Commentary: Wayback Machine. The traditional observance of the solemnity occurs on the preceding Thursday, but may be transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter at the discretion of the local bishop. For more on the Ascension, please see last Thursday's (25 May) BLACK MAMBA post.
Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter one, verses one thru eleven;
Psalm Forty-seven, verses two & three, six & seven, & eight & nine;
The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter one, verses seventeen thru twenty-three;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty-eight, verses sixteen thru twenty.
Commentary: Easter Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today we celebrate the wonderful feast of the Ascension of the Lord, the journey of the risen Christ into heaven. Now can we even begin to make sense of this in the early twenty-first century? Doesn’t this all sound rather pre-scientific and mythological? Jesus going up to heaven in an embodied state? And what does any of this have to do with us? Why should we bother with such a peculiar event?
The prayer of Jesus is that the earth will be filled with the glory of God, that it will be transformed and elevated according to God’s purposes. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the beginning of this process. It signals that the great revolution by which God becomes the ruler of earth has commenced.
And the Ascension carries that revolution to a new pitch. It’s the coming together of earth and heaven. We see this “coming together” throughout the Church’s life, in good preaching, in great Christian art, in the singing at liturgy, in the architecture of our cathedrals and churches, in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Heaven meets earth and earth meets heaven, and that’s what the Ascension finally achieves.
Mass Readings—Seventh Sunday of Easter
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter one, verses twelve, thirteen, & fourteen;
Psalm Twenty-seven, verses one, four, & seven & eight;
The First Letter of Peter, chapter four, verses thirteen thru sixteen;
The Gospel according to John, chapter seventeen, verses one thru eleven(a).
Commentary: Video Easter Gospel reflection by Jeff Cavins: Encountering the Word.
Mass Journal: Week 22
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:
When making a decision, the Native American people used to ask themselves how their decision today wold affect their people seven generations from now. One hundred years from now, none of us will be here. Let us always remember that in the whole scheme of things, the Church is on loan to us for a very brief time. And yet in that brief time we determine the Church our children & grandchildren will inherit. In this way, God has appointed us to take care of the vineyard—the Church. This is a responsibility we should take seriously. In Matthew's Gospel (Mt. 21:33-41) we are given a vision of what happens when servants are overcome with pride & arrogance.
Otherwise, 28 May would be the festival of Blessed Lanfranc of Canterbury, Bishop, O.S.B. (circa 1005-1089, A.K.A. of Pavia, of Bec): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Margaret Plantagenet Pole, Martyr (1473-1541, the Countess of Salisbury), martyred in the reign of the king Henry VIII: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twould also be the festival of Blesseds Thomas Ford, Robert Johnson, & John Shert, Priests & Martyrs (died 1582), martyred in the reign of the queen Elizabeth I: Martyr-link Tango Foxtrot & Wikipedia-link Tango Foxtrot, Martyr-link Romeo Juliett & Wikipedia-link Romeo Juliett, & Martyr-link Juliett Sierra & Wikipedia-link Juliett Sierra.
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