Why
did Jesus leave his disciples forty days after his resurrection? Forty is a
significant number in the scriptures. Moses went to the mountain to seek the
face of God for forty days in prayer and fasting. The people of Israel were in
the wilderness for forty years in preparation for their entry into the promised
land. Elijah fasted for forty days as he journeyed in the wilderness to the
mountain of God. For forty days after his resurrection Jesus appeared numerous
times to his disciples to assure them that he had risen indeed and to prepare
them for the task of carrying on the work which he began during his earthy
ministry. Jesus' departure and ascension was both an end and a beginning for
his disciples. While it was the end of Jesus' physical presence with his
beloved disciples, it marked the beginning of Jesus' presence with them in a
new way. Jesus promised that he would be with them always to the end of time
and promised to send them the Holy Spirit who would anoint them with power on
the Feast of Pentecost, just as Jesus was anointed for his ministry at the
River Jordan. When the Lord Jesus departed physically from the apostles, they
experienced joy and anticipation for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus'
last words to his apostles point to their mission to be witnesses of his saving
death and his glorious resurrection and to proclaim the good news of salvation
to all the world. Their task is to proclaim the Gospel - the good news of
salvation - not only to the people of Israel, but to all the nations as well.
The Gospel is the power of God, the power to release people from their burden
of guilt, sin, and oppression, and the power to heal, restore, and make us
whole. This is the great commission which the risen Christ gives to the whole
church. All believers have been given a share in this task - to be heralds of
the good news and ambassadors for Jesus Christ, the only savior of the world.
We have not been left alone in this task, for the risen Lord works in and
through us by the power of his Holy Spirit.
CONFIRMATION:
Next weekend we will celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation here at St.
Dominic. We are very proud of all our Confirmandi and continue to pray that
they will be open to the wonderful gifts of the Holy Spirit. Next weekend our
Masses will be: Saturday 5 pm, Sunday 9:30am, 11:30 am and 2 pm. You are invited to celebrate with us at any
of these four Masses.
I
wish you a great week ahead!
Fr. Phil
