Archive for month: June, 2025
Let us pray that the Father send us the Holy Spirit: God our Father, may the Holy Spirit surprise us with his fire and vigor. May the Holy Spirit renew our days, love, and lives. May the Holy Spirit bring us tenderness and joy as well as openness to one another and the courage to stand up for all that is right and just. May the Holy Spirit unite us and lead us to you. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Claretian Publications
Sunday Reflection upon Pentecost Sunday
Through the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, God embraces us and brings us into a new creation, extending sonship and daughtership to us. We are not just servants of God, but God has adopted us as his children, with all the rights and privileges that come with that. This relationship is not a forced one but rather one in which God invites us to participate and draw closer to God and one another. We serve God not out of fear, coercion, or blind obedience but out of the freedom that arises from our love of God, a freedom that empowers us and motivates us to serve with joy.
We serve others not out of guilt or coercion but out of love for them and God. Acts of kindness, charity, and forgiveness display our relationship with God and others. How much more meaningful is life when we serve others out of the freedom that arises from a love of God and others? This freedom, this liberation that comes from our love for God and others, empowers us to serve with joy. A question to reflect upon this week: If you have no love for someone or a group of people, ask yourself why. Then, ask to be led by the Holy Spirit to grow in love of God and others.
Sunday Reflection upon Acts 1:1-11 & Ephesians 1:20-23
Acts 1:1-11 emphasizes that although Christ ascended, we are not to get all worked up about the exact date of Christ’s second appearance, but instead, focus on what we are to do today as witnesses of God’s love revealed in the crucified Messiah. The confession of Jesus as Lord means that we are to live our lives in a way that reflects Christ’s love and sacrifice and share this love with others. With its transformative power, this love transcends all boundaries and reaches the entire world, inspiring hope and renewal.
In ‘Ascension Extension,’ ‘Ascension’ refers to the ascended Christ, and ‘extension’ to the Church, which is universal and local. We, the Church, are not just a part of, but the very ‘extension’ of the ascended Christ, carrying out his mission and spreading his love: ‘Ascension Extension.’ Christ as Head has the Church as his body. As the earthly body of the heavenly Head, Christ is intimately connected with his Church, local and universal. The overflowing fullness of Christ fills the Church and the world through the Holy Spirit. Our way of life, attitudes, love for one another, and even our love for our enemies all serve as a testament to our connection to Christ and our role as an extension of the ascended Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us pray that the Spirit of the risen Lord guide us: God our Father, our risen Lord Jesus Christ lives now in your presence. When we keep looking for him in the clouds, help us turn to the task he has given us to do here on earth. May we learn to recognize his face in our brothers and sisters. We make this prayer in the name of him whom we await, Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and our Savior. Amen.
Claretian Publications
