June 1, 2014

The Ascension of the Lord

In the first book, Theophilus,
I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught
until the day he was taken up,
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit
to the apostles whom he had chosen.
He presented himself alive to them
by many proofs after he had suffered,
appearing to them during forty days
and speaking about the kingdom of God.
While meeting with the them,
he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem,
but to wait for “the promise of the Father
about which you have heard me speak;
for John baptized with water,
but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

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.”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9

R/ (6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R/ Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
R/ God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R/ Alleluia.
God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
R/ God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R/ Alleluia.
For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.
R/ God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R/ Alleluia.

reading 2 Eph 1:17-23

Brothers and sisters:
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.
May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
for us who believe,
in accord with the exercise of his great might,
which he worked in Christ,
raising him from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,
far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,
and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And he put all things beneath his feet
and gave him as head over all things to the church,
which is his body,
the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

Gospel Mt 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.”

Zenit.org

Sunday Homily: I Have Manifested Your Name

Seventh Sunday of Easter

Rome, May 30, 2014 (Zenit.org) Fr. Jason Mitchell LC | 443 hits

Acts 1:12-14

Psalm 27:1, 4, 7-8
1 Peter 4:13-16
John 17:1-11a

On the night of the Last Supper Jesus concludes his farewell discourse with a prayer, saying that "the hour has come". John mentions Jesus' "hour" throughout his Gospel. Jesus told Mary at the Wedding of Cana that his "hour" had not yet come (2:4). He told the Samaritan woman that the hour will come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth (4:23). After curing the paralyzed man on the Sabbath, Jesus tells the people that the hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live and rise to life (5:25-29). Jesus could not be arrested at the Feast of Tabernacles, because his hour had not yet come (7:30; 8:20).

Only after his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday does Jesus say: "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified" (12:23). The path that leads to glory passes through the way of the Cross. And Jesus does not ask the Father to save him from this hour, from his redemptive passion and death. His hour is why he, the Word of God, became flesh and dwelt among men (12:27). Jesus knew that at the feast of Passover, his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father (13:1). On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus lifts his eyes to the Father in heaven at says: "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him" (17:1).

Jesus comes to give eternal life, real life, to us. He received the mission from the Father to communicate divine life to us. Pope Benedict writes that we obtain eternal life through the "recognition", granted to us by faith, that creates communion with the one recognized. God is accessible to us through the one he sent, Jesus Christ: "It is in the encounter with him that we experience the recognition of God that leads to communion and thus to 'life'" (Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, vol. II, 84). Jesus glorifies the Father by giving the gift of eternal life, the gift that begets new children who will honor God as Father (see R. Brown, John XIII-XXI, 751).

Another theme in Jesus' prayer is the manifestation of the Father's name. Here Jesus presents himself as the New Moses, "who brings to completion what began with Moses at the burning bush. God revealed his 'name' to Moses. That 'name' was more than a word. It meant that God allowed himself to be invoked, that he had entered into communion with Israel" (Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, vol. II, 90-91). The knowledge of God's name signified the covenant between God and Moses. In fact, "the renewal of the Sinai covenant took place through the proclamation of the divine name" (V. DeMeo, Covenantal Kinship in John 13-17, 406).

The name of God meant his presence among men. The Temple in Jerusalem was the place that God made his name dwell. The covenant with David promises that one of his descendants will build a house for God's name (2 Samuel 7:13). Later, the prophets foretold the day when God's people will call upon the name of God and when God will give his Servant as a covenant to the people so that his name will be manifested (Isaiah 42:8). "The prophet Jeremiah foretells that in the definitive exodus (23:8) and restoration of the Davidic kingdom (23:5), which will include the gathering together of the twelve tribes of Israel (23:6), God's name will be revealed and invoked as 'YHWH is our righteousness'. Such a definitive exodus and disclosure of his righteous name corresponds to the 'new covenant' that the prophet reveals in 31:31-36" (V. DeMeo, Covenantal Kinship in John 13-17, 408). The invocation of God's name at the Last Supper, then, signifies the ratification or sealing of the New Covenant.

When Jesus says that he has manifested the Father's name and will manifest it further, he is revealing "a new mode of God's presence among men, a radically new way in which God makes his home with them. In Jesus, God gives himself entirely into the world of mankind: whoever sees Jesus sees the Father" (Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, vol. II, 91-92). Through our knowledge of the Father's name (John 17:6) and through asking things in Jesus' name (John 14:13), the Father and the Son are present to us.

The manifestation of the name of God seeks to transform the whole of creation, so that it may become in a completely new way God's true dwelling place in union with Christ. "In Christ, God continually approaches men, so that they in turn can approach him. To make Christ known is to make God known. Through our encounter with Christ, God approaches us, draws us into himself (cf. Jn 12:32), in order, as it were, to lead us out beyond ourselves into the infinite breadth of his greatness and his love" (Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, vol. II, 92-93).

Jesus' disciples, whom we encounter in the first reading, were those whom the Father has given to Jesus - they are the ones who have received life from our Savior. We have to die in order to receive life (John 12:24). This is why Saint Peter tells us that those who suffer as Christians should not be ashamed but glorify God because of the name of Christ. We are to rejoice to the extent we share in Christ's sufferings so that when his glory is revealed we may rejoice exultantly. The eleven Apostles will suffer for Christ, knowing that their suffering in this life is brief and that the glory of heaven is eternal. They are listed by name in the first reading, indicating that God knows each one of them. And, through Jesus Christ, each of them knows the name of the Father. Through this mutual knowledge, a New Covenant has been established that is unbreakable. It is a covenant which introduces us into God's family and urges us on to make God's name known to the ends of the earth.

Arlington Catholic Herald

GOSPEL COMMENTARY MT 28: 16-20

Going and staying

Fr. Paul Scalia

“Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). It seems a strange thing for a man to say right before leaving. It is as if you said to your dinner hosts, “I must be going now, and I will stay for dessert.” Or a simple “Hello” as you walked out the door. This privilege to leave and to remain all at once belongs to God alone. He does not remain with us as He did before. He really did leave us and ascend into heaven. And yet He promised to remain — a promise so strong that He speaks it in the present: I am with you always, until the end of the age. So, how does He remain?

Sometimes we speak of people remaining with us even after they have left this world. “He lives in our memories,” we might say. Or maybe we regard a person as still present by way of what he taught or accomplished. In some circles people have a more mystical view, thinking the deceased still somehow are spiritually present. None of these captures exactly what Our Lord meant by being with us always. In fact, they emphasize the difference of His presence from all others. He is with us not merely by memory or teaching or in some fuzzy mystical way. He is present, rather, by His Spirit and through the church’s teachings and sacraments.

With regard to the Spirit, Our Lord’s parting words point to the essential connection between the Ascension and Pentecost, between His departure and sending of the Holy Spirit. He ascends in order to send the Holy Spirit. "I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (Jn 16:7). It is by the gift of the Holy Spirit — His Spirit — that He remains with us.

This same Spirit makes Jesus present in and through His church. At the Annunciation, the Holy Spirit overshadowed the Virgin Mary and she conceived Him within her womb. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit again descends, this time upon the disciples, to form Jesus’ corporate Body, the church. This helps us to deepen our understanding of the church, which is not merely a gathering of His followers to remember Him and reminisce about old times. She is not just an organization for the mere continuation of His teachings. She is His Body, His continuing presence throughout the world and throughout history. Everything that He thought, said, and did in His human nature two thousand years ago He continues to do now by way of His ecclesial body.

Notice that before ascending, He charges His disciples with two tasks: to teach (“make disciples … teaching them”) and to sanctify (“baptizing them”). Or, put differently, the church is to make Him present by way of her teaching and the sacraments. This is a unique mission.

In other regards, we might continue the teachings of the deceased, and in that way maintain some kind of moral union with them. But the Holy Spirit gives to the church alone the power not merely to convey Jesus' teachings but to teach in His name, with His authority, indeed as Christ Himself. The church does not merely communicate Jesus' teaching. Christ Himself teaches through her.

Likewise with the sacraments. In other instances we may preserve the memory of the deceased by rituals, holidays, and other observances. The church's memorial of her Founder, however, is not a mere reminiscence of Him. It is the actual making present of Him — of His life, death and resurrection. This is the reality of the sacraments, and most of all the Mass. They are not mere rituals or reminiscences, as we have in the secular world. They make Him and His grace present. By way of them, the Spirit accomplishes in the church what human memory can only attempt: the real presence of the One remembered.

"I am with you always," He says as He leaves. And by the gift of the Spirit, He brings this promise to fulfillment, continuing His presence through the church's teachings and sacraments.

Fr. Scalia is Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde’s delegate for clergy.

The Work of God

Year A - The Ascension of the Lord

All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me

Matthew 28:16-20

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 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,
20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (NRSV)

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus

After the glory of the resurrection, I stayed for a while on earth to strengthen the faith of my apostles so that they could begin the work of my Church.

My departure was a solemn moment for me and for those who were present, I was anxious to enter into my eternal glory in my heavenly throne, at the same time I was sad to leave my mother behind and my new daughter, the Church.

For the last time, I confirmed my authority to the apostles, so that they could understand that they had received my power to continue the work of salvation that the Father had sent me to do.

I am immortal, I am omnipotent. My ascension into heaven was done in order for me to return to my heavenly throne after my work of redemption, to reign forever as the Lamb of God, the Christ who died for the forgiveness of sins.

As the head of the Church, and with my omnipotent power I delegated my authority to Peter as I made him the visible head of my mystical body on earth. I commanded him to feed my lambs as a proof of his love for me. He continues my work through my Vicar, the Pope of the Catholic Church.

I am the life of my Church, and my blood is poured out continuously in the Holy Mass in an un-bloody manner so that my faithful may have life from me, through the merits of my sufferings and death.

By my command you are to eat of my flesh and to drink of my blood if you desire to live eternally. By my resurrection I have proved that I am the resurrection and the life, I have the power to let you live forever. By my ascension I have given you a reason to hope to be assumed into heaven after the last day.

Everyone who believes and is baptized will have a secure place in my eternal kingdom. Obey my commandments of love and have great hope in the things that I have promised.

Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary

Archdiocese of Washington

Love Lifted Me – A Homily for Ascension

By: Msgr. Charles Pope

In more dioceses than not, the Feast of the Ascension is celebrated this weekend. The liturgist in me regrets the move, but here we are any way. So let’s ascend with the Lord, three days late!

This marvelous feast is not merely about something that took place two thousand years ago. For, though Christ our head has ascended, we the members of his body are ascending with him. Since he was ascended, we too have ascended. In my own life, as a Christian, I am brought higher every year by the Lord who is drawing me up with him. This is not some mere slogan, but something I am actually experiencing. An old song says, I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore. Very deeply stained with sin, sinking to rise no more. But he master of the sea, heard my despairing cry. And from the waters lifted me. Now safe am I. Love Lifted me, When nothing else could help. Love lifted me!

Yes, the feast of the Lord’s Ascension is our feast too, if we are faithful. Let’s look at it from three perspectives.

I. The Fact of the Ascension. – The readings today describe a wondrous event that the Apostles witnessed. The Lord, by his own power is taken to heaven. In so doing he opens a path for us too. The gates of paradise swing open again: Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in! (Psalm 24:7). In Christ, man returns to God. Consider three things about the Ascension:

A. The Reality - Imagine the glory of this moment. Scripture says, As they were looking on, he was lifted up and cloud took him from their sight….they were looking intently in the sky as he was going (Acts 1:9). So impressive was the sight that the angels had to beckon them to get along to Jerusalem as the Lord had said, Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:11). Yes, it was glorious. Jesus had once said as a summons to faith, What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? (John 6:62). He had also encouraged them saying: Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man (John 1:51) So here is a glorious reality, and a fulfillment of what Jesus had said.

B. The Rescue - In the Ascension, it does not seem that the Lord entered heaven alone. As we have remarked, in his mystical body we also ascend with him. But consider too this remarkable text that affirms that: Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things (Eph 4:8ff). Yes, the Lord had earlier, just after his death, descended to Sheol and awakened the dead and preached the gospel to them (cf 1 Peter 4:6). And now, for those he had justified, came the moment ascend with Jesus as a “host,” as an army of former captives, now set free. Behold the great procession that enters behind Christ through the now opened gates of heaven: Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac Jacob, Rachel, Judith, Deborah, David, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Malachi, John the Baptist….and one day you! Yes this is a great rescue. Adam and his descendants have not simply been restored to some paradisical garden, they have entered heaven.

C. The Rejoicing - Consider how, this once captive train, sings exultantly as they follow Christ upward to heaven. The liturgy today puts before us a likely song they sang: God mounts his throne to shouts of Joy! The Lord amid trumpet blasts. All you peoples clap your hands, shout to God with cries of gladness, for the Lord the most high, the awesome is the great king over all the earth. God reigns over the nations, God sits upon his holy throne (Psalm 47:6-7). I also have it on the best of authority that they were singing an old gospel song: I’m so glad, Jesus lifted me! Yes I also have it on the best of authority that they were even singing an old Motown song: Your love is lifting me higher, than I’ve ever been lifted before!

Yes, Here are some glorious facets of the Ascension.

II. The Fellowship of the Ascension – We have already remarked that, when Christ ascends, we ascend. Why and how? Scripture says, Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it (1 Cor 12:27). It also says, All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. By baptism we were buried together with him so that Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of God the Father, we too might live a new and glorious life. For if we have been united with him by likeness to his death we shall be united with him by likeness to his resurrection (Rom 6:3ff). So, when Christ died we died. When Christ rose, we rose. When He ascends, we ascend.

But you may say, he is in glory, but I am still here, how is it that I am ascended or ascending? Consider a humorous example about our physical bodies. When I get on an elevator and punch the button for the top floor, the crown of my head gets there before the soles of my feet. But the whole body will get there unless some strange loss of integrity or tragic dismemberment takes place. So in an analogous way it is with Jesus’ Jesus mystical body. In Christ our head we are already in glory. Some members of his body have already gotten there. We who come later will get there too, provided we stay a member of the Body. Yes we are already ascended in Christ our head. We are already enthroned in glory with him, if we hold fast and stay a member of his Body. This is the fellowship of the Ascension.

III. The Fruitfulness of the Ascension – Jesus does not return to heaven to abandon us. He is more present to us than we are to ourselves. He is with us always to the end of the age (cf Matt 28:20). But in Ascending, without abandoning us, he goes to procure so very important things. Consider four of them:

A. Holy Ghost power - Jesus teaches very clearly that he is ascending in order to send us the Holy Spirit: Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you (Jn 16:7ff) He also says, These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you (Jn 14:25ff). And yet again, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come (Jn 16:13-14). So the Lord goes, that he might, with the Father, send the Holy Spirit to live within us as in a temple. In this way, and through the Eucharist, he will dwell with us even more intimately than when he walked this earth.

B. Harvest - Jesus says, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me (John 12:32). While the immediate context of this verse is the crucifixion, the wonder of John’s gospel is that is that he often intends double meanings. Clearly Christ’s glorification is his crucifixion, but it also includes his resurrection and ascension. So, from his place in glory, Christ is drawing all people to himself. He is also bestowing grace on us from his Father’s right hand to be his co-workers in the harvest: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). Yes, from his place in glory, Christ is bringing in a great harvest, as he said in Scripture: Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (Jn 4:35-38). Harvest! And it is the Lord’s work from heaven in which we participate.

C. Help - At the Father’s right hand Jesus intercedes for us. Scripture says, Consequently he is able, for all time, to save those who draw near to God through him, since he lives always to make intercession for them (Heb 7:25). The Lord links his ascension to an unleashing of special power: Amen, amen, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son (Jn 14:12).

It is true, we must not understand asking in the name of Jesus as a mere incantation, for to ask in his Name means to ask in accord with his will. And yet, we must come to experience the power of Jesus to draw us up to great and wondrous things in his sight. Despite the mystery of iniquity all about us, we trust that Christ is conquering, even in the puzzling and apparent victories of this world’s rebellion. We read, In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Though, at present we do not see everything subject to him, yet we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor….so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death (Heb 2:8-9; 14-15). Thus, from heaven we have the help of the Lord’s grace which, if we will accept it, is an ever present help unto our salvation.

D. Habitation - Simply put, Jesus indicates that in going to heaven he is preparing a place for us: In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also (Jn 14:2ff) Yes, indeed, He has the blueprints out, and a hard hat on. He is overseeing the construction of a mansion for each of us that we may dwell with him, the Father and the Spirit forever.

Here then are the ways that Christ, by his love is lifting us higher, than we’ve ever been lifted before. Yes, love lifted me, when nothing else could help, Love lifted me.

Sunday Gospel Reflections

7th Sunday in Easter

John 17:1-11

¹ When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee,
² since thou hast given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him.
³ And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
⁴ I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do;
⁵ and now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made.
⁶ "I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them to me, and they have kept thy word.
⁷ Now they know that everything that thou hast given me is from thee;
⁸ for I have given them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from thee; and they have believed that thou didst send me.
⁹ I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine;
¹⁰ all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.
¹¹ And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

Unity in the love of God.

The central theme of Jesus' prayer in these verses is unity - the unity of present and future disciples, modeled on the intimate relationship of the Father and the Son. The union takes root from the love of the Father and Son, a gift to all disciples. Jesus speaks of the Father in one word "love," the Father's love for Jesus and the Father's love for the disciples. Love is the ultimate revelation of the Gospel. The church is meant to be a community of love, the living sign or the sacrament of the mutual love of the Father and Son.

The opening words "when Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven" (v.1) link the message of unity to the rest of the discourse. Similar to the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus lifts up his eyes to heaven, seeking the source of his glory.

Jesus' prayer discloses that the nerve-center of his life is a communion and intimacy with his Father. Here, Jesus is aware of being loved by his Father. From that, prayer can be defined as a relationship, a discovery of central focus in life, a loving for intimacy and for communion with God.

Eternal life can be understood as knowing God and knowing Jesus Christ:

In Greek, eternal means quality. Eternal life is, therefore, nothing other than the life of God.
Old Testament regularly uses "know" to refer to the intimate relationship between husband and wife (Genesis 4:1). It is used here (v.7) to emphasize the oneness between God the Father and Jesus Christ.

"World" is mentioned many times. It is the world of anti-world, the center of disbelief, hatred and unloved, the contrast and contradiction to what Christian living should be.

In Old Testament, "name" is used in a very special way. It does not mean simply the name by which a person is called, tt means the whole character and nature of the person. So, when Jesus says "I have shown forth your name" (v.6), he is saying "I have enable men to see what the mind, the character, the heart of God, or what the real nature of God is."

The frequent recurrence of "Father" in Jesus' prayer recalls the way Jesus taught his disciples how to pray by starting with "Our Father" (Mt 6:9). Jesus' Father is also our Father.

"All that I have is yours, and all that you have is mine" (v.10), the first part of the sentence is natural and easy to understand, for all things belong to God; but the second part is an astonishing claim: Jesus proclaimed his oneness with God.

Jesus had confidence in his disciples when he said "In them I am glorified" (v.10). Have you experienced that Jesus also says that to you? Did you glorify him, do you glorify him and are you glorifying him?
Jesus came to the world from God and he returned to God in glory after his death and resurrection. The Cross is a proof of the victory of goodness over evil, for after the Cross is the resurrection. The Cross is then the gateway to glory. Contemplate the cross in your life, and how it would glorify the name of God?
Jesus glorified the Father by choosing the Cross. The Cross is the proof of Jesus' perfect obedience to the Father. Do you think that now, it is our mission to glorify God by following Jesus' perfect obedience?
Jesus voiced his two concerns: his Father's glorification, and the welfare of his disciples and all believers. The fist concern was well fulfilled. The second one is still in progress. Do you understand that Jesus is always concerned for your well-being?

The Ascension of the Lord

The Ascension of the Lord
Feast Day
Thursday after the sixth Sunday of Easter or on the seventh Sunday of Easter

Christ in Glory
Detail from Disputa dei Sacramento - The Triumph of the Christian Faith
Raphael (ca 1508) Stanza della Segnatura, Apostolic Palace, Vatican

Readings - Hymn

The feast of the Ascension is celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter Sunday*, commemorating the Ascension of Christ into Heaven and His completion of the work of our redemption. The liturgy on this day celebrates the entry of Christ into heaven with our human nature glorified, and the pledge of our glorification with Him. In the past, processions outside the church were held on this day to imitate Christ's leading the Apostles out of the city to the Mount of Olives, and to commemorate the entry of Christ into heaven.

* In some dioceses of the United States, this feast is celebrated on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. See local liturgical calendar.

Readings

This high priest of ours is one who has taken His seat in heaven, on the right hand of that throne where God sits in majesty, monistering now in the sanctuary, in that true tabernacle which the Lord, not man, has set up. After all, it is ther very function of a pirest to offer gift and sacrifice.

Hebrews 8:1b:3a
Feast of the Ascension - Prayers for Midday

Collect at the Vigil Mass:

O God, whose Son today ascended to the heavens
as the Apostles looked on,
grant, we pray, that, in accordance with his promise,
we may be worthy for him to live with us always on earth,
and we with him in heaven.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.

Collect:

Gladden us with holy joys, almighty God,
and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving,
for the Ascension of Christ your Son
is our exaltation,
and, where the Head has gone before in glory,
the Body is called to follow in hope.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that we, who believe that your Only Begotten Son, our Redeemer,
ascended this day dwell already in heavenly realms.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.

First Reading for Mass: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11 Year A,B,C

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. To them He presented Himself alive after His passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And while staying with them He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, "you heard from Me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

So when they had come together, they asked Him, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." And when He had said this, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven."

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:17-23 Year A,B,C

Jesus came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Year B Optional Readings: Eph 4:1-13 or Eph 4:1-7, 11-13
Year C Optional Readings: Heb 9:24-28 - 10:19-23

Year A
Gospel Reading: Matthew 28:16-20
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshipped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority 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 lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."

Year B
Gospel Reading: Mark 16:15-20
Jesus said to His disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."
So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen.

Year C
Gospel Reading: Luke 24:46-53
Jesus said to His disciples, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. 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."

Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. While He blessed them, He parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

(Scripture: RSV-CE Ignatius Bible)

Hymn for the Ascension

Hail the day that sees Him rise

Hail the day that sees Him rise, Alleluia!
Glorious to His native skies: Alleluia!
Christ, awhile to mortals giv'n, Alleluia!
Enters now the highest heav'n! Alleluia

There the glorious triumph waits; Alleluia!
Lift your heads, eternal gates! Alleluia!
Wide unfold the radiant scene; Alleluia!
Take the King of glory in! Alleluia!

See! He lifts His hands above, Alleluia!
See! He shows the prints of love: Alleluia!
Hark! His gracious lips bestow, Alleluia!
Blessings on His Church below. Alleluia!

Lord, beyond our mortal signt, Alleluia!
Raise our hearts to reach Thy height, Alleluia!
There Thy face unclouded see, Alleluia!
Find our heav'n of heav'ns in Thee. Alleluia!

Text: Charles Wesley (1707-88); Melody: Robert Williams (1781-1821)

16. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
17. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
18. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.
19. Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen.

BEDE; When Saint Matthew has vindicated the Lord's resurrection as declared by the Angel, he relates the vision of the Lord which the disciples had, Then the eleven disciples went into Galilee into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. For when coming to His Passion the Lord had said to His disciples, After I am risen I will go before you into Galilee; and the Angel said the same to the women. Therefore the disciples obey the command of their Master. Eleven only go, for one had already perished.

JEROME; After His Resurrection, Jesus is seen and worshipped in the mountain in Galilee; though some doubt, their doubting confirms our faith.

REMIG. This is more fully told by Luke; how when the Lord after the Resurrection appeared to the disciples, in their terror they thought they saw a spirit.

BEDE. The Lord appeared to them in the mountain to signify, that His Body which at His Birth He had taken of the common dust of the human race, He had by His Resurrection exalted above all earthly things; and to teach the faithful that if they desire there to see the height of His Resurrection, they must endeavor here to pass from low pleasures to high desires. And He goes before His disciples into Galilee, because Christ is risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that slept. And they that are Christ's follow Him, and pass in their order from death to life, contemplating Him as He appears with His proper Divinity. And it agrees with this that Galilee is interpreted 'revelation.'

AUG. But it is to be considered, how the Lord could be seen bodily in Galilee. For that it was not the day of the Resurrection is manifest; for He was seen that day in Jerusalem in the beginning of the night, as Luke and John evidently agree. Nor was it in the eight following days, after which John says that the Lord appeared to His disciples, and when Thomas first saw Him, who had not seen Him on the day of the Resurrection. For if within these eight days the eleven had seen Him on a mountain in Galilee, Thomas, who was one of the eleven, could not have seen Him first after the eight days. Unless it be said, that the eleven there spoken of were eleven out of the general body of the disciples, and not the eleven Apostles.

But there is another difficulty. John having related that the Lord was seen not in the mountain, but at the sea of Tiberias, by seven who were fishing, adds, This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was risen from the dead. So that if we understand the Lord to have been seen within those eight days by eleven of the disciples, this manifestation at the sea of Tiberias will be the fourth, and not the third, appearance. Indeed, to understand John's account at all it must be observed, that he computes not each appearance, but each day on which Jesus appeared, though He may have appeared more than once on the same day; as He did three times on the day of His Resurrection. We are then obliged to understand that this appearance to the eleven disciples on the mountain in Galilee took place last of all. In the four Evangelists we find in all ten distinct appearances of Our Lord after His Resurrection.

1. At the sepulcher to the women.
2. To the same women on their way back from the sepulcher.
3. To Peter.
4. To two disciples as they went into the country.
5. To many together in Jerusalem;
6. when Thomas was not with them.
7. At the sea of Tiberias.
8. At the mountain in Galilee, according to Matthew.
9. To the eleven as they sat at meat, because they should not again eat with Him upon earth, related by Mark.
10. On the day of His Ascension, no longer on the earth, but raised aloft in a cloud, as related by both Mark and Luke.

But all is not written, as John confesses, for He had much conversation with them during forty days before His ascension, being seen of them, and speaking to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

REMIG. The disciples then, when they saw Him, knew the Lord; and worshipped Him, bowing their faces to the ground. And He their affectionate and merciful Master, that He might take away all doubtfulness from their hearts, coming to them, strengthened them in their belief; as it follows, And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.

JEROME; Power is given to Him, Who but a little before was crucified, Who was buried, but Who afterwards rose again.

BEDE; This He speaks not from the Deity co-eternal with the Father, but from the Humanity which He took upon Him, according to which He was made a little lower than the Angels.

CHRYSOL The Son of God conveyed to the Son of the Virgin, the God to the Man, the Deity to the Flesh, that which He had ever together with the Father.

JEROME; Power is given in heaven and in earth, that He who before reigned in heaven should now reign on earth by the faith of the believers.

REMIG. What the Psalmist says of the Lord at His rising again, You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands, this the Lord now says of Himself, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. And here it is to be noted, that even before His resurrection the Angels knew that they were subjected to the man Christ.

Christ then desiring that it should be also known to men that all power w as committed to Him in heaven and in earth, sent preachers to make known the word of life to all nations; whence it follows, Go you therefore, and teach all nations.

BEDE; He who before His Passion had said, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, now, when rising from the dead, says, Go and teach all nations. Hereby let the Jews be put to silence, who say that Christ's coming is to be for their salvation only. Let the Donatists also blush, who, desiring to confine Christ to one place, have said that He is in Africa only, and not in other countries.

JEROME; They first then teach all nations, and when taught dip them in water. For it may not be that the body receive the sacrament of Baptism, unless the soul first receive the truth of the Faith. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, that they whose Godhead is one should be conferred at once, to name this Trinity, being to name One God.

CHRYSOL. Thus all nations are created a second time to salvation by that one and the same Power, which created them to being.

JEROME; And though some one there may be of so averse a spirit as to undertake to baptize in such sort as to omit one of these names, therein contradicting Christ. Who ordained this for a law, his baptism will effect nothing; those who are baptized by him will not be at all delivered from their sins. From these words we gather how undivided is the substance of the Trinity, that the Father is verily the Father of the Son, and the Son verily the Son of the Father, and the Holy Spirit the Spirit of both the Father and the Son, and also the Spirit of wisdom and of truth, that is, of the Son of God. This then is the salvation of them that believe, and in this Trinity is wrought the perfect communication of ecclesiastical discipline.

HILARY. For what part of the salvation of men is there that is not contained in this Sacrament? All things are full and perfect, as proceeding from Him who is full and perfect. The nature of His relation is expressed in the title Father; but He e is nothing but Father; for not after the manner of men does He derive from somewhat else that He is Father, being Himself Unbegotten, Eternal, and having the source of His being in Himself, known to none, save the Son. The Son is the Offspring of the Unbegotten, One of the One, True of the True, Living of the Living, Perfect of the Perfect, Strength of Strength, Wisdom of Wisdom, Glory of Glory; the Image of the Unseen God, the Form of the Unbegotten Father. Neither can the Holy Spirit be separated from the confession of the Father and the Son. And this consolation of our longing desires is absent from no place.

He is the pledge of our hope in the effects of His gifts, He is the light of our minds, He shines in our souls. These things as the heretics cannot change, they introduce into them their human explanations. As Sabellius who identifies the Father with the Son, thinking the distinction to be made rather in name than in person, and setting forth one and the same Person as both Father ether and Son. As Ebion, who deriving the beginning of His existence from Mary, makes Him not Man of God, but God of man. As the Arians, who derive the form, the power, and the wisdom of God out of nothing, and in time. What wonder then that men should have diverse opinions about the Holy Spirit, who thus rashly after their own pleasure create and change the Son, by whom that Spirit is bestowed?

JEROME; Observe the order of these injunctions. He bids the Apostles first to teach all nations, then to wash them with the sacrament of faith, and after faith and baptism then to teach them what things they ought to observe; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.

RABAN. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

CHRYS. And because what He had laid upon them was great, therefore to exalt their spirits He adds, And, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. As much as to say, Tell Me not of the difficulty of these things, seeing I am with you, Who can make all things easy. A like promise He often made to the Prophets in the Old Testament, to Jeremiah who pleaded his youth, to Moses, and to Ezekiel, when they would have shunned the office imposed upon them. And not with them only does He say that He will be, but with all who shall believe after them. For the Apostles were not to continue till the end of the world, but He says this to the faithful as to one body.

RABAN. Hence we understand that to the end of the world shall not be wanting those who shall be worthy of the Divine indwelling.

CHRYS. He brings before them the end of the world, that He may the more draw them on, and that they may not look merely to present inconveniences, but to the infinite goods to come. As much as to say, The grievous things which you shall undergo, terminate with this present life, seeing that even this world shall come to an end, but the good things which you shall enjoy endure for ever.

BEDE; It is made a question how He says here, I am with you, when we read elsewhere that He said, I go to him that sent me. What is said of His human nature is distinct from what is said of His divine nature. He is going to His Father in His human nature, He abides with His disciples in that form in which He is equal with the Father. When He says, to the end of the world, He expresses the infinite by the finite; for He who remains in this present world with His elect, protecting them, the same will continue with them after the end, rewarding them.

JEROME; He then who promises that He will be with His disciples to the end of the world, shows both that they shall live for ever, and that He will never depart from those that believe.

LEO; For by ascending into heaven He does not desert His adopted; but from above strengthens to endurance, those whom He invites upwards to glory.

Of which glory may Christ make us partakers,
Who is the King of glory,
God blessed for ever,
AMEN.

Catena Aurea Matthew 28

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Matthew
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Matthew 28
16.	And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them.	Undecim autem discipuli abierunt in Galilæam in montem ubi consituerat illis Jesus.	οι δε ενδεκα μαθηται επορευθησαν εις την γαλιλαιαν εις το ορος ου εταξατο αυτοις ο ιησους
17.	And seeing them they adored: but some doubted.	Et videntes eum adoraverunt : quidam autem dubitaverunt.	και ιδοντες αυτον προσεκυνησαν αυτω οι δε εδιστασαν
18.	And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.	Et accedens Jesus locutus est eis, dicens : Data est mihi omnis potestas in cælo et in terra :	και προσελθων ο ιησους ελαλησεν αυτοις λεγων εδοθη μοι πασα εξουσια εν ουρανω και επι γης
19.	Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.	euntes ergo docete omnes gentes : baptizantes eos in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti :	πορευθεντες μαθητευσατε παντα τα εθνη βαπτιζοντες αυτους εις το ονομα του πατρος και του υιου και του αγιου πνευματος
20.	Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.	docentes eos servare omnia quæcumque mandavi vobis : et ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus, usque ad consummationem sæculi.	διδασκοντες αυτους τηρειν παντα οσα ενετειλαμην υμιν και ιδου εγω μεθ υμων ειμι πασας τας ημερας εως της συντελειας του αιωνος αμην

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