Coming back from a successful mission, Jesus asked the Apostles this question: Who do people say that the Son of Man is? Then, Jesus followed it with another question: But who do you say that I am? Peter answered with his famous confession of faith: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Everybody was stunned. Where did Peter get this answer? Before they could process everything that was happening, Jesus enlightened them and said, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly FATHER.

For more than three years, a missionary found himself imprisoned in China. So that, for one thousand and nineteen days, he was unable to receive the Eucharist. But through God’s blessings forty-one times, he was able to celebrate Mass and receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. How did this happen? One day during his captivity, he received a package from his mother, a bottle of Alka-Seltzer and a medicine bottle marked “pabulum vitae” (food of life). It took a little while before the missionary realized that his mother sent him a real treasure: between the Alka-Seltzer tablets were forty-one hosts, while the medicine was wine.

Christians are baptized using the formula: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit with the firm: I do. The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity (CCC. 232). Today, we celebrate the most central mystery of our faith: God’s mystery, the Holy Trinity.

Pentecost is the coming of the Holy Spirit that sets our spirits free. It is the Holy Spirit that removes the costumes and the masks we wear, and brings out the real goodness and freedom in each one.

In His Farewell Address, right after the last supper, Jesus promised to send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in His name. At this time, the Apostles did not understand everything that Jesus revealed to them. However, the events of the Last Supper, His Resurrection, and the various Easter moments or appearances of Jesus slowly reveal the many facets of His divine nature as the awaited Messiah. After appearing to them the last time at His Ascension, they now await the Paraklétos, the Holy Spirit.

Today is Ascension Sunday. At the first Ascension Moment, Jesus ascended into heaven and lifted the spirit of the disciples, their hopes, and dreams. He drew them to Himself and led them to a new level of life and discipleship with purpose and mission. He empowers them to become His witnesses and blesses and fills them with joy, praise, and courage. Along with the mission from the Lord are the power and protection of the Holy Spirit. Because, to be on a mission is learning to rely more on God’s power and less on our own.