"TO BELIEVE IN CHRIST MEANS TO DESIRE UNITY; TO DESIRE UNITY MEANS TO DESIRE THE CHURCH; TO DESIRE THE CHURCH MEANS TO DESIRE THE COMMUNION OF GRACE THAT CORRESPONDS TO THE FATHER’S PLAN FROM ALL ETERNITY." (POPE ST JOHN PAUL II).

"Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world." (John 17: 20.... 26).

Thursday 2nd June 2022, of the 7th Week of Easter is the feast of two early martyrs of the Church:  St. Marcellinus, Priest and Peter, Exorcist (+ 304). In prison, they converted many of their fellow prisoners including the jailer. Both were martyred under Emperor Diocletian.

In our key Scripture for today, Jesus prayed for Church Unity. He wants Christians to be of one heart and one mind so that the world would look at Christians and see Jesus in us.  The standard for this unity is: "Just as you [Father] are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me."

Today there may be more than 40,000 denominations in the world.  You may wonder: What type of answer is this to the Prayer of Jesus for unity of His disciples?
Why did God permit Christian disunity? This is surely a mystery of Divine Providence.

One of the greatest obstacles to Unity is that a sizable number of Christian denominations do not believe in the type of Unity that Jesus prayed for His Church. Number one obstacle to unity without doubt is Sin. Sin exists in all churches. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit deals  with sins in the churches. Can we still hope to see visible unity in our lifetime?

6.2. "Let the soul who is desirous of advancing in perfection hasten to My Sacred Heart." (St Gertrude the Great).

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"I HAVE SAID THESE THINGS TO YOU WHILE STILL WITH YOU; BUT THE ADVOCATE, THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHOM THE FATHER WILL SEND IN MY NAME, WILL TEACH YOU EVERYTHING AND REMIND YOU OF ALL I HAVE SAID TO YOU" (John 14: 25 – 26)

“it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul made his way overland as far as Ephesus, where he found a number of disciples. When he asked, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers? They answered, ‘No, we were never even told that there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit.’ He asked, ‘Then how were you baptized?’ They replied, ‘With John’s baptism.’ Paul said, ‘John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance; but he insisted that the people should believe in the one who was to come after him – namely Jesus.’ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and the moment Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came down on them, and they began to speak with tongues and to prophesy.” (Acts 19: 1 – 17).

Monday 30th May 2022 of the 7th Week of Easter.

Our first Reading from Acts of the Apostles remind me of my encounter with the Most Awesome Spirit many years ago.

We might smile to learn that some early disciples of Jesus did not know that “there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit.”

Many years ago in the midst of my desert experience, I received the message from a trustworthy friend that “all that I need is the Holy Spirit.” I wondered: “What is the relevance of the Holy Spirit to my pressing problems of unemployment, money, health and a host of other issues?” Because I considered the messenger trustworthy, I did not discard the message.

I did the Novena to the Holy Spirit before Pentecost of that year and on the final day of the Novena, following the instruction in the booklet I used, I knelt down and pleaded with all my heart for the Holy Spirit. I opened wide my mouth and took a deep breath. When I got up, I accepted in faith as instructed that the Holy Spirit was in me.

I felt two emotions immediately.  One was a deep feeling of peace and joy.  The other was an urge to read the Bible immediately.  The first words I read from the holy book were:  “All wisdom comes from the Lord and with him it remains forever.”  (Sirach 1:1). 

The Holy Spirit is Wisdom. I needed no further confirmation.  The Holy Spirit truly was within me.  I am His temple.  He is the Advocate who pleads my cause with the Father.  How great!  How wonderful!  His presence is peace and tranquility.  I knew that whenever I pray to the Holy Spirit my prayer will receive a hearing. 

My joy in the Holy Spirit continued to grow throughout the years. Then one day a  couple of years ago, I discovered this amazing truth from the Roman Missal: “God is the source of all inspiration and power.” This is the truth I have been seeking.  The Holy Spirit is all that I need. It is true! He is the source of all inspiration and power. Inspiration and source of unlimited ideas and God's power to accomplish what the Holy Spirit inspires one to do. For example:  The Holy Spirit inspired me one day to start SeekFirstcommunity.com Blog. Then He inspired me to join WhatsApp and Facebook to extend my reach in evangelization. He has taught me how to prepare some very appetizing dishes. He helps me in shopping. He points out which books to read. He helps me to prepare for the Sacrament of Penance by pointing out what He wants me to take to the priest in-persona-Christi in Reconciliation. The list is simply endless.

5.30.  “Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.”  (St Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church).

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THE CHURCH DEDICATES THE MONTH OF JUNE TO HONORING THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS. WE WILL PROVIDE A SNIPPET OF TEACHING ON THE SACRED HEART FROM TRUSTED SOURCES.

"Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one....

"I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.” (John 17: 11.... 19).

Wednesday 1st June 2022, of the 7th Week of Easter is the feast of St Justin Martyr (+ 165). Born in Samaria in Palestine, he is an eminent philosopher and the first apologist in the Church. He defended the Christian faith in his writings in Rome where he established a school of public debate. St Justin was beheaded under Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Justin is the patron saint of apologists, philosophers, teachers and speakers.

In the high priestly prayer on the night before His Passion, Jesus prayed to His Father that His disciples should be consecrated in the truth. God's word is truth. Jesus, the Word of God is truth. To consecrate means to set apart, to sanctify, to purify for holy purposes.

Have you ever seen a new Altar or Chalice consecrated by the Bishop? It is a worthwhile experience. It will help to appreciate the prayer of Jesus in our key Scripture. What will you do if you walk into your church and find gansters partying around the Altar and drinking beer with the Chalice? Calling the police will not make the Altar and Chalice pure, holy and consecrated again. The sacred objects have been desecrated. They have been made unholy through sacrilegious action. The Bishop may  order both objects to be destroyed or he may decide to reconsecrate the expensive Altar and have the Chalice destroyed and buried.

You are consecrated by Baptism for Mission and Witness. When one fails through a serious sin, the person has become desecrated. Our Supreme High Priest, Jesus the Christ who delights in mercy has made provision for our re-consecration through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

When you live as one consecrated to the truth, you will avoid conforming yourself to the ways and habits of this world. Rather through daily renewal of your mind by the word of God the Holy Spirit will transform your mind. When being fed by the Scriptures becomes your habitual manner of living, discerning what is the will of God for you becomes a habit. The will of God is our peace and prosperity.

6.1. "Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony and his Passion, and gave himself up for each one of us: "The Son of God. . . loved me and gave himself for me."  He has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation,  "is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that. . . love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings" without exception." (CCC 478).

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"TO THE EXTENT THAT EACH CHRISTIAN GROWS IN HOLINESS, HE OR SHE WILL BEAR GREATER FRUIT FOR OUR WORLD." (POPE FRANCIS, EXSULTATE ET GAUDATE - REJOICE AND BE GLAD).

"Jesus said to his disciples:
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you;
but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

"Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them.
As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.
They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God."  (Luke 24: 46 - 53).

Sunday 29th May 2022, in the 7th Week of Easter is the Solemnity of the Ascension.  The Feast of the Ascension is celebrated on the Thursday of the 6th Week of Easter or on the 7th Sunday of Easter depending on the Diocese in the United States.

Jesus is taken up into heaven in full view of His disciples. During the forty days after His Resurrection, Jesus continued teaching, encouraging and comforting His disciples. Now the time of Departure has come. He instructed them to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Gift of the Father. He then turned the work of building the Kingdom of God on earth to them with the Great Commission:

“Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature." ( Mark 16: 15).

Every epoch and people respond to the Great Commission with the peculiar gifts and infrastructure provided by God. But the universal and perennial Gift of God is the Holy Spirit. Without the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit we cannot evangelize. Nobody can undertake the onerous missionary work of evangelization without the Holy Spirit.

Two powerful and different examples of evangelization are:
#1. St Therese of the Chlld Jesus (1873 - 1897). She became the Patroness of Missionaries without stepping out of her Carmelite Convent. She offered her prayers and sufferings to support the missionary endeavors of the Church. She gave the world a spirituality of "little ways."  One can be very effective in the spiritual life by doing "little things." She is a Doctor of the Church.

#2. St Teresa of Kolkata (1910 - 1997). Her missionary endeavors all over the world earned her a Noble Peace price and more importantly sainthood.

Every saint in the Church, that includes you and me are missionaries. Our Baptism gives us the mandate of Mission and Witness.

Do what you are inspired to do. The Holy Spirit will do the rest.

5. 29. "Mary is not only the bridge joining us to God; she is more. She is the road that God travelled to reach us, and the road that we must travel in order to reach him." (Pope Francis).

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