It's much better that Jesus' physical body is in heaven rather than here on earth. After Jesus ascended, He sent the Holy Spirit to prove the world wrong (Jn 16:7-8). Pope John Paul II has written in his encyclical letter on the Holy Spirit that the Spirit proves the world wrong by taking us to the cross (Dominum et Vivifacantem, Pope John Paul II, 27, 36). There the Spirit shows us the connection between our worldly ways and Jesus' suffering and death. Then we are crucified to the world and the world to us (Gal 6:14). We no longer are amused by the world's distractions from and disregard of Jesus' lordship.
By the Spirit, we are turned off to the world, make a clean break with it, and no longer sinfully compromise with it. We now fully accept that Jesus has called us out of the world (Jn 15:19). Once we are out of the world, we can go to the world. We do not participate in its ways but offer those trapped in the world the opportunity to be saved by Jesus, convicted by the Spirit, and thereby rescued from the world. "The world with its seductions is passing away but the man who does God's will endures forever" (1 Jn 2:17).
| PRAYER: | Father, may I love the world so much as to get out of it so I can offer it salvation in Your Son. |
| PROMISE: | "After a brief interval he led them out and said, 'Men, what must I do to be saved?' Their answer was, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, and all your household.' " –Acts 16:30-31 |
| PRAISE: | The reverence with which Thomas received the Eucharist made others repent of their irreverence. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College