In the Diocese of Lansing (as throughout the Ecclesiastical Province of Detroit), as in most of these United States, today is the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord: Ascension-link, Wikipedia-link Ascension, & Wikipedia-link Feast.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
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;
or, The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter four, verses one thru thirteen
(or, the Letter to the Ephesians, chapter four, verses one thru seven, eleven, twelve, & thirteen);
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter sixteen, verses fifteen thru twenty.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus is taken up to his Father in heaven. We tend to read the Ascension along essentially Enlightenment lines, rather than biblical lines—and that causes a good deal of mischief. Enlightenment thinkers introduced a two-tier understanding of heaven and earth. They held that God exists, but that he lives in a distant realm called heaven, where he looks at the human project moving along, pretty much on its own steam, on earth.Video reflection by Jeff Cavins: Encountering the Word.
On this Enlightenment reading, the Ascension means that Jesus goes up, up, and away, off to a distant and finally irrelevant place. But the biblical point is this: Jesus has gone to heaven so as to direct operations more fully here on earth. That’s why we pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Jesus has not gone up, up, and away, but rather—if I can put it this way—more deeply into our world. He has gone to a dimension that transcends but impinges upon our universe.
In much of the world, though, where the Ascension is observed on the Thursday forty days after the Resurrection of the Lord, today is the Seventh Sunday of Easter: Wikipedia-link Eastertide.
Mass Readings—Seventh Sunday of Easter
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter one, verses fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, twenty(a), & twenty(c) thru twenty-six;
Psalm One Hundred Three, verses one & two, eleven & twelve, & nineteen & twenty;
The First Letter of John, chapter four, verses eleven thru sixteen;
The Gospel according to John, chapter seventeen, verses eleven(b) thru nineteen.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus prays: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.”Credo in unum Deum (I believe in one God), is a subversive statement because it automatically rules out any rival claimant to ultimate concern.
The Church is one because its founder is one. Jesus compels a choice precisely because he claims to speak and act in the very person of God. Jesus simply cannot be one teacher among many, and therefore those who walk in his way must be exclusively with him.
Moreover, the God whom Jesus incarnates is one. The Israelite conception of God is fiercely monotheistic and hence it excludes any diversity or syncretism at the level of basic belief: “The Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Joseph Ratzinger commented that the opening line of the Nicene Creed,
To say that one accepts only the God of Israel and Jesus Christ is to say that one rejects as ultimate any human being, any culture, any political party, any artistic form, or any set of ideas. A Christian is someone who, at the most fundamental level of his or her being, is centered on the one God of Jesus Christ.Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Video reflection by Jeff Cavins: Encountering the Word.
Mass Journal: Week Twenty
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:
In every age, the Church experiences problems & difficulties. Our time is no different. The solution to the problems that plague our lives & the Church is unchanging & singular. The problems are many; the solution is solitary. Personal holiness is the answer to every problem. In every situation in my life, in every problem, in every difficulty, I know that if I allow the values & principles of the Gospel to guide me, it will turn out for the best.†
Otherwise, 13 May would be the festival of Our Lady of Fátima (apparitions 13 May-13 October 1917): Madonna-link ūna, Madonna-link duæ, & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Twould also be the festival of Saint John the Silent, Bishop & Hermit (454-558, A.K.A. the Hesychast): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Maël, Hermit (floruit sixth century): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"Jesus is the center of history & of all things. He is the One Who knows us & loves us, the Companion & Friend of our life, a Man of sorrow & hope."Little Flower Quote o' the Day
—Pope Bl. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 26 September)
"The expression of Our Lady's face was ineffably sweet, tender, & compassionate; but what touched me to the very depths of my soul was her gracious smile. Then, all my pain vanished…"Saint Quote o' the Day
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)
"If you ever feel distressed during your day, call upon Our Lady. Just say this simple paryer: 'Mary, Mother of Jesus, please be a Mother to me now.' I must admit: this prayer has never failed me."
—St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa, 1910-1997; feast day: 5 September)
*The title "Better Late than Never" means it is better that this "Saints & Scripture" post be published late (the scheduled publication time is three o'clock post meridian) than never published at all. A second layer of meaning occurs to me, that even for those of us who believe the Solemnity of the Ascension ought be celebrated on the preceding Thursday, it is better to celebrate it late—or at least later, on the following Sunday—than never to celebrate the Ascension at all. I will continue to pray for the metropolitan & the ordinaries (the bishops throughout the Ecclesiastical Province of Detroit) to be convicted by the Spirit of Truth to move the observance of the Ascension back to the traditional Thursday—& to celebrate the sadly neglected Seventh Sunday of Easter on the following Sunday, the Sunday prior to Pentecost—but in the meanwhile Ascension Sunday is better late than never.
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