Deacon Cornell’s Homily

 When they had gathered together they asked him,
"Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

One of the commentators I read said that this would be a top candidate for the stupidest question in the whole Bible. These disciples had spent 3 years with Jesus, listening to him explain the kingdom of God and why the Father had sent him into the world. They had witnessed, first hand, his paschal mystery of suffering, dying, and then rising from the dead. Then they had another 40 days of listening to Jesus explain why he had come into the world and what he had chosen them to do. And they still didn't get it. They ask him if now is the time God will drive out the Romans and re-establish the kingdom of David their father. Talk about dense. I can just see Jesus shaking his head and feeling depressed that after all that, the disciple still didn't get it.

But Jesus doesn't do that. He knows that they are unable to understand what he has been teaching them these past 3 years until they are filled with the Holy Spirit. The same is true for us, isn't it? We cannot understand our Baptism, what we are doing here today and every time we celebrate Eucharist, or what we are called to as disciples unless we let ourselves be filled with the Holy Spirit.

The recent election of Pope Leo is a wonderful reminder of how the Church is supposed to work. For all the news coverage and speculation and movies like The Conclave, what the secular press missed was the role of the Holy Spirit. As we hear in Acts 1:12 and following about the choosing of St. Matthias to replace Judas as the 12th Apostle, Peter prays that God show them who God has chosen to replace Judas.

The conclave we just experienced was not an election to choose the next pope but rather 132 people submitting themselves to the working of the Holy Spirit to discover, to discern, whom the Spirit had chosen to succeed Pope Francis. And then Pope Leo XIV will spend his pontificate, God willing, submitting himself to the Spirit to guide the Church in the direction that the Spirit wants it to go.

Today's feast invites us to do the same with our lives. The Church calls us, not to go Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit, but to pray along with Paul from our second reading that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give us a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him; that the eyes of our hearts be enlightened, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to his call.

Too often in our day, we hear people who try to portray the gospel as some call to a particular political stance, echoeing the disciples at the Ascension. That is not what our baptism calls us too. As Fr. Bower explained in his homily this past Sunday, our call is not to any particular political stance or movement but with or without government involvment we are to feed the hungry, heal the sick, shelter the homeless and care for even the least of our brothers and sisters. We are to do whatever we can individually, as a catholic community, or however else we find effective, to recognize the dignity and value of Christ in every human being, no matter what the color of their skin, their faith, their country of origin or any other circumstance of their lives.

Let us celebrate this great feast by opening our hearts to the gift of the Spirit Jesus promises us. And then let us go and be his witnesses by loving one another the way Jesus loves us, not in words but by our actions.

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