Christ has Risen, as He said He would, Alleluia!!!
Today, we celebrate Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord’s return to His rightful place at the Right Hand of the Father. He returns in glory. He returns to intercede on our behalf to the Father. He returns so that with the Father, He can send forth the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the Advocate, to help & assist us the Church, the Body of Christ.
Properly speaking, from the Scriptures, this event was 40-days after Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter Morning which would put it on Thursday. There are few dioceses in the United States that still observe the feast as a Holy Day of Obligation on Thursday. But the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, follows the general guidance of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) recommendation to transfer the feast to the Sunday following. I suppose this ‘saves’ us from an obligation – and we don’t need more ‘rules’. Yet, part of me always wonders at our resistance to allowing Christ to disrupt our lives and put demands upon us. And so while I’m not questioning our US bishops’ decision – it was made with much thought & prayer and the observation of different feasts vary widely throughout the world – we should question ourselves. To what extend am I comfortable with Christ asking things of me? Am I open to His holy interruptions? To His new direction? Would I not drop anything for the Lord to make time for Him? If not, hmmm.
Speaking of “Holy Interruptions”, God is trying to interrupt my plans as well. To the left you can see my general 4-month sabbatical itinerary. [I’m including it here for the bored, the curious, and the nosy!