28 April 2014
Monday of the Second Week of Easter
Optional Memorial of Saint Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr
Optional Memorial of Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort, Priest
It is nearly accomplished, the loving, saving work of God the Son:
His incarnation, his largely hidden life of around 30 years, his baptism, public ministry, and preaching, his suffering, his death, his resurrection from the dead, and his sending, along with the Father, the Spirit to the disciples at Pentecost.
These same disciples have handed on their faith in the good news of Jesus Christ – – the faith of the Church – – down through the centuries, even to today.
So, what’s left? Surely, nothing is lacking in Christ’s salvific laboring for us, his beloved humanity.
Perhaps, what remains is our acceptance of and participation in Christ’s mission, in the power of the Spirit:
As [Peter and John] prayed, the place where they were gathered shook,
and [Peter’s and John’s own people] were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and continued to speak the Word of God with boldness.
The in-breaking of the Holy Spirit can be just as dramatic an experience for us today as the enfleshment of the eternal Word was for the weathered shepherds and visiting princes from the East.
Come, Holy Spirit!