[00:00] Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are just a week away from the celebration of Pentecost, the Church's birthday as we like to say, when the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles gathered together with Mary in the upper room. And that coming of

[00:30] the Holy Spirit is what allows us to be faithful disciples of Christ in the world. With His Spirit we have the gifts and the fruits that allow us to do as Christ did, the works of God, to obey the Lord, to live in the will of God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His Son. This of course is not an easy thing. The world does not belong to Christ. The world is under

[01:13] the dominion of a power, the power of Satan. And Christians are by our calling to follow Jesus also, by the nature of things as they are, called to also suffer. No disciple is greater than his master. And of course it goes against our natural instincts to suffer.

[01:46] We avoid suffering. And yet, in the first reading we hear this truth which really requires effort to embrace because it does go against our nature, our fallen nature. Excuse me, that would be the second reading. Rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings

[02:17] of Christ. Not rejoice and accept suffering too, but our joy is commensurate with our sufferings in Christ. That's what we're called to. Rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when His glory is revealed, you may also rejoice exultantly. So this glory that we speak about is really the Holy Spirit, our union with God in the

[02:54] Holy Spirit, in this love between the Father and the Son. That's what we're called to eternally. That is the life. But that glory has not been revealed yet. Jesus Christ will come again in glory. The first time He came in humility, poverty, and as the suffering servant. And until He comes again in glory, we're called to participate in those sufferings of the

[03:25] suffering servant. So we need the Holy Spirit.