Sunday is the great feast of Pentecost – the birthday of the Church. The formerly frightened Apostles are on fire. Now they can speak clearly, so everyone can understand them. Jesus gives His peace to His disciples and breathes His Spirit upon them, giving them the mission to forgive and sending them to carry out His desire that we all be one.

The return to “Ordinary Time” doesn’t mean we forget about the good news of the  Resurrection  or  the gift of  the Spirit Jesus promised us. It simply means  tl1at we return  to a season  of  reflecting upon  the scriptures  with “numbers” (ordinalj until Advent begins on December 1.

This is a week we can look at letting go — of riches, honors, pride. In these Ordinary Time days we can hand it all over to Jesus and ask for the trust we need in our lives. We can hand over our fears and jealousy, our titles and our possessions – anything that has become too important in our lives can get in the way of how close we allow ourselves to be with Jesus.

As we go through our week, in the smallest moments of the day, we can beg Jesus for the strength of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As we awaken in the morning, and in the everyday moments of our lives, an awareness of our desires before Jesus can change our attitudes. We can see chores as sacred moments of invitation from the God who loves us with such fire and compassion.

Letting go, releasing, giving things up: it’s a struggle for all of us. Perhaps we can sit for a moment with the rich young man. When he returned to Jesus looking for the easy way out, Jesus “looked at him and loved him” before He said anything else to him.

Jesus understands our deepest fears and our motivations. But despite, or  maybe because  of  that, He looks at us and loves us, endlessly – not restricted in any way by our own selfishness or unwillingness to change.

Dear Lord, You know how filled I am with fears. Let each moment of anxiery todqy be a reminder to open my life, my heart and my soul to the love and courage You offer me. I know that if onfy I could trust in You more, it would change my life. “He went awqy sad, for he had ma1!J possessions!” Let me turn these apprehensions over to You. I begyou to give me the wisdom and strength I need to trust more and to fear less. Teach me that it’s OK to stop clinging to the fears I have known for so long and that I can embrace the freedom You offer me. Let me be less fearfull and more generous