The Holy Ghost came to the Apostles to teach them and to help them understand. There were things that Jesus had not told them, that now the Holy Ghost reveals to them. Also, there were many things that Jesus had told them, but because of their slowness were hidden from them; and now the Holy Ghost opens their eyes up to see and understand these things.

In all learning, it is the Holy Ghost that teaches. St. Gregory the Great says: "Unless the same Spirit is in the heart of the one who learns, unprofitable is the word of the teacher. Let no one then attribute to the man who instructs him, that which he understands from the mouth of his teacher; for unless He is within Who will teach us, the tongue of the teacher labours in vain. All alike hear the voice of the speaker, yet all do not understand alike the meaning of the words they hear. Since the word is the same, why do your hearts no understand alike, if not for the reason that, although the voice of the speaker is directed towards all it is the Master within us Who teaches us what is said, and some more than others."

The Holy Ghost came to the Apostles and instructed them all, but gave His gifts in varying degrees. The same is true today. Not everyone receives the same grace and in the same manner. To some is given more and to others is given less. To those whom much has been given much is expected. It is the same Holy Ghost, but His gifts are given as He chooses. We should not despise any of His gifts. Those who have the least of His gifts actually possess great gifts. Therefore, we should love all the Brethren of the Faith, because it is the same Holy Ghost living and giving His grace to each one.

There is a kind of Divine economy in this. The varying gifts of the Holy Ghost provide us with the opportunity of sharing our talents with those who have fewer of our particular talents, and for them to share their talents with those who are lacking in these. Each one, in turn, fills up what is lacking in the others. In this manner, the Holy Ghost makes us into one complete whole. We truly become One Body in Jesus Christ — The Mystical Body of Christ. Just as the foot is not a hand, yet provides the hand with locomotion; so the hand is not a foot, but provides the labour that sustains the foot. Each complement and completes the other making one complete whole.

We must not despise those who have less than us, but rather see what the Holy Ghost has given them and bless God for the gifts He has given to the least of us. Where they may be poor in the gifts that we have been given, we are assuredly poor in the gifts they have been given. In this true appreciation, of one another, we can both give and receive from one another and make great spiritual strides in the way of perfection.

We must be cautious not to presume that what we think we know or understand is given to us by the Holy Ghost. What we do truly know is a gift from God, but our fallen nature is subject to many deceptions. Often what we think we know, we do not know. That is why God has established a living authority in the Church to maintain a correct understanding and knowledge of spiritual things. We must always be subject to those whom God has placed over us, if we are to have the Holy Ghost dwelling within us and thus truly receive the teaching that He is imparting to us through them.

The Holy Ghost was given to the Apostles twice: once by Jesus while He was here on earth, and once by the Father from on high. St. Gregory instructs us that the giving of the Holy Ghost by Jesus when He was visible in the Flesh was given for the love of one another. It is the love that we must have for each other that Jesus gave to us through the Apostles in this first giving of the Holy Ghost.

The second gift of the Holy Ghost from the Father, (that is celebrated today: Pentecost Sunday) was imparted so that we may love God, Whom we cannot see. If we do not love our neighbours whom we can see, we are incapable of loving God Whom we cannot see. It is, therefore, necessary for us to receive the Holy Ghost twice; once so that we may love one another, and then again so that we may truly love God.

Our Lord warns us today so that we will not be scandalised. "They will put you out of the synagogues; yea, the hour cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth a service to God. And these things will they do to you, because they have not known the Father, nor me."

History does indeed repeat itself. But let us not be scandalised because we are chased out of our churches, or that we are hated and despised by so many who think that they love God and are honouring God by calumniating and persecuting us, or even as Our Lord foretold to the Apostles, they will kill us thinking this is pleasing to God.

Just because all these things take place does not mean that God is impotent, or indifferent, nor does it mean that we are necessarily wrong. On the contrary the majority is almost always (if not always) wrong. Those who are correct and have the truth generally are the minority.

We must not fear or lose heart. It should be an encouraging thing to us to be found, as the Apostles were, worthy to suffer these things for Christ's sake.

Not only must we be hated by the devils and all those in league with them; and by the worldly people; and by the alternative non-Catholic sects; but even by those who use the name Catholic and claim to believe in Jesus Christ.

God demands our complete and preferential love. If we love anyone or anything more than God we are no longer worthy of Him. It seems that we must pass through this test, just as the Apostles did.

Love like gold is useless until it is tried and tested. Once it passes through the fire and is purified, only then does it have real value. It is easy to say that we love God as long as nothing is demanded or even asked of us, but it becomes true love when it is tempered by crosses and suffering. We must always be ready and willing to lose everything even our own lives for the love of God. Christ has told us that the man who saves his life here on earth will lose his life in eternity, but the man who will lose his life here on earth for His sake will gain an eternal life.

Let us not be disheartened when we are calumniated and persecuted, but rather let us rejoice as the Apostles did! To be shunned by our friends and family in this world only to find a Heavenly family in the true Mystical Body of Christ is the greatest of blessings!

Let us not fear the cross, or the conflict. But rather let us with the Apostles fight the good fight Let us not hesitate to sacrifice the perishable things of this earth for the imperishable things of Heaven. As St. Francis teaches us in his Peace Prayer: … It is in giving that we receive, and it is in dying that we are born into eternal life.

This Sunday's Mass introduces the theme of Petition. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week are known as Rogation, or Petition Days, asking Christ's blessing upon Springtime planting, in the fields and in our souls, before He ascends into Heaven that he might become our advocate with the Father. In the Gospel Jesus shows the necessity of prayer, how we should pray "in His Name," yet as we pray we should ask only for those things that keep us on the Christian road where Jesus points to His and our sign post, "I go to the Father." The Epistle warns us against the dangerous detour of false prayer since man's religion is vain unless he be a "doer" and not a "hearer" only. "Religion clean and undefiled" is the interior life of keeping "unspotted" and the social life of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy to all "in their tribulation."

Sunday is the Feast of St. Paschal Baylon C., XVI Century Franciscan, born in Aragon, Spain, known for a life of poverty and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. He is Patron of Eucharistic Congresses and Confraternities. Although not commemorated in the Mass using the 1960 rubrics, pray to him for assistance in increasing your own devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
 
This Week: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are Rogation Days, days of intercession to ask God for a fruitful harvest, for good weather and at this time to pray for a cessation of the pandemic

Sorrow has filled the hearts of the Apostles because Jesus has just told them that He is to return to His Father in Heaven.

Our lives too are often filled with sorrow when in all truth we should be filled with joy. The apostles should have rejoiced for Jesus, but yet they were filled with sadness for their own perceived loss. Jesus pointed out to them that they were mistaken. They should first of all be happy for Him and for the joy that will be His in Heaven with His Father, rather than so selfish as to only consider their own loss. Next they should find joy in the fact that Jesus was not abandoning them but promised to send the Holy Ghost to them.

So often in our own lives we perceive another’s success or happiness as pain and suffering for ourselves. This selfishness often degenerates into envy for another’s good or sometimes even Jealousy and hatred for those who have received the good. This is a terrible sin and therefore a true reason to be sorrowful.

True love for our fellow man demands that we rejoice for the good that he receives. And if we are faithful in obeying Jesus’ command to love even our enemies then we are to rejoice even in the good that our enemies receive. Very often the good that other’s receive costs us little or nothing personally and so it should be rather easy for us be happy for others, but even if they receive good at our expense we should still rejoice for them. The suffering of Jesus which was caused by our sins did not engender hatred in His heart for us (the cause of His pain), on the contrary He loved us enough to find joy in the graces that we received because of His suffering.

This is not an easy thing to accomplish. It requires a very strong effort to cooperate with the grace of God. Our fallen nature automatically rebels at even the thought of this supernatural charity for those who hate us or persecute us. This is, nonetheless, the goal that Jesus has set before us. It is a goal of perfection. Jesus desires that we be perfect because our Heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus requires of us a profound humility so that we never think ourselves even worthy of the many gifts that we have received, much less worthy of the gifts that others have received. After you have done all things well say that you are unprofitable servants because you have only done that which you ought to have done. He further has taught us to learn of Him because He is meek and humble of heart.

The sadness that we have of other’s good fortune is often enough to rob them of some of the happiness that God planned to give them. In this means our fallen nature finds some perverse satisfaction, but the one that is truly hurt is ourselves, for we have offended God and thus have merited for ourselves greater sorrow in greater pains and suffering. Sometimes though our sorrow is never known to those whom we are envious or jealous of, and in this case it is obviously clear that the only one that is harmed by our sorrow is ourselves.

In our striving for perfection we must teach ourselves to rejoice always. We must find happiness in all that God does or allows. If God chooses to give joy to another because he is weak and needs this support we should rejoice. If God chooses to try us or another with pain or sorrow, it too should be a reason for us to rejoice. God’s intention for us is always the same whether we receive pleasure or pain, joy or sorrow. He always intends our eternal welfare. Therefore all that happens during our pilgrimage here on earth is designed to direct us closer and closer to Him (Our ultimate goal). If we cooperate with Him in all these things we too will one day follow Jesus to be with our Heavenly Father.

Described as a chance to experience the defining moments in Church history where the absolute truths of our Catholic faith revolutionised daily life in the fields of food production, architecture, science and more, Stefano Mazzeo's 'The Reformation' starts a run on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) this Friday at 1opm.

Our Churches may be closed but the liturgical calendar moves on as we proceed to the III Sunday after Easter.
 
The Introit realises the cause of this joy because Jesus has completed the plan of redeeming us if we cooperate by words of praise (Offertory) and "works" of truth, before friends and "enemies" alike, for whom we pray (Prayer) as Christians bearing the very Name of Christ.
 
The Alleluia describes the joy of redemption as a plan of "cross before crown," a mystery indeed, had not Jesus lived it out for us. In the Gospel Jesus explains how an unbelieving world persecutes because it regards Him as dead and gone; yet our conquering joy which no man can take away, comes from our vision of Him through the wide-open eyes of faith; although (Communion) Jesus also predicts that our joy can never be perfect here, especially during persecution, since the cross of His apparent absence is the prelude to the glory of His eternal Presence.
 
The Epistle alludes to the first Gentile and Jewish persecutors with their usual weapons of violence and calumny, yet shows how "you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." "Going to the Father" each day (Communion) in morning and evening prayer, "desiring things" of God (Secret) in our daily actions, receiving Sacraments (Post-communion) are the guarantee of true joy now and forever. Christianity is a religion of joy!
 
Today is Feast of SS Alexander I, Pope, Eventius and Theodolos Mm. and St. Juvenal E. C. The name of Pope Alexander I is inscribed in the Canon of the Mass, and a slight bow is made at its mention toward the Crucifix. He served the Church from 110 to 119, while the Roman Martyrs lived during the same period. St. Juvenal who was Bishop of Narni passed away on this day in 377. The day marks the former II Class Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross commemorating the recovery of the Holy Cross from the Persians by Heraclius in 628. During the early II Century the Roman Emperor Hadrian had the Holy Sepulchre and Calvary covered up with soil and erected a statue of the Ro-man God Jupiter and a Temple dedicated to Venus the Goddess of Love. St. Helena excavated the area where-upon a Cross was found and touched to a sick lady cured her completely. Building on the finds of his Mother, Emperor Constantine erected two Basilicas which were consecrated in 325. Although not commemorated in the Masses using the newer rubrics, pray to the Saints to help us in our time of need.
 
Usually today, beautiful and fitting ceremonies for the May crowning of the statue of the BVM would take place before the first Mass of this Sunday. Our Lady will help us. The Blessed Virgin Mary should be especially honoured during the month of May which is dedicated to her. Assist her in her task of helping to save all mankind by offering the Rosary daily and saying prayers and making penances in reparation for sin.