We see today the Apostles before the Sanhedrin. They don’t mince words. What they have to say is neither politically expedient nor does it endear them to them on a spiritual level. Rather, it infuriates their enemies and makes them want to put them to death. It’s a far different scene from the men gathered before Pentecost. They are no longer locked in the upper room but are out speaking boldly with no fear for their lives. The Holy Spirit has empowered them to overcome their fears, to only care about God’s will.
The Gospel tells us that God doesn’t ration that Spirit. The same amount that every Saint has received, we too are offered. God wants all of us to be Holy, align ourselves with His Holy Will, and spend eternity with Him. We, too, should take courage in knowing that His Spirit can and will work through us when we need Him if we allow Him to do so. An unlimited fountain of mercy, love, and joy is ready to pour out on us, even to the end of time itself.
That is the joy of Easter, the joy of the Gospel. All of those stories we hear about the Saints, all the amazing things they did: levitating, bilocation, peering into someone’s soul, making the lame walk… God wants to do miracles like that through us too. Are we willing to listen and obey Him? Yesterday the angel told the Apostles in prison to tell them all about “this life.” That’s the life we are talking about! A life so filled with the Holy Spirit that God pours out into the world through us.
That begins right here in this confessional and at this altar. When we worthily receive the Eucharist, the presence of God in our bodies begins to change us, to mold us. It reminds us that we can’t live locked in a room or in fear of what might happen if we speak the truth. Allowing our doubts to hold us back isn’t living at all. We must obey God, rather than men, and only by obeying the Son can we have life at all. So let’s not lock ourselves behind the door of our minds but rather open our hearts completely to Jesus in the Sacraments. The world tells us we should be seeking after things to make us happy, to make us feel alive. Power, wealth, pleasure, honor. Being a Saint though, aligning ourselves with God’s will, picking up our cross, and following Jesus; well that is really living.