Acts 1:1-11; Ps. 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph. 1:17-23; Mk. 16:15-20
The Father’s promise is “I will be with you through the baptism of the Holy Spirit”. The Father’s promise is to be with us as he has through salvation history as we read in Genesis 26:3 “I will be with you and bless you”; Genesis 31:3 “Then the Lord said to Jacob: Return to the land of your ancestors, where you were born, and I will be with you”; Exodus 3:12 “God answered “I will be with you and this will be your sign”; Joshua 1:5 “As I was with Moses, I will be with you I will not leave not leave you or forsake you”; “Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through waters, I will be with you through the rivers you shall not be swept away”. The Father’s promise has a major “If” in 1 Kings 11:38 “If, then you heed all that I command you, walking in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments like David my servant, I will be with you.” The Father’s promise is for those who surrender to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit he is with us.
The Father’s promise is a Spirit of wisdom and revelation given to those who believe and are baptized to “go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel” while the Lord continues to work with us “through accompanying signs.” Jesus appearance to the disciples for forty days after his resurrection and before his Ascension bringing about the transformation of his disciples into apostles to lead his church with the promise of the Holy Spirit. The Father’s promise is one of a “surpassing greatness of his power” and protection in the name above all names that in the name of Jesus comes the authority to face the evil of our times.
The evil of our times comes is a cultural war for the souls of people. Just as the Lord continues to work with us and through us so does the evil one continues to work against us and through others in our battle for the souls of God’s people. The signs of our time drive out demons through the waters of baptism and the Holy Spirit for those who believe the Word of God and follow his commandments. Demonic spirits work though others to create chaos claiming evil in the streets is justified for injustice in the world, lies are justified for a cause while others who speak truth must be silenced, even death is claimed as justified for the right to choose self over others beginning with the unborn.
In Jesus name we are to pick up these “serpents” of ideologues that prowl about the world for the souls of the innocent with our “hands” of the truth of the gospel and fear not. The poison we are fed to drink are the ideologies that create division raising the power of the state over the rights of the church. These will not harm us when we hold to the truth of the gospel message. Today many have fallen “sick” to the secular normalization to degenderize male and female, to separate church from state, to divide faith from science, and to raise one race above another as racist from birth. All these poisons cannot stand when the people of God go forth to speak the truth of the gospel message. It is a message of the love of God and a promise to be with us until the end of the world.
The Father’s promise is to be with us as he works through us in the fight for souls against the powers of darkness with the light of truth. Today our children are being taught to see the world through the lens of racial bias simply based on the color of a person’s skin regardless of individual views and it falls under the title of “Critical Race Theory” which is no more than an attempt to gain power of one group over another. Any attempt to voice opposition is quickly labeled “microaggression” for speaking out with an opposing view meant to silence dialogue not engage in dialogue but we are called to go out with the right to speak the gospel message trusting in the Father’s promise, united to Jesus’ Word and with the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Father’s promise to be with us, to navigate our path does not promise the “easy road”. Just by looking back to all the martyrs who suffered and died for the faith we know we must pick up our cross and follow the “road less traveled” of which many have chosen to fall away. Who will remain standing with the Lord? What other promise can we look for? The promise of the evil one was “you will be like gods” proven to be the greatest lie and yet it is the path this world continues to seek to be your own god, have your own “truth”, identify yourself in whatever gender of choice, and live your life for yourself above others. In the end it comes down to these two choices, the Father’s promise or the promise of the Evil one.
The Father sent the Son who left us with these words, “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus does not leave us with a critical race theory but with the commandment of love, truth, unity and goodness for one another. This is the truth of inclusiveness that brings us the promise of the Father.
The Father’s promise is not a theory of humanity but the essence of life coming from our creator, redeemer, and sanctifier. Let us remain in him and in his promise this day until the day we will see him face to face. Let us pray for the promise of the Father’s mercy for those who do not believe, do not accept, and do not follow the only promise that brings us salvation and heaven.
We celebrate the Ascension of the Lord after “He presented himself alive to them by many proofs…appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God”. The biggest proof is he is alive! Had he not presented himself alive the world would be reading about one more prophet still waiting for the messiah to come. Instead, Jesus is the cornerstone of salvation and the promise has arrived for those who believe and accept God is with us.
As the disciples were to be transformed into apostles with the coming of the Holy Spirit, they waited in Jerusalem for nine days in prayer. Tradition now waits in prayer for nine days when we do a novena for the promise to come in answer to our prayers. Let this day be the beginning of a novena for us in our homes and in our personal prayer life. Let us pray for the Lord to come with the power of the Holy Spirit with the grace we need to go forth “to the ends of the earth” without fear.
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