Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:
This commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (i.e., universally celebrated) feasts of Christian churches. Ascension day is traditionally celebrated on a Thursday, the fortieth day of Easter (following the accounts given in Mark, 16:19; Luke, 24:51; & Acts, 1:2).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 & nine;
The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter one, verses seventeen thru twenty-three;
or, the Letter to the Hebrews, chapter nine, verses twenty-four thru twenty-eight & chapter ten, verses nineteen thru twenty-three;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter twenty-four, verses forty-six thru fifty-three.
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.on earth as it is in heaven."
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
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.Reflection by Father Joseph Mary Wolfe, M.F.V.A. (Eternal Word Television Network):
In both versions of the Ascension that we read today, Jesus continues to instruct and encourage His disciples until He is taken from their sight. A sentence leaps out at me from today’s Gospel, spoken just before Jesus ascends:Novena (meaning nine days of prayer) and is still the only Novena officially prescribed by the Church.
“And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49
Jesus is telling the apostles to wait in faith for the Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in His name. The phrase “clothed with power from on high” is interesting. It suggests that the apostles will be wrapped in the power of the Holy Spirit – that this power from Heaven will be as close to them as the clothes they wear.
The apostles obey by returning to the Upper Room and continuing in prayer for nine days. This was the first
Video reflection by Father Claude Burns (uCatholic): Weekend Reflection with Father Pontifex.
Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.
In much of the world, wherein the Solemnity of 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 seven, verses fifty-five thru sixty;
Psalm Ninety-seven, verses one & two, six & seven, & nine;
The Book of Revelation, chapter twenty-two, verses twelve, thirteen, fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, & twenty;
The Gospel according to John, chapter seventeen, verses twenty thru twenty-six.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus prays for our unity with him and for us to be immersed in God’s love. "I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
We are not simply supplicants or penitents, calling to God from without; we are sons and daughters, friends, calling to him from within. The Paschal Mystery is intelligible only in the light of the doctrine of the Trinity. God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, even to the limits of godforsakenness, even into sin and death, into the darkest corners of human experience, in order to find us.
But this acrobatic act of love is possible only if there is in the very being of God a sender and one that he can send, only if there is a Father and a Son. The language Jesus uses—"that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me"—shows us that the Father and the Son are united in love, and this love is itself the divine life. Thus there is a Spirit, coequal to the Father and the Son.
Mass Journal: Week 27
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:
God calls each of us to live an authentic life. He has designed this life to perfectly integrate our legitimate needs, our deepest desires, & our unique talents. The more intimately & harmoniously these three are related, the more you become truly yourself.†
Otherwise, 2 June would be the festival of Saint Erasmus of Formia, Bishop & Martyr (died circa 303, A.K.A. Elmo), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Diocetian & Maximian, a victim of the Great Persecution; one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers; & the namesake of Saint Elmo's Fire: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Persecution; Holy Helpers-link & Wikipedia-link Holy Helpers; & Wikipedia-link Saint Elmo's Fire.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Twould also be the festival of Saints Marcellinus, Priest, & Peter, Exorcist, Martyrs (died circa 304), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Diocetian & Maximian, victims of the Great Persecution: Martyrs-link, Martyr-link Mike, Martyr-link Papa, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Persecution.
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Eugene I, Pope (died 657), seventy-fifth (LXXV) Bishop of Rome, who opposed the Monothelite heresy: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Pontiff-link & Wikipedia-link Pontiff; & Wikipedia-link Heresy.
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Bodfan, Religious (floruit seventh century; A.K.A. Bobouan, Boduan): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Brother of Ss. Brothen [?], Celynin [?], & Rhychwyn [?].
'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Joseph Thąo Tiěn, Priest, & Companions, Martyrs (died 1954-1970), martyred by the Pathet Lao Communists, fifteen of the seventeen Martyrs of Laos: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Laos.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"Christians today, like Christians during the first centuries, must have courage & faith in God. They must distinguish themselves from the world about them. They do this not to condemn the world but to penetrate it with the light & truth of the Gospel."Little Flower Quote o' the Day
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)
"O Divine Pilot! Whose hand guides me, I’m soon to see You on the eternal shore. Guide my little boat over the stormy waves in peace, just for today."Saint Quote o' the Day
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)
"A job of any kind can be lifted up & given Divine purpose, if it is seen in the perspective of eternity."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
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