Ten days.
We now have ten days wait
after the Ascension
until the Birthday of the Church
when the Holy Ghost descends
and causes order
from chaos.
What were the Apostles doing
for those ten days?
Were they sitting
drawing up blueprints
for the Church,
putting together
codes of Canon Law,
and making sure that
the priests will wear
the right colour
in the right liturgical season?
No. That's not what they do.
They meet together,
pray,
and wrestle with what they
understand of the memories
of Jesus.
But they don't build a church.
They have realised that
building a Church is a
top-down activity.
[PAUSE]
If you think about it,
it's an odd way to build.
Can we really
build a church
starting with the spire
and building down
to the floor?
Well, we can't do that.
We're subject to
all the limitations of gravity.
But we need
to realise these limitations.
The Day of Pentecost
is not yet with us
and the Day of Pentecost
is the undoing
of the tower of Babel.
It's in these ten days
before Pentecost
that we witness
the deconstruction of Babel
and the safest way
to deconstruct a tower
is from the top down.
The building of the Church
starts with the demolition
of all that opposes it.
The crooked has
to be made straight
and the rough places plain
for the Gospel to be preached.
This demolition
is a form of repentance.
These ten days of prayer
and preparation
in which the Apostles are silent
are a form of repentance.
Of course,
you remember that
repentance is not just
turning away from sin:
it is a turning towards Christ.
If we turn to Christ
then we necessarily
turn away from sin.
The Apostles reflect
upon the Ascension
and what it means
and thus they turn their minds
to Christ.
[PAUSE]
Our Lord's Ascension
proves to us
that He has descended
from Heaven.
It strengthens our minds
that, truly, Jesus is the Son of God,
fully human and fully divine.
The Apostles see
exactly how Our Lord is the Way.
In ascending,
He has punched
a human-shaped hole
in the veil
that separates us from God
and it is through this gap
that we see the Glory of God
and the joys of Heaven.
This shows them how
they are to build top-down.
[PAUSE]
When we try to build
bottom-up,
the result is confusion
because we can only bring
earthly things
into the building.
If we try to build a church
based on human ideas
of justice and mercy
all we will get is
confusion, conflict and
consternation.
But,
to reach into the heavens
through Christ's Way
we build something
that comes down from Heaven
to us.
This Church
separates Christians
from the World
and sanctifies their lives
because it is built
from the top down.
A building
that does not separate
from the World
bur rather blurs the
distinction between
the Church and the World.
It allows sin into
the sanctuary
and thus the sanctuary
loses its sanctity.
[PAUSE]
That which is built
from the bottom up
falls down.
That which is built
from the top down
falls up.
Just as Christ descends
for our Salvation
so He must ascend
so that we may too.
What comes down
must go up.
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