave us the missionary mandate and the order to baptize in the name of the sacred mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mt. 28,16-20).
To fulfill this missionary mandate, we are not alone nor will we do it in our own name. Jesus promises us to be with us every day until the end of the world. The fulfillment of this promise is possible thanks to the Holy Spirit poured on the day of Pentecost over the apostles and over us on the day of our baptism. Celebrating Pentecost is celebrating the powerful presence of the Most Holy Trinity in us through the Holy Spirit.
I invite all of you, my brothers and sisters, to read these words. I invite you to celebrate each of these Sundays invocating the glorious and healing presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God can’t be one devotion more in our lives. The Holy Spirit should be the life or our lives and we should have a very close and personal relationship with him.
Do you want to love? Summon the Holy Spirit. Do you want to forgive? Let yourself be moved by the Holy Spirit. Do you want to grow in your faith and understand God’s Word? Call on the Spirit of God and he will come to you.
All the Gospel readings of these Sundays are linked by the same theme, TO LOVE AND EVANGELIZE. All this is possible when we submerge in the glorious mystery of our God who is ONE, but is also TRINITY, our God who teaches us to love and give us always his love. The love of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Let us invite Jesus to enter our house and blow over us his Holy Spirit, just as he blew his Holy Spirit over the apostles.
Father Viloria is parochial vicar in the parishes of St. Mary and St Mary and St. Martha in Auburn.
