Picture someone holding up a Bible and saying, “It’s all in here! Everything you ever need to know about living your life as a disciple of Jesus Christ is given to you in this book.”
Well, not exactly. The Scriptures give us God’s revelation, and we believe that there will be no new revelation in terms of a change in what Jesus taught. On the other hand, there is a continual unfolding of the implications of what Jesus did and what Jesus said.
For one thing, there are new situations that every generation has to face – nuclear weapons, medical procedures, global economics, a radically different view of the universe…
Scripture gives us timeless truths, but the Bible is not a “how to” manual with detailed directions on how to live those truths.
We desperately need the gift of the Spirit that Jesus promised his disciples. We need to let the Spirit shape our understanding of those timeless truths as they are applied to the circumstances of our lives.
Which is to say, to be a disciple of the Lord, I need to pray.
Today, 40 days after Easter, has been the traditional date for Ascension Thursday. (Some countries and some U. S. dioceses have moved it to this coming Sunday.)
Before the post-Vatican II restoration of the liturgy, a small ritual took place at the Ascension Thursday Mass. The server went over and snuffed out the paschal candle immediately after the Gospel was read – the passage in Mark saying that the risen Lord “was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.”
Since the paschal candle is a symbol of the presence of the risen Christ here on earth, this ritual could give the impression that Christ was no longer present among us.
The candle isn’t snuffed out anymore. It continues to burn as a sign that Christ is, as he promised, with us always, until the end of time. The paschal candle remains lit for the rest of the Easter Season…and it is lit throughout the whole year at baptisms and funerals.