THURSDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER, MAY 21, 2020

MASS READINGS:

A Reading from the book of Acts 1:1-11

In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

REFLECTION: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

For the last few days Our Lord Jesus has been telling the disciples that He will soon be leaving them.

The disciples were sad to hear this, because they felt again left alone, like orphans.

And Jesus kept reassuring them that He needed to go back to the Father, so the Holy Spirit could descend upon them, upon us, so we could become witnesses of His resurrection.

Did you know that our PAPA mission is precisely to "Go and make disciples of all nations; behold, I am with you always, until the end of age" (Mt 28:18,20) (PAPA Handbook page 6).

However, it will not be out of our own volition, but with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Join us to pray our Dekaena to the Holy Spirit that start today, so we can truly become the missionaries God needs us to be today and every day.

You can open the Dekaena link by clicking HERE.