WELCOME TO SPRED IRELAND

During a Spred Session the Leader will read a short piece of scripture and this is followed by each person receiving a personal message from Jesus. Each week this page will display both a piece of Scripture and a personal message. I invite you to visit this site each week for your own spiritual nourishment.

Scripture

In the book of God’s word, John, a friend of Jesus, tells us how Jesus ascended into heaven.

He was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. They were still staring into the sky when suddenly two men in white were standing near them and they said, ‘Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky? Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, this same Jesus will come back in the same way as you have seen him go there.’ (Acts 1:9-11)

Message

_____, Jesus says to you today,
Even while I am with my Father,
I am also with you.

Reflection

I have always looked upon the Feast of the Ascension as a tremendous act of faith in us. Jesus, in leaving us, tells us that we are ready to be the Body of Christ, the Church on earth. Even stronger than his physical departure is the proclamation that if he does not go away, the Spirit cannot come (John 16:7). When I try to pray and live the Ascension, two images come to my mind: autumn trees and departing friends.

Once, on an autumn day very near the edge of winter, I stood like the friends of Jesus, gazing upward toward an almost empty tree. The leaves seemed to be saying to the tree: Unless we go away, you cannot be renewed. We have to die. We must return to the earth. We have to let go of you so you can be reborn.

And how often, in airports, I’ve stood gazing upward toward ascending planes remembering Jesus’ words: “Unless I go away, the Spirit cannot come.” Sometimes we have to be left on our own to discover the uniqueness and strength that is ours. It is as though in leaving, whether it be Jesus, a friend, or a leaf, something of them returns to convince us that we are not alone. We have not been abandoned. We have, perhaps, in that leaving been given the gift of ourselves in a new, deeper, and more lasting way.
(Seasons Of Your Heart, Macrina Wiederkehr)