The Ascension of the Lord

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

56th World Communications Day

In other years: Pope Saint Paul VI (1897-1978); Blessed Joseph Gerard (1831-1914); Blessed Elia of Saint Clement (1901-1927); Blessed William Arnaud OP and Companions, Martyrs (13th century)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 7:19-24 Humility

Mass:  Acts 1:1-11; Resp Ps 47; Eph 1:17-23 or Heb 9:24-28; 10:19-23; Lk 24:46-53

God mounts His throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US. 

May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of Him.

(Eph 1:17)

Welcome to Sunday and our celebration of the Ascension of the Lord. Then He led them out as far as Bethany, raised His hands, and blessed them. As He blessed them He parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did Him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God (Lk 24:50-53). Remember, your grief will become joy ... I will see you again (Jn 16:20,22), says the Lord. 

We return then, to the tasks at hand, especially on this busier than usual Sunday. We go, united in faith and prayer, with joy while we continually praise God. May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to His call (Eph 1:18). We hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for He who made the promise is trustworthy (Heb 10:23). Place your hope in God alone (Rule of Saint Benedict, 4:41). 

Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with Him. Listen to the words of the Apostle: If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. For just as He remained with us even after His ascension, so we too are already in heaven with Him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies.

(From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop, in Office of Readings, Ascension)

The most important task in pastoral activity is the "apostolate of the ear" - to listen before speaking, as the Apostle James exhorts: "Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak" (1:19).

Freely giving our own time to listen to people is the first act of charity.

(Pope Francis, Message for World Communications Day 2022) 

POPE SAINT PAUL VI,

BLESSED JOSEPH GERARD,

BLESSED ELIA OF SAINT CLEMENT,

BLESSED WILLIAM ARNAUD AND COMPANIONS,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: This one is from the archives. It was taken January 30, 2022, on one of my many daily treks to the compost bins. The great king over all the earth.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD

World Communications Day

Readings of the day: RB 16-22

Mass: Ac 1:11-14; Resp Ps 47; Ep 1:17-23 or Ep 4:1-13; Mk 16:15-20

The Ascension of Christ (detail) from the Laudario of Sant'Agnese, 

AS THE DISCIPLES WERE LOOKING ON, JESUS WAS LIFTED UP. 

I share a passage read at Vigils:

The ascension celebrates the new creation, the bringing together of heaven and earth that has begun in the life of Jesus. When Jesus is seen no more in the old way, that does not mean he has abandoned the world, so that we must go and look for him outside it—“looking up into the sky” like the disciples. His life is being lived in us: the new world is being brought to birth in us, gradually and sometimes painfully. We are caught up in the eternal movement of God’s commitment to his creation. In and through Jesus we, too, have become a sign of promise. The light is on; the morning has come. The daystar from on high has dawned on us.

(Rowan Williams, A Ray of Darkness, p. 71)

As we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, then, may St Paul encourage and inspire us to be a sign of promise in the world:

I urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

(Ep 4:1-6)

GO OUT INTO THE WHOLE WORLD AND

PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Help us to recognize the evil latent in a communication that does not build communion.
Help us to remove the venom from our judgements.
Help us to speak about others as our brothers and sisters.
You are faithful and trustworthy; may our words be seeds of goodness for the world:
where there is shouting, let us practice listening;
where there is confusion, let us inspire harmony;
where there is ambiguity, let us bring clarity;
where there is exclusion, let us offer solidarity;
where there is sensationalism, let us use sobriety;
where there is superficiality, let us raise real questions;
where there is prejudice, let us awaken trust;
where there is hostility, let us bring respect;
where there is falsehood, let us bring truth.
Amen.

(Pope Francis, Message of his Holiness Pope Francis for the 52nd World Communications Day)