Pentecost

ANTIPHON

The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world and that which contains all things understands what is said, alleluia. (Wisdom 1:7)

COLLECT

O God, Who by the mystery of today's great feast
sanctify Your whole Church in every people and nation,
pour out, we pray, the gifts of the Holy Spirit
across the face of the earth
and, with the divine grace that was at work
when the Gospel was first proclaimed,
fill now once more the hearts of believers.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth. (Psalm 104:30).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

Jesus said to his disciples:
“When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father,
he will testify (μαρτυρήσει) to me.
And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.

I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear (βαστάζειν) it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide (ὁδηγήσει, hodegesei) you to all truth (ἀληθείᾳ, aletheia).
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.” (John 15:26-27; 16:12-15).”

REFLECTION

Saint Augustine, a fourth century Father of the Church, offers rich insight to this Sunday's Word in his work Tractates on the Gospel of John:

Beloved, you should not expect to hear from us what the Lord refrained from telling his disciples because they were still unable to bear them. Rather, seek to grow in the love that is shed abroad in your hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to you so that, fervent in spirit and loving spiritual things, you may be able—not by any sign apparent to your bodily eyes or any sound striking on your bodily ears but by the inward eyesight and hearing—to become acquainted with that spiritual light and that spiritual word that carnal people are unable to bear. For that cannot be loved that is altogether unknown. But when what is known, in however small a measure, is also loved, by the same love, one is led on to a better and fuller knowledge. If, then, you grow in the love that the Holy Spirit spreads abroad in your hearts, “He will teach you all truth,” or, as other codices have it, “He will guide you in all truth”; as it is said, “Lead me in your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth.” So shall the result be, that not from outward teachers will you learn those things that the Lord at that time declined to utter, but you will all be taught by God, so that the very things that you have learned and believed by means of lessons and sermons supplied from without . . . your minds themselves may have the power to perceive.

Accordingly, when he says, “He will teach you all truth” or “will guide you into all truth,” I do not think the fulfillment is possible in anyone’s mind in this present life. For who is there, while living in this corruptible and soul oppressing body, that can know all truth when even the apostle says, “We know in part”? But it is effected by the Holy Spirit, of whom we have now received the promise, that we shall attain also to the actual fullness of knowledge that the same apostle references when he says, “But then face to face” and “Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known.” He is not talking about something he knows fully in this life but about something that would still be in the future when he would attain that perfection. This is what the Lord promised us through the love of the Spirit, when he said, “He will teach you all truth” or “will guide you unto all truth.” (Saint Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John)

PREFACE

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvations,
always and everywhere to give You thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.

For, brining Your Paschal Mystery to completion,
You bestowed the Holy Spirit today
on those You made Your adopted children
by uniting them to Your Only Begotten Son.
This Same Spirit, as the Church came to birth,
opened to all peoples the knowledge of God
and brought together the many languages of the earth
in profession of the one faith.

There, overcome with paschal joy,
every land, every people exults in your praise
and even the heavenly Powers, with angelic hosts
sing together the unending hymn of Your glory,
as they acclaim:

A prayer to prepare for Pentecost

PENTECOST PRAYER

At the conclusion of his annual retreat, Pope Benedict penned the following prayer. May this prayer aide our preparation for the Solemnity of Pentecost.

Spirit of Life, who in the beginning alighted upon the abyss, help humanity in our time to understand that the exclusion of God leads us to lose ourselves in the desert of the world, and that only when we enter into faith do dignity and freedom flourish and society can be built up in justice.

Spirit of Pentecost, who makes one Body of the Church, restore unto us, the baptized, an authentic experience of communion; make of us a living sign of the presence of the Risen One in the world, a community of saints that lives in the service of love.

Holy Spirit, who enables our mission, allow us to recognize that, even in our time, many people are seeking the truth of their existence and of the world. Make us coworkers for their joy in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the grain of God's wheat, who makes our life's journey good and assures us the abundance of the harvest.

Amen.

Easter, the Seventh Sunday

ANTIPHON

O Lord, hear my voice, for I have called to You; of You my heart has spoken: Seek His face; hide not Your face from me, alleluia. (Psalm 27:7-9)

COLLECT

Graciously hear our supplications, O Lord,
so that we, who believe that the Savior of the human race
is with You in Your glory
may experience, as He promised,
until the end of the world,
His abiding presence among us.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

The Lord has set his throne in heaven. (Psalm 103:19).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

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. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. 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).”

REFLECTION

Saint Gregory of Nyssa, a fourth century Father of the Church, offers rich insight to this Sunday's Word in Homily 15 of his Commentary on the Song of Songs.

When love has entirely cast out fear, and fear has been transformed into love, then the unity brought us by our savior will be fully realized, for all men will be united with one another through their union with the one supreme Good. They will possess the perfection ascribed to the dove, according to our interpretation of the text: One alone is my dove, my perfect one. She is the only child of her mother, her chosen one.

Our Lord’s words in the gospel bring out the meaning of this text more clearly. After having conferred all power on his disciples by his blessing, he obtained many other gifts for them by his prayer to the Father. Among these was included the greatest gift of all, which was that they were no longer to be divided in their judgment of what was right and good, for they were all to be united to the one supreme Good. As the Apostle says, they were to be bound together with the bonds of peace in the unity that comes from the Holy Spirit. They were to be made one body and one spirit by the one hope to which they were all called. We shall do better, however, to quote the sacred words of the gospel itself. I pray, the Lord says, that they all may be one; that as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, so they also may be one in us. Now the bond that creates this unity is glory. That the Holy Spirit is called glory no one can deny if he thinks carefully about the Lord’s words: The glory you gave to me, I have given to them. In fact, he gave this glory to his disciples when he said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit. Although he had always possessed it, even before the world existed, he himself received this glory when he put on human nature. Then, when his human nature had been glorified by the Spirit, the glory of the Spirit was passed on to all his kin, beginning with his disciples. This is why he said: The glory you gave to me, I have given to them, so that they may be one as we are one. With me in them and you in me, I want them to be perfectly one.

Whoever has grown from infancy to manhood and attained to spiritual maturity possesses the mastery over his passions and the purity that makes it possible for him to receive the glory of the Spirit. He is that perfect dove upon whom the eyes of the bridegroom rest when he says: One alone is my dove, my perfect one.

Easter, the Sixth Sunday

ANTIPHON

Proclaim a joyful sound and let it be heard; proclaim to the ends of the earth: the Lord has freed His people, alleluia. (Isaiah 48:20)

COLLECT

Grant, almighty God,
that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion
these days of joy,
which we keep in honor of the Rise Lord
and that what we relive in remembrance
we may always hold to in what we do
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power. (Psalm 98:2).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves (ἠγάπησέν) me, so I also love you (ἠγάπησα). Remain (μείνατε) in my love (ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ τῇ ἐμῇ). If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

“I have told you this so that my joy (ἡ χαρὰ ἡ ἐμὴ) may be in you and your joy might be complete (πληρωθῇ). This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another (John 15:9-17).”

REFLECTION

Last week’s echo of “remain” still sounds boldly on this Sunday of Easter. That rich verb μένω (meno), translated here and throughout the Johannine Gospel as to remain, conveys a very engaging activity of building a place to live. μένω (meno) does not mean to remain in a static state of standing still or passively waiting around for something to happen out-of-the-blue. It rather paints a picture of someone single-mindedly working to prepare one’s home to receive a guest. The anticipation of the guest’s arrival and the thoughts of the guest spending time with the host fills everyone with joy. The anticipation of the visit also moves the host to change whatever is needed to accommodate the guest.

But what is the source of that joy? What causes one to engage in the active response-work of μένω (meno)? The answer, from the lips of Jesus, simply is to remain “in my love.” We need to take seriously this entire phrase and not simply the noun "love." Christian living is a qualified and specified love. Let’s face it, in all types of discussions about a whole range of human actions, love is often appealed to as a sort of mitigating license. Everything is OK so long as one loves. (It helps to have the Beatles mantra filling the air in the background to make the discussion sound even nicer and more appealing.) There are as many descriptions of love as there are people. Yet for Jesus, He not only speaks specifically about MY LOVE, He also demonstrates what (actually WHO) this love is in 2 exceptionally concrete ways: the first – keeping the Father’s Commandments; the second – laying down His life. What binds these 2 points together is sacrifice; sacrifice that flows from an act of the will. This is why Christianity contends that love is not a feeling, love is not an emotion – rather love is an act of the will whereby I choose the good of the other. Such an act requires sacrifice on my part. This sacrifice is not only in action, but thought and word as well. How often do I have to have the last word? How often have I plotted to get my own way by orchestrating my own agenda? We compound the matter by then stepping back and complimenting ourselves on a ‘professional job,’ an ‘efficient and equitable use of materials and personnel,’ or worse still – I did it all for love when in fact it has been nothing more than a profound act (or acts) of selfishness. Jesus' command to sacrificial love is creative. It summons one to a way of living that is about the essential good ("good" as used in Genesis) made possible by a free renunciation of self.

Saint Augustine offers a concluding reflection for this Sunday’s Gospel and he tackles a description of Christian love by linking that experience with faith and hope:

But when he said in this way here, “This is my commandment,” as if there were no other, what are we to think? Is, then, the commandment about that love with which we love one another his only one? Is there not another that is still greater, that we should love God? Or did God in truth give to us such a commandment about love alone that we have no need of searching for others? There are three things at least that the apostle commends when he says, “But now abide faith, hope, charity, these three. But the greatest of these is charity.” And although in charity, that is, in love, the two commandments are contained, yet it is here declared to be the greatest, not the only one. Accordingly, what a host of commandments are given to us about faith, what a multitude about hope! Who is there that could collect them together or suffice to number them? But let us ponder the words of the same apostle: “Love is the fulfillment of the law.” And so, where there is love, what can be lacking? And where it is not, what is there that can possibly be profitable? The devil believes but does not love: no one loves who does not believe. One may, indeed, hope for pardon who does not love, but he hopes in vain. But no one can despair who loves. Therefore, where there is love, there will necessarily be faith and hope. And where there is the love of our neighbor, there also will necessarily be the love of God. For one that does not love God, how does he love his neighbor as himself, seeing that he does not even love himself? Such a person is both impious and iniquitous. And he who loves iniquity clearly does not love but hates his own soul. Let us, therefore, hold fast to this precept of the Lord, to love one another, and then we will be doing all else that is commanded, for we have all else contained in this.

Easter, the Fifth Sunday

ANTIPHON

O sing a new song to the Lord, for He has worked wonders; in the sight of the nations He has shown His deliverance, alleluia. (Psalm 98:1-2)

COLLECT

Almighty ever-living God,
constantly accomplish the Paschal Mystery within us,
that those You were pleased to make new in Holy Baptism
may, under Your protective care, bear much fruit
and come to the joys of life eternal.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people. (Psalm 22:26).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

“Remain (μείνατε, meinate) in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains (μένῃ, mene) on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain (μένητε, menete) in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains (μένων, menon) in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain (μή … μένῃ) in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain (μείνητε, meinte) in me and my words remain (μείνῃ, meine) in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. (John 15:4-7)”

REFLECTION

Saints Clement of Alexandrea and Augustine of Hippo offer some preliminary thoughts on this Sunday's Gospel text:

He who has the almighty God, the Word, lacks nothing and never is in dire straits for what he needs. For the Word is a possession that lacks nothing and is the cause of all abundance. If someone says that he has often seen the righteous person in need of food, this is rare, and it happens only where there is not another righteous person. Notwithstanding, let him read what follows: “For the righteous one shall not live by bread alone but by the word of the Lord,” who is the true bread, the bread of the heavens. The good person, then, can never be in difficulties so long as he keeps intact his confession toward God. For it belongs to him to ask and to receive whatever he requires from the Father of all and to enjoy what is his own if he keeps the Son. And he also should feel that he lacks nothing (Clement of Alexandra, Christ the Teacher).

“If you abide in me,” he says, “and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.” For when someone abides in Christ in this way, is there anything he or she can wish for besides what will be agreeable to Christ? When they abide in the Savior in this way, can they wish for anything that is inconsistent with salvation? Some things, indeed, we wish for because we are in Christ, and other things we desire because we are still in this world. For at times, in connection with our present living quarters, we are inwardly prompted to ask what we know would not be expedient for us to receive. But God forbid that such a thing should be given to us if we abide in Christ, who, when we ask, only does what will be for our advantage. Abiding in him when his words abide in us, we shall ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us. For if we ask, and the doing does not follow, what we ask must not be connected with our abiding in him or with his words that abide in us. Instead they must be connected with that craving and infirmity of the flesh that are not in him and do not have his words abiding in them. For to his words, at all events, belongs that prayer that he taught and in which we say, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” Let us only not fall away from the words and meaning of this prayer in our petitions, and whatever we ask shall be done unto us. For his words may only be said to abide in us when we do what he has commanded us and love what he has promised. But when his words abide only in the memory and have no place in your life, the branch is not in the vine because it does not draw its life from the root (Saint Augustine of Hippo, Tractate on John).

---

In more recent time, Fr Henri Nouwen was moved by the Gospel text to write: "Words for "home" are often used in the Old and New Testaments. The Psalms are filled with yearning to dwell in the house of God ... It is highly significant that John describes Jesus as the Word of God living among us (John 1:14), and in his farewell address, Jesus reveals himself as the new home: "Abide in me as I abide in you" (John 15:4). By making his home in us Jesus allows us to make our home in him. By entering into the intimacy of our innermost self he offers us the opportunity to enter into his own intimacy with God. By choosing us as his preferred dwelling place he invites us to choose him as our preferred dwelling place.This is the mystery of the Incarnation (Fr Henri Nouwen, Lifesigns)."

Easter, the Fourth Sunday

ANTIPHON

The merciful love of the Lord fills the earth;
by the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, alleluia. (Psalm 33:5-6).

COLLECT

Almighty ever-living God,
lead us to a share in the joys of heaven,
so that the humble flock may reach
where the brave Shepherd has gone before.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. (Psalm 118:22).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

“Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father (John 10:11-18.”

REFLECTION

To begin this Sunday, the words of Saint Gregory the Great are worth pondering:

"I am the good shepherd. I know my own—by which I mean, I love them—and my own know me. In plain words: those who love me are willing to follow me, for anyone who does not love the truth has not yet come to know it.

My dear brethren, you have heard the test we pastors have to undergo. Turn now to consider how these words of our Lord imply a test for yourselves also. Ask yourselves whether you belong to his flock, whether you know him, whether the light of his truth shines in your minds. I assure you that it is not by faith that you will come to know him, but by love; not by mere conviction, but by action. John the evangelist is my authority for this statement. He tells us that anyone who claims to know God without keeping his commandments is a liar.

Consequently, the Lord immediately adds: As the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. Clearly he means that laying down his life for his sheep gives evidence of his knowledge of the Father and the Father’s knowledge of him. In other words, by the love with which he dies for his sheep he shows how greatly he loves his Father.

Again he says: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them; they follow me, and I give them eternal life. Shortly before this he had declared: If anyone enters the sheepfold through me he shall be saved; he shall go freely in and out and shall find good pasture. He will enter into a life of faith; from faith he will go out to vision, from belief to contemplation, and will graze in the good pastures of everlasting life.

So our Lord’s sheep will finally reach their grazing ground where all who follow him in simplicity of heart will feed on the green pastures of eternity. These pastures are the spiritual joys of heaven. There the elect look upon the face of God with unclouded vision and feast at the banquet of life for ever more.

Beloved brothers, let us set out for these pastures where we shall keep joyful festival with so many of our fellow citizens. May the thought of their happiness urge us on! Let us stir up our hearts, rekindle our faith, and long eagerly for what heaven has in store for us. To love thus is to be already on our way. No matter what obstacles we encounter, we must not allow them to turn us aside from the joy of that heavenly feast. Anyone who is determined to reach his destination is not deterred by the roughness of the road that leads to it. Nor must we allow the charm of success to seduce us, or we shall be like a foolish traveler who is so distracted by the pleasant meadows through which he is passing that he forgets where he is going."

Easter, the Third Sunday

ANTIPHON

Cry out with joy to God, all the earth; O sing to the glory of His Name. O render Him glorious praise (cf. Psalm 66:1-2).

COLLECT

May Your people exult for ever, O God, in renewed youthfulness of spirit, so that, rejoicing now in the restored glory of our adoption we may look forward in confident hope to the rejoicing of the day of Resurrection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Let Your face shine on us. (Psalm 4:7a).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

“While they were still speaking about this, He stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled (πτοηθέντες, ptoethentes) and terrified (ἔμφοβοι, emphoboi) and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled (τεταραγμένοι, tetaragmenoi)? And why do questions (διαλογισμοὶ, dialogismoi) arise in your hearts? (Luke 24:36-38)” … Then he opened (διήνοιξεν, dienoizen) their minds to understand (συνιέναι, sunienai) the Scriptures (Luke 24:45).”

REFLECTION

In the end, the disciples really did not grasp Jesus’ teaching about His Resurrection. Even though He prepared them for the Cross and Resurrection, these teachings apparently never connected deeply in the hearts of the disciples. This is evident by their response to the Risen Lord: startled (πτοηθέντες, ptoethentes from πτοέω, ptoeo) and terrified (ἔμφοβοι, emphoboi from φόβος, phobos). Both πτοέω and φόβος signal a response to a perceived threat to life. Translated here as “startled,” πτοέω is a rather graphic verb indicating that one’s world is collapsing, and doing so rather quickly. All that a person has used to define existence no longer holds up to support life. All of the connections that one has formed unwind and render life uncertain and unsteady as stability crumbles into a pile of ruin. In such a precarious state, one has to decide: stay and fight the threat or flee with the intent of putting great distance between you and the threat. While the noun φόβος is commonly translated “fear,” in antiquity its verb-form part of a group of words that mean “to flee.” Fear, a response to that which is recognized as a threat to life, triggers – often automatically – some action involving fight or flight.

The Sacred text clearly presents the disciples “startled (πτοέω)” and “terrified (φόβος).” Yet examine Jesus’ question to them. He does not ask why are you “startled (πτοέω)”? He does not ask why are you “terrified (φόβος)”? He asks “Why are you troubled (τεταραγμένοι, tetaragmenoi from ταράσσω tarasso). Jesus knows that something is not right in the lives of the disciples. His question to them “Why are you troubled?” is actually a declaration to them that there is no threat to life. In asking “Why are you troubled?” Jesus is actually helping His disciples to perceive clearly the state of life. Life is not falling apart. There is no need to fight or flee. There is a need, however, “to understand (συνιέναι, sunienai from συνίημι suniemi).”

Being troubled as expressed by ταράσσω is a common response in many biblical episodes when God or an angel visits humanity. Early in Luke, both Zechariah and Mary are “troubled” by Gabriel’s visit and attempt to resolve the situation by asking questions. The disciples in the boat “are troubled” when Jesus comes walking to them on the water in Mark and Matthew. In John, Jesus directs his disciples ‘not to be troubled’ by having faith in Him. In the biblical era, ταράσσω conveyed the image of water being stirred up. As with any aqueous solution, when water is stirred or agitated, all of the particulate matter gets stirred up as well. What appeared to the senses as calm and clear is now a sea of confusion caused by the murky, gritty sediment swirling round and round. No wonder “troubled waters” became such a metaphor when confusion and uncertainty grip life.

Experience has often demonstrated that when clear water becomes cloudy, it will – many times – become clear again when the source of agitation is removed. For the disciples, their confused state requires ‘an opening that will lead to understanding.’ At the heart of “opening” their minds is literally the action of ‘giving birth.’ When Jesus opened (διήνοιξεν, dienoizen from διανοίγω dianoigo) their minds, this was not a casual planting of a thought or opinion. διανοίγω is used sometimes in antiquity to mean birth, particularly the birth of the biblical “first born.” In this sense, διανοίγω brings the struggle of birth imagery to convey the work that is involved in opening the mind. Yet once opened, the groundwork is then paved for an ongoing journey to and of understanding; for the understanding (συνιέναι, sunienai) that Jesus offers the disciples in their “troubled” state is actually “connecting.” Yes, that sounds awkward but the verb συνιέναι literally means “to put together.” These restored and new connections that Jesus makes for them not only transforms the “troubled” state of their lives, but will enable them to go out on mission filled with confidence to witness to Jesus, Risen Savior and thus allow a bit more of Easter joy to flood the cosmos.