Post-feast of the Ascension; The Holy Priest-Martyr Dorotheus, Bishop of Tyre (361-63); the Holy Priest-Martyr Cosmas, Presbyter of Armenia (1707); Veneration of the Icon of the Mother of God, Of Ihor, so called because it belonged to Ihor Olhovych, Prince of Kiev (+1147)
Read
Acts 23:1-11; John 16:15-23
Jesus Christ knew that His death on the cross would generate great pain and worry among His frightened disciples. He tried to prepare them for this: “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me” (Jn 16:16). After the Ascension, the Church finds herself in a similar situation. She again impatiently awaits Christ’s return, but this time she is able to do so with a sense of confidence and filled with joy, for her sons and daughters, having received the Holy Spirit and being “of Christ,” have direct access to the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus. This direct access to the Father places on us certain duties and should call out in us a sense of personal responsibility for disseminating Christ’s Gospel, if not throughout the whole world, then at least in the place where we live.
To be a disciple of Christ means to be “like Christ,” as the Apostle Paul beautifully expressed: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). Therefore, we should freely offer all our God-given gifts, both natural and supernatural, to the spreading of the Kingdom of God. To have personal responsibility means not to be afraid to take the initiative and to ask God the Father to send us strength, wisdom, and everything else we need for our work unto God’s glory and the development of the Church.
(Reflection taken from Mission Days)