Church of Jesus Christ of the Universe

By Mauro

27 May 2023

Gen 11,1-9; Ps 32 (33); Ez 37,1-14; Ps 50 (51); Rom 8,22-27; Jn 7,37-39

We are celebrating the Mass on the Eve of Pentecost. In the Gospel, we listen to Jesus saying: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (Jn 7,37-38 NIV). The Gospel ends by saying: “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified” (Jn 7,39).

We often say that Mary, Joseph and Jesus formed the Church of Jesus Christ in Nazareth. We also say that the Church was born under the Cross between Mary Most Holy and St. John: “Woman here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother” (Jn 19,25-27), and in St. John, the whole Church was represented. We also say that the Church was born on the day of Pentecost. Now apart from determining the time in which the Church of Jesus Christ was established, we can say that it has existed in the mind of God since eternity. The Church of Jesus Christ acts beyond time and space because in her the Angels, the Archangels, the Saints, the faithful brothers and sisters and us, who are part of it, are at work. However, this dimension surpasses our understanding here on Earth. Certainly, the action of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ first gift to the believers, is that of bringing to completion the work of the Church of Jesus Christ, which is God’s work of recapitulating all things in Christ.[1] We can also say that the New Creation, which will be the culmination of the recapitulation of all things in Christ, began with the Redemption and accelerated on the day of Pentecost.

We know that in the forty days before Jesus’ Ascension, He had partially given the Holy Spirit to the Apostles – St. John speaks about this in one of his messages[2] – because otherwise, they would not have been able to fully understand the explanations they received. We know that now, in the second coming of Jesus, the same happens to us. The cosmic Pentecost is taking place. We were told that it will not be a visually striking event as the first Pentecost was, but an action in spirit, which opens the spirit of the people from within so that they may understand how to participate in His second coming. Then all things will be recapitulated[3] in Christ to fulfil the primary mission of the Church: to announce Jesus’ glorious return, to baptise, to bless, to be co-redeemers with Mary Most Holy and to prepare Jesus’ glorious return, which will be the beginning of the New Creation.

In today’s first reading from the book of Genesis[4], we see how the work of the people developed; there was one language, and they were planning to build, all together, something big. The idea may have been beautiful, but it was a human undertaking. People manage to make alliances to obtain what they are interested in and what is useful to them. Yet, when we speak of the action of the Holy Spirit, we automatically speak of communion because the primary action of the Holy Spirit is bringing the Love of the Father and the Son that maintains this communion. The action of the Holy Spirit is indeed the love that all people possess in their identity and uniqueness in communion; however, that does not take place in an alliance, as narrated in the first reading, but in communion, which is the work of God. Then, all human endeavours end, and only the work of God will carry on.

St. Paul also says: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.” He further says: “But hope that is seen is no hope at all.”[5] We are on this path towards the new creation, which will lead us to the glorious return of Christ. Where else could we place the second coming of Jesus if not in the end times?

He says, that we do not even know how to ask what is good, but the Holy Spirit in us prays for what we need, according to God’s intentions. Indeed, this is the path of Holy Mary’s life. It was a journey: She, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, certainly believed, and Her action as Co-Redemptrix was that of “pondering everything in her Heart”, as is said several times in the Gospel.[6] She followed Her Son; She was obedient to the action of the Spirit, but She did not guide the Spirit with Her prayers, She just followed Him. This made Her the Co-Redemptrix; this led Her to be the Mother under the Cross; truly, because She is the Co-Redemptrix, She entered the Most Holy Trinity; She remained among the Apostles to pray for them so that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We know that Mary Most Holy is among us; She has promised it to us. She is among us, praying for us to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; praying, that this gift may lead us, like the Apostles and Her, to follow simply what God is opening up before us and to follow all that He does, for which we have given our life. This is the work of God, and He is the One who will carry it forward. We only have to follow His work with faithfulness, with our “yes” and with simplicity, but without wanting to influence it.

Tonight we have also read Ezekiel, who says that we will recognise who the Lord is: “Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord” (Ex 37, 13-14).

We will recognise the Lord when He opens our graves. This is indeed the action of the co-redeemers: allowing God to use us to open our graves and to use us as instruments that fully express the action of the Holy Spirit. This is our path; other people will have other charisms and gifts, but we have this, to say “Yes”, “Here I am”, and “Do with me what you will”, and the Holy Spirit will complete His work.

Now we entrust again to God and the Holy Spirit, through Mary the Co-Redemptrix, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, the Foundation, the Church[7] and all that is called to belong to her and is connected with her. We entrust to Mary all those who said “Yes” at their conception so that they may be awakened. We entrust to Her all the little ones and all those who are losing hope and feel crushed under the pressure of disintegrating energy so that, in these days, all can truly rise again and let the Holy Spirit act freely in them. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[1] See Message of John of 23 February 2021, “Mary the Co-Redemptrix and the First Church”, published in the book “Towards the New Creation – Vol. VIII – Collected Messages 2021”, and in category Messages on our website, https://towardsthenewcreation.com/

[2] See Eph 1,10; gathered and unified in Christ

[3] See footnote 2

[4] See Gen 11, 1-9, The Tower of Babel

[5] See Rom 8, 22-27

[6] See Lk 2,19

[7] The Church of Jesus Christ of the Universe