Our Pentecost mission is to share our gifts and spend ourselves nurturing others, drawing them into the unity of the Spirit and the Church, and to open ourselves to the workings of the Spirit in the diversity of the gifts and lives of others.

Looking forward to that day when we recall the gift of the Spirit’s fullness on that first Pentecost, the liturgy and the witness of these martyrs invite us to reflect on our own call to mission and evangelization.

Jesus disappears from the disciples’ physical sight so that he might become more present to the eyes of their hearts.

The invitation for us this Sunday is to reflect on how we understand the Holy Spirit and to open our minds and hearts to the Spirit’s transforming love.

Jesus offered his followers, just as he offers each of us, the possibility of a new and life-changing relationship with God and each other within the communion of the Church.

Through Jesus and because he has given his life for “his flock,” we have an abundance of life.

As women and men who have come to share in the Apostles’ and Evangelists’ belief in the Risen Lord, we too are called to the same evangelizing mission that was entrusted to them.

The Resurrection shows us that there is always reason to hope and that Christ remains with us, journeying with us as we walk our pilgrim path.

Easter reminds us that there is something more powerful suffering and death: the love of the God who, in Christ, has taken upon himself our broken humanity.

We have been re-created for love, for joy, for zeal, and for gratitude. We have been granted the freedom to be truly alive.

It was on this day that Jesus entered into the darkest recesses of the human experience, bringing the Divine Presence into the reality of death itself

Good Friday reminds us that God has hidden the seed of divine life in our experiences of suffering.

This mandate to love—symbolized in foot washing—shapes how we should talk about the gift of the Eucharist, just as it informs how we should celebrate our liturgies during these three days.

Are the Readings proclaimed today simply positioned to move the Passion narrative forward? What else might we discern as we reflect on the story of Judas?

Rather than being a hapless victim of circumstance or the machinations of his enemies, Jesus shows his agency and power to discern as he sees what is in the hearts of both Judas and Peter.

The Evangelist John uses this final visit to Bethany as an opportunity to prefigure what is to come and to highlight the growing animosity of Judas Iscariot and all those who wanted Jesus to die.

Living the mystery of the Cross leaves no room for indifference.

If we are able—like Jeremiah and Jesus—to recognize the abiding and grace-giving presence of the Father in every aspect of life, then we will be able to recognize the light of Easter shining beyond and through the suffering we endure.

To live in freedom requires a choice on our part. It means that we have to do the work of Lent and strip away distractions, pretense, agenda, and the masks that we present to the world, to open ourselves to the truth that saves us.

Today the mystery of Christ and the Cross come together in a way truly confounds our expectations and which demands more than a child’s “Bible story” understanding of Jesus.