“The Holy Spirit is like the wind. It can be gentle enough to stroke a leaf but hard enough to bend a tree.”

O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams. --Saint Augustine (354-430: Doctor of the Church)

Gospel Text: (JN 16:5-11)
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Now I am going to the one who sent me,
and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.
But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:
sin, because they do not believe in me;
righteousness, because I am going to the Father
and you will no longer see me;
condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

The Sacraments train us to "look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). We strain to see Christ in the Holy Eucharist with the eyes of faith, that we may see him all around us at work in the Church and in the world for its salvation. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, "We see Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, who teaches us to recognize his face in the poor" or as Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, "We practice tearing the veil away in the Eucharist to see Christ that this veil may be torn away to see Jesus in the face of every single human person."

Christ is not less present to the Church after ascending to the Father and promising to send the Holy Spirit. He is more present!

Let us today and every day going forward seek the face of Christ, present in the Holy Eucharist, present in the face of every person, present in human affairs, even present in those who bait and hate the Church, that we may be given wisdom to respond with holiness not haughtiness, that by praying, and fasting, we may live in the joy that is ours by faith in the Son of God.