After having spoken His own autobiography, Christ wrote the biography of whom He redeemed; the fruits of His Cross must now be applied to all peoples and all nations:

In his name repentance bringing the forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed to all nations. Begin from Jerusalem; it is you who are the witnesses to it all. - Luke 24:47-48 -

The first sermon that Christ preached was on the subject of repentance:

From that day Jesus began to proclaim the message: Repent; for the kingdom of Heaven is upon you. - Matt. 4:17 -

The first sermon of Saint Peter was on repentance; the first sermon of Saint Paul was on repentance; now the last sermon Christ preached before ascending into heaven was the theme of His first. Repentance was to be the burden of the New Testament teaching. Repentance is thus linked up with the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies but above all with the application of the Redemption won on Calvary. Saint Peter, who heard this message would be preaching it himself in a short time:

It is to him that all the prophets testify, declaring that everyone who trusts in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. - Acts 10:43 -

Repentance implied a turning away from sin and a turning to God. The first four Beatitudes He preached were a description of this inner and radical change of heart, namely, poverty or humility of spirit, sorrow for sin, meekness, hunger and thirst for love of God. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, Our Lord had drawn a picture of the soul penitent who "entered into himself" as if sin had externalized him and then returned humbly to the father's house. The Angels of heaven, He said, rejoice more over one sinner doing penance than ninety-nine just who need not penance; the publican in the back of the temple mourning over his sins, He said, went back to his house justified. Now in His farewell discourse before the Ascension, He bade the world repent.

This preaching of repentance was to begin at Jerusalem for salvation was first to the Jews. In that city the one great Sacrifice was offered for the sins of the world; there it was that the priesthood was shadowed forth with its rites and oracles, There it was that prophecy announced the Captain of Israel and it was there as Isaiah said:

For instruction issues from Zion and out of Jerusalem comes the word of the Lord. - Isaiah 2:3 -

The Divine order to begin preaching Redemption in Jerusalem was a mark of His great compassion; for He was directing the Apostles to go to those who had falsely accused Him and tell them that He was their Advocate; that He would plead their cause from on high; and finally assure them that though they scourged Him through His stripes they would be healed.

Having finished His own autobiography, Our Lord reminded them again of the Spirit that He promised the night of the Last Supper and fulfilled partly when He breathed on them and gave them the power to forgive sins.

I am sending upon you my Father's promised gift; so stay here in this city until you are armed with power from above. - Luke 24:49 -

Thus, He promised a manifest increase of the Spirit beyond a breathing; in fact it would be a "power from on high". But to receive it, they must wait ten days after His Ascension. This power would be greater than that given to Moses for his work of guiding Israel, greater than that given to Joshua to conquer his enemies, greater than that given to kings and prophets; and it would enable them to proclaim the Redemption. The Apostles did not understand the nature of this power; for to them it meant a kind of restoration of Israel;

Lord, is this the time when you are to establish once again the sovereignty of Israel? - Acts 1:6 -

They were still thinking in the old terms of a political Messiah and of making Jerusalem what Caesar had presently made Rome. But He warned that it was not for them to know the times or the season; a faith in a bright future was not to prompt a presumptuous curiosity. In all things they must wait upon God. the present is the exclusive object of apostolic duty; as regards the future, some will reap where they did not sow.

Power they would have but not power to restore Israel; it would be a power over living souls to channel into them the forgiveness and grace stored up in the reservoir of Calvary.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will bear witness for me in Jerusalem and all over Judea and Samaria and away to the ends of the earth. - Acts 1:8 -

They wanted an earthly kingdom; He spoke of a spiritual one. They wanted a return of the old things; He told them they would be "witnesses" of a new thing. And to be a witness meant to be martyr. The power of Holy Spirit was consonant with human weakness. They could be humbly weak as Saint Paul was in his preaching but full of power because of the Spirit. They were bound by the idea of a nation: Israel; He included the world in His vision.

Their new power would be a gift; it would not be generated from within self-confidence by a subjective belief that one had influence over others or by a psychological trick of believing in oneself. Organized revivals based on commercialized propaganda would draw crowds but such tricks could no more produce spiritual effects than they could produce thunder and lightning. At this solemn moment when Christ is about to turn over the world itself to His eleven, He returned to the subject of the Last Supper; the Holy Spirit.

As He began His public life with the descent of the Holy Spirit so they were to begin their mission to the world. The Spirit came to Him after His obedience to His mother and foster father in Nazareth; so the Spirit would come to them after their obedience to tarry in Jerusalem as they abide in prayer. When that power would come they were to be witness not to His miracles alone or His prophecies or His moral commands but to His Person. As on the Mount of the Beatitudes He reaffirmed that there is no doctrine apart from His Person. One could no more choose to believe His words about the lilies and disbelieve His words about hell than to believe in His Body and not His Blood. With this affirmation that Christianity is Christ, He prepared to ascend to His Father.

BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN ( 1895 to 1979 )

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -