Ascension of the Lord

May 17, 2026

Jesus is always with us, helping us spread the good news of the kingdom.

Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

REFLECTIONS ON THE GOSPEL

Note that the story we most associate with the Ascension is not in any of the Gospels, but is in the Acts of the Apostles

Acts of the Apostles 1:6-11 — When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going *  to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

The endings of the three synoptic Gospels in the order in which they were written

Mark 16:15-20 — He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents [with their hands], and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

Matthew 26:16-20 — The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Luke 24:46-53 — He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

NB: The Gospel of John ends with the little breakfast barbecue by the lake after a little night fishing. It does not reference the Ascension at all and may have been appended later.

John 21 — After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” [Jesus] said to him, “Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.” Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me.” So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus had not told him that he would not die, just “What if I want him to remain until I come? [What concern is it of yours?]” It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.

First Impressions Vol. 2: The Ascension of the Lord May 18 2023

Acts 1:1-11; Responsorial Psalm 47: Ephesians 1:17-23; Gospel Acclamation Matthew 28: 19a, 20b; Matthew 28:16-20

“Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you.” When I was growing up, there was a very great leader of the Catholic church in my country who seemed for me, as a small boy, to embody the entire personality of the Church. I won’t tell you his name but he was the then Cardinal Archbishop. In every way, he was a big man - 68 when I knew him. 6 foot 4 inches tall, broad and strong. But the biggest thing about him was an enormous booming voice which filled every room he ever entered. And with this enormous voice, he pronounced absolute certainty on any issue you cared to mention. He knew exactly the right way forward for the Church, for the Country, for Society at large and indeed for anyone else he happened to be talking to at the time. To put it mildly, he did not immediately give the impression of a man who was much troubled by self-doubt. So, I was rather surprised when, a long time after his death, I came across his autobiography in which he said that there was once a time when he was not happy as a priest. He had come from a very wealthy background and he was sent to serve in a very poor parish. There he struggled as he discovered that he was in fact a little too accustomed to the comfortable things in life and a little too used to the company of his own upper class. To put it more simply, he saw in himself a soft-living snob and he didn’t like himself very much.But one day he was sent to see a little old lady who had severe rheumatoid arthritis and was dying of cancer. She lived with her daughter in circumstances of great poverty. This was in the days before the NHS and adult social services. When he arrived, he found the place so smelly and dirty that he could not even bring himself to sit down. He said that even today the clearest memory was of the terrible smell of her leg ulcers that he couldn’t get rid of for months. But there he met a truly holy woman. She was 92, had been bedridden for four years, was dying in obvious pain and distress and in fact she died that very night. He did not remember a word of what passed between them. All he remembered was that every motion, every gesture, every word that she uttered was filled with grace and serenity. He realised that he was in the presence of a Saint – someone who was close to God in every way. And the only actual words he remembered from that encounter were not hers, but his own. As he left her room, he made himself a promise — that he would not give up on what he believed to be his vocation unless and until he could honestly say that he had suffered more for Christ than she had. He has remembered that brief encounter throughout his life because it is a memory of how God can use us, wherever we are in life, to bring His love and healing into the lives of one another. There is never a moment in the life of any true Catholic Christian when she or he is not obeying this final command of the Lord – to be a missionary of the Faith. That does not mean shouting what we believe at other people. Nor does it mean knocking on their doors uninvited and trying to force our beliefs upon them. It is those things that get Christian missionaries a bad name. What it means is showing in our lives what Christ has done for us. And offering to everyone who comes to us the peace and love of Christ, not just in our words, but in every gesture and every action. And let us hear for ourselves Jesus’ last words on earth: “Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you.” — Paul O’Reilly SJ

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It is common that laity think of themselves as delegating their worship to the presider at Mass or to Monks and Nuns in cloistered communities or to preachers and religious women. This is how the culture of the church after Trent devolved into two sections – those who were close to God and the rest who were spectators in the works of those clergy and religious and hierarchy. This certainly was not caused by Trent as it was a fantastic Ecumenical Council as is evident to anyone who studies the acts of that Council. Along came the Enlightenment (many church leaders renamed it “Modernism”) which was the advent of constantly growing science. Those sciences included, to the horror of many pious persons, the human sciences. The scriptures so often understood literally, began to be studied in their historical context, with an understanding of the culture and meaning of words in the time of the and life experience of those who put down these Revelations from God. That included a changed understanding of history as the constant expansion in scope and understanding of the truths in Scripture. St. Vincent of Lerins in the fifth century of Christianity spoke about the truth of faith being an incomprehensible treasure, something that searchers of the depths of reality, of God, and of self could mine and come to greater understanding. Vatican II applies that understanding to the truths of faith. It’s called Development of Doctrine and helps us understand God, Reality, and Self, all living in a vital and expansive manner. 1878 St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, one of several gifted scholars of the Oxford Movement in England, wrote an essay: An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. In the Ecclesial reaction to the Enlightenment, against Modernism that essay appeared to deny the truth of Revelation. In a search for an authoritative agent to decide truth and fabrications, Pius IX called the first Vatican Council. That Council was never officially closed because of the outbreak of war that disassembled that council so that bishops could be near and with their flocks. John XXIII officially closed that Council when he called the Second Vatican Council. The highlight of Vatican I was the decree on the authority of the Pope to speak infallibly. When the Pope declared a truth, a doctrine, a moral decision in his official capacity as Pope, successor of Peter, that was truth. In the two pronouncements that claim infallibility – the Assumption of Mary and Her Immaculate Conception, the decrees each begin with a statement about the source of this in the living faith of the people of God. That faith is confirmed by the Bishops and declared by the Pope. That decree of infallibility appeared to the non-Catholic world as overruling the burgeoning results of science – especially the human sciences of sociology, of psychology and psychiatry, of medical advances, of science applied to the difficulties of human existence, physical, mental, and psyche. Infallibility was thought erroneously as divine intervention alleviating humanity of its responsibility. That responsibility, over thousands of years under the urging of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, came to understand that humanity was given responsibility for the FLOURISHING of all creation – including humanity’s. That’s the unfortunate translation of the word “dominion” in the narrative of Genesis. Dominion to the ancient meant the role of leadership to make certain the people of society had what they needed to flourish. That’s more akin to the role of a shepherd caring for his/her flock. There’s that word again: FLOURISH. That’s exactly what it means. The human sciences include politics and are mandated for the common good of Creation for each representative. Putting morality and politics in the same sentence may seem a stretch. But there it is. In addition to a renewed study of history being more than dates and events, scholars began studying the waves of history, or as Matthew in his gospel would state it, the ages. According to Matthew we are in the consummation age when all will be completed. That age begins with the Ascension of Jesus into his rightful, and powerful place as the Person (Divine and Human) who changed the relationship of creation – not merely humanity – to its Creator. Before anyone gets nervous about a cataclysmic terror, recall that from the theory of the Big Bang, millions of years have transpired – even before life in its simplest form arrived on our Common Home. Our sun is scheduled to burn out in about 14 million years according to those who study such things. In my youth, the hue and cry that arose from the Scopes Trial about evolution was a great concern. Besides that, the Son of God said it was not in his purvey to know when that was to happen: only the Father and the Father isn’t telling us. What theologians and others holding to literalism in the Hebrew Scriptures overlook is that God doesn’t have to fit into our categories. If we think we can box up God and put God in a golden receptacle so we can approach, beg, confess when it’s our convenience – how silly is that?The point is that humanity continues to understand more and more about Creation, about Revelation, about persons. Fundamental to persons is relationship. I find it important for my Love of God - which I insist I learned how to do in my marriage to Carol – to be like a child who is excited about things that come in their experiences. They are excited as if by the cultural trappings of Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, and all the other civil and religious holidays. That’s what they are for; to help us celebrate the great events of humanity. And in the remembering and celebration, we live them over again, drawing once again from the vitality and understandings of those event. What’s this to do with Ascension? There is a word in the reading to be understood. That word is worship. The eleven (twelve minus Judas) worshipped Jesus when they saw him on the Mountain in Galilee – the region in which Jesus began his public ministry. They worshipped Jesus. Did this mean they fell to the ground? Did they become mute and unable to speak? Who knows except Jesus and the eleven. Worship – what does it mean? It is derived from an Old English word that is an attitude, a perception of a person, place, or event. It’s recognition of worth, a recognition of value, especially a value, a reality well beyond the person worshipping. It is an acknowledgement of God, lifting the mind and thus the heart of awe. Oh, my goodness. AWE! That is the word used to describe the movement of the heart and mind of a person when recognizing the presence of the Transcendent Being – what we understand to be the Trinity of Three Equal Persons that is God united. That awe in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures is named “fear of the Lord.” It’s not being afraid – it’s being overwhelmed with magnificence, with beauty, with the power to accomplish any and everything. This Ascension is Jesus passing the baton to the eleven. We think of it as a triumphant entrance of Jesus, returning Him to the Father. This Ascension instead, let us think about Jesus handing off his responsibility, his extension of salvation to the world. Actually, let’s personalize this – Jesus is handing off his ministry and service for Creation to each of us. We are afforded the freedom to choose how we do that. The foundation of that service is the Love Jesus demonstrated. We baptize as laity, not with water and ritual. We baptize the world in which we live and are socially connected by our example, by our encouraging others, by our lifting up those who are struggling. The ending of Mass is an imperative to us – “Go, you are sent.” —Dennis Keller

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I have a picture on my wall, a gift from a rabbi. It shows her blessing an unfurled scroll of the Torah. The scroll was old and tattered, so the community removed it from the tabernacle and from its beautiful cloth covering. They had it restored, but before putting it back into the tabernacle, they blessed and rededicated it. This is how they did it. With the congregation assembled in the synagogue they unrolled the scroll and encircled the community with it -- some members of the community, wearing white gloves, held the scroll, all the rest were inside the circle made by the unfurled scroll. The rabbi, dressed in liturgical robes and on the inside of the circle with the community, is shown in the process of rededicating the scroll before putting it back in the tabernacle. A member of the congregation said, “We couldn’t just put it away, after all it’s not an antique, a dead book. It’s the living Word of God.” The community was also rededicated along with the scroll. Another symbol, or sign of the Jewish community’s dedication to God’s Word, is also evident, closer to home -- in fact, at the entrance to Jewish homes. It is the mezuzah, a cylinder that is placed on the doorpost of a home. It contains a scriptural quote. For example, the one Jesus quotes in part today,  “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore you shall love the Lord, our God, with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength” (Dt.6:4).  Where I grew up I used to see my Jewish neighbors kiss their fingers and then touch the mezuzah on entering and leaving their homes. Such is the devotion to God’s Word by our Jewish sisters and brothers: to encircle a community of worshipers with the written word; to kiss it as they come and go each day from their homes. Of course the mazuzah is not a good luck charm, nor kissing it mere superstition, but an expression of their desire to live a life guided by and strengthened by God’s Word, as part of a community, in their homes and beyond. When asked about the greatest commandment Jesus quoted the central commandment of Jewish faith, the one posted on the door frames. Then he takes another teaching, one among many more in the Old Testament, and places it alongside the first. Total love of God is the first commandment and joined to it, love of neighbor as yourself. If a pagan were to ask a Jew, “Where is your image of God?” They would respond, “In God’s image we were made.”  I.e. “The image of our God is to be found in each human being.” That’s what Jesus is implying in today’s gospel. How can we mere humans pay proper homage to an invisible God in our world, in our daily life? Jesus shows us how. He takes the command about loving God with all of ourselves and puts with it the love of neighbor. As Scripture suggests elsewhere: if you want to love the God you can not see, love the human you can see. Each of us is a dwelling place of God, “In God’s image we were made.” As I write this Israel is about to invade Gaza. Thousands have died on both sides, and thousands more will die from violence, hunger, destroyed hospitals, missals, etc.  Do both sides see what both believe, “In God’s image we are made.” I shed tears watching the nightly news of the war. I have no easy answers, none are possible. From this distance I can pray and send messages to my government representatives — “Don’t forget the civilians caught in the middle. Don’t forget to work for peace!” For a narrative preaching the preacher might pick a favorite saint, or one relevant to the local community and show how they were characterized by an intense love of God and neighbor. For example, one of our great Dominican Saints was Rose of Lima. She was born in Lima Peru in 1586 and her name was Isabel. But they called her Rose because of her extraordinary beauty. She was besieged by suitors. The parents hoped for a “good marriage;” a good financial arrangement, because they needed the money. Rose longed for the day when she could live for God alone. Her model was Catherine of Siena (another great woman Dominican). Catherine spent three years in her parent’s home under a staircase in constant prayer. Rose imitated Catherine, moved into a little hut in the garden and devoted herself to constant prayer. Remember, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart with all your soul, and with all your mind.” But like Catherine, Christ urged Rose out and she practiced works of mercy for the poor, the indigenous and slaves. In addition, she wasn’t just concerned about personal sin, but social sin; the Spanish had conquered and oppressed the natives. Rose had wanted to love God with all her heart, with all her soul with all her mind and she did that by devoting her heart, soul and mind to loving her neighbor. Just like us gathered in worship,  Rose was encircled by the Word of God and it was as if she kissed that Word and was guided by it in her going to and coming from serving others. These two women show us what God’s grace can accomplish within us; that we mere humans are capable, with God — of loving God with all our heart, soul and mind -- and our neighbor as our self. The first reading from Exodus shows that God has always been especially concerned about the neediest in society. Today’s selection comes from a section in Exodus called the “Book of the Covenant,” which is a teaching of social ethics based, not on laws, but on compassion. For those in most need, laws that prohibit certain acts are not enough to protect them. Because the Israelites experienced God’s compassion when they were slaves in Egypt and as they traveled through the desert they, in turn, were to be compassionate to those in similar need. Their laws were to reflect the compassion they received. For example, they were to remember that they were once aliens in Egypt, so they were not to wrong the alien, or stranger in their own land. What does that say to our current refugee crisis here at our borders and those bused to our cities? The media coverage of our own border situation these days has made us aware of the dire circumstances of those who have had to leave their homes because of poverty and violence to find refuge in our country. Strangers and immigrants in a strange land are vulnerable to abuse and being taken advantage of.  They have left the support of their families, culture and familiar surroundings in an attempt to flee their homeland and find protection. In many ways they are like the Israelites in Egypt, strangers in a foreign land and totally dependent on the hospitality of its native people — us.

Justice Bulletin Board by Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director, Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral Raleigh, NC

You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. —Exodus 22:20

I had an argument awhile back with my cousin who was upset by the children at our border. He thought we should send them back. I had to remind him that our own grandmother came to this country as an unaccompanied teenager at the turn of the last century. She worked as a maid in the household that took her in. I am so grateful that she had the courage to make the trip and that this country didn’t turn her away. She and my grandfather raised four children and their two sons, my uncles, both served our country in World War II. My grandmother’s parents sent her to America to escape death by tuberculosis that was sweeping Poland. The families at our borders today are facing death by drug gangs and the hopelessness of extreme poverty. It takes so much courage to do what they are doing, to leave loved ones, to cross unknown paths. And isn’t courage, a value that our country reveres? We have a broken immigration system that is long overdue for a legislative overhaul. Meanwhile, many migrants and/or refugees suffer and are dehumanized. Towns at the border of our country are struggling to respond. As Catholics, we believe that everyone is made in the image of God and deserving of respect. This is a complicated problem in need of well-thought-out solutions. Cardinal Blase Cupich recently commemorated the 40th anniversary of his predecessor Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s “consistent ethic of life” speech at the site of that 1983 address, Fordham University. During the speech, Cupich proposed an “integral ethic of solidarity.” Cupich said, “that [this] ethic grounds our respect for life both interpersonally and within the human family. Solidarity points to the interconnectedness of all human beings, to the unity that they should strive for, and the responsibility for the common good that we all share. Solidarity is a moral virtue. It is a disposition of gratitude to God for the gifts he bestows upon us, and of service to those who suffer” (ncronline.org 9/27/2023). We need more standing together as fellow human beings these  days. Perhaps, solidarity could become a basis of all discussions around this issue of immigration.

Faith Book

Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run.  “Faith Book” is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.

From today’s Gospel reading: Jesus said... “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Reflection: The way we know that we are living Jesus’ commandment of total dedication to God, who is unseen, is to make that love visible by loving our neighbor as self. Jesus’ life shows us whom he considered his neighbor. Besides his disciples and friends, neighbor for Jesus included the least likely, the overlooked, the vulnerable and the people who are usually described in stereotypes.

So we ask ourselves: Is God at my center, the inspiration and impetus behind my thoughts, feelings and actions? Who is the surprising neighbor Jesus is calling me to love?

PREPARATION FOR THE SESSION

Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025

Presense of God: Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence. Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you. (1-2 minutes of silence)

Freedom: Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love. (1-2 minutes of silence)

Consciousness: Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life. (2-3 minutes of silence)

OPENING PRAYER

I pray for hope, Lord. Hope for those who are lost, afraid, homeless , lonely and tired, many of whom are invisible to me. Hope for my friends, who are dealing with their own issues and challenges, but who often put on a brave face. Hope for my family members, for their happiness and joy. And finally, hope for myself in times of stress or worry. Teach me to be thankful for all the gifts you give me each day, including life on this earth. Help me to show your face to others in all that I do and say.

COMPANIONS FOR THE JOURNEY

Excerpted from, The Story Revealed, by Rev. William Bausch

The disciples of Jesus were surely disappointed at his pending departure. They loved this man. There was nothing they would not do for him. He was their friend, their teacher, their Lord. Now he would be missing from their company. It was a moment of great sadness. But they did realize that Christ was too big for Galilee, too big for Jerusalem, too big even for earth. The physical world could not contain him. He needed to be set free from the confinements of this earthly body so that his spirit might soar and be accessible to all. They were right, and so that Spirit was bequeathed to them. The Ascension is that turning point, that transitional point. Ascension celebrated the passing on of that Spirit to that assembly of disciples who would collectively be known as the mystical body of Christ, the Church. The Spirit was given to ordinary people to witness to Jesus, to do the works of Jesus in this world, to celebrate his memory and invoke his presence in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. The Ascension is, then, if you will, our swearing-in time. You are now Church. You are the priesthood of the faithful. You are Christ in the world. Get busy. You have been empowered to witness to the wonderful works of God. Move! Again, from another of Bill Bausch’s books: As an old Quaker story puts it, by accident a lady happened in on a small Quaker congregation. They were all sitting in silence, as Quakers are wont to do. “When does the service begin?”, she whispered to a man sitting near her. His answer: “when the meeting is over.”

LIVING THE GOOD NEWS

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion? Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions which follow.

Reflection Questions:

Have I ever felt deserted by someone in a moment when I needed him/her the most?
Have I ever felt deserted by God?
What did I do?

What have been some important transitions in my life?
Did I celebrate them?
Did I mourn them?

In this version of the last time with Jesus, the disciples have returned to Galilee. What does that indicate to you about their state of mind?
Is it a reminder that Jesus is to be found on our home ground, in ordinary circumstances?

In this passage, although used for the Feast of the Ascension in this particular liturgical cycle, there is not an actual “ascension scene.”Why is that?

This is also on the mountain where the transfiguration took place. Is there a connection between that event and this scene?
What does that tell you about the risen Jesus?
Do I think of heaven as “up there” in outer space somewhere?

How can Jesus be in Heaven and here with us?

In this passage, some disciples doubted. What are my doubts about God?
What are my doubts about the future?

Do I believe that Jesus was also speaking to me on that last day?
Do I believe that I am disciple?
Do I think that they were better prepared, better educated than I am?

Do I believe God wants me to bring hope and healing into the life of another?

Do I have to be perfect to be a witness to Jesus Christ?
Am I afraid to leave my comfort zone?

What is the role of prayer in discerning my commission from Jesus?

What do I do to make the presence of Jesus real to others?
Do I ever teach others about God, Jesus, the Church?

How am I called to preach with my life?

Do I believe Jesus when he says: “And behold, I am with you always.”?
Do I really believe Jesus is with me always?

CLOSING PRAYER

Don’t forget to provide some prayer time at the beginning and at the end of the session (or both), allowing time to offer prayers for anyone you wish to pray for.

Adapted from J. Janda; Julian: A Play based on the life of Julian of Norwich
Life is a precious thing to me
and a little thing
My life is a little thing
When it will end here is Your secret.
And the world is a little thing
In your hand
But it is in Your ever-keeping, It is in Your ever-loving, it is in Your ever-making
How can anything be amiss?
Help me to trust that:
Yes, all shall be well
And all will be well,
And all manner of thing shall be well…

FOR THE WEEK AHEAD

Weekly Memorization: (Taken from the gospel for today’s session) And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.

Meditations:

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions: (This commentary is from Rev Jude Siciliano, O.P.; the questions are mine.) Read today’s first reading--Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11. Thomas Troeger, the famous Presbyterian preacher, in a sermon preached on Ascension Day, recalls the frustration of the disciples and the early church in their waiting and longing for the fulfillment of the reign of God. He says we too know that frustration. After having given our lives over to Jesus Christ, we experience not triumph, but a mixture of triumph and defeat. Has anything really changed? What difference does our faith make? “When will things come together in some whole and enduring pattern?” he wonders. We are wearied by our waiting. With Yeats we voice our longing, “Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand.” It’s a lament, a prayer of need and dependence. We need help that we cannot provide for ourselves. Troeger invites us to hear again what the early church heard in its anguish and yearning, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by [God’s] own authority.” How difficult it is for us to hear these words surrounded, as we are, by the kind of events we see and hear on the evening news–pictures and sounds of refugees from war and civil strife, and the scenes of poverty that persist in our prosperous nation. What we have, Troeger reminds us, is the belief that Christ reigns and will send the Holy Spirit to help us live as we must. We cannot force the hand of this Spirit, it is a gift constantly coming upon us. And one that still requires waiting. What am I waiting for? How hard is it to wait? “Wait for the promise of the Lord.” What does that mean for me? If I have not “waited” in the past, but acted too soon, what was the outcome? If I waited too long, what was the outcome? How hard is it to know when the time is right to act?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship: (From Julian of Norwich) For our soul is so wholly united to God, through His own goodness, that between God and our soul nothing can interpose. (Showings, p 259) And so I understood that any man or woman who voluntarily chooses God in their lifetime for love, they may be sure that they are endlessly loved, with an endless love that makes His grace in them. For He wants us to pay true heed to this, that we are as certain in our hope to have the bliss of heaven whilst we are here as we shall be certain of it when we are there. (Showings, p 308) In what areas of your life do you experience hope? Make a list of all the things you are currently hopeful about, and then a list of those things you want to be hopeful about. Then compose your own litany, interposing “Jesus you are our lasting hope” after each item. Pray this litany each day this week.

Meditation in the IgnatianStyle/Imagination: Read the account of Mathew again. Imagine that you are one of the disciples trying to make sense of all that has happened to Jesus. Think of his death, his appearances after death and all that has happened in the last month or so. Then imagine yourself there on that mountain in Galilee. What do you see and hear? What is your reaction to seeing Jesus again on the mountain top? Why would Matthew say that the disciples “worshiped and doubted.” Do we do the same? Why? What is your reaction to the words of Jesus telling you: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age?” Have there been times in your life when you have been comforted by the presence of Jesus during difficult times? Close your eyes and thank God for the gift of Jesus’ love and presence in your life.

A Meditation in the Dominican style/Asking Questions: Review the various scripture references to the Ascension event, which are on a separate sheet. Notice that the three synoptic gospel versions close each book, and the Acts version opens the book. (Note, the Gospel of John make no reference to the Ascension event at all) What does that tell you? Which version leaves you still looking for either comfort or more information? Which version speaks to you the most? Read that passage every day this week.

POETIC REFLECTIONS

This frightening poem was written by William Butler Yeats shortly after the First World War, when the world seemed to him to be in chaos and despair. In our present dystopian culture, with its chaos and fear, does the agony of this poem resonate? How is the grim prediction of this poem offset by the poem ASCENSION (by Colleen Hitchcock) which follows?

Excerpted from “The Second Coming”
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Ascension
And if I go,
while you’re still here...
Know that I live on,
vibrating to a different measure
—behind a thin veil you cannot see through.
You will not see me,
so you must have faith.
I wait for the time when we can soar together again,
—both aware of each other.
Until then, live your life to its fullest.
And when you need me,
Just whisper my name in your heart,
...I will be there.

—Colleen Hitchcock