COMMENT ON THE LITURGY OF THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION-DAY
Collect
O God, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
Readings
1 Pt 4:7-11; Gv 15:26-27;16:1-4
Comment
In our waiting for his return, as the Lord of time who brings all things to completion, Jesus does not leave us alone but promises us the Comforter.
Believers need it because the Spirit of truth will be with them while violence and lies will rage: "anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God" (Jn 16:2).
This is "their hour", in which the forces hostile to the gospel, who have put to death the one who has conquered death, will believe that they can still change history, which instead has now been oriented towards the final liberation in the coming Christ.
All the hatred that was poured out against Jesus during his lifetime is now unleashed against believers, but the Comforter will proclaim Christ's righteousness and secure the condemnation of the demonic power now ruling the world.
In this troubled expectation, Christians are called to distinguish themselves - as Peter exhorts in his first letter - by moderation and sobriety. Their life is projected towards God and towards the needs of their neighbors, in dedication to prayer (1 Pt 4:7) and hospitality (1 Pt 4:9), to welcoming, to the service of others, according to the grace received by the Holy Ghost.
There are two great ministries that distinguish the apostles: they who "speak the very words of God", dedicating themselves to preaching, and they "who serve... with the strength God provides", who exercise the diakonia, which consists in the service of the poor.
Jesus calls us to bear witness to him (Jn 15:26-27) in a laborious wait; we can do it in the times, in the places, in the ways that belong to our specific state of life in the world, which is the gift that the Spirit has been assigned to us. We are all called, in different ways, to excel in charity (1 Pt 4:8).
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
