LEAVING THE WORLD - 05/29/22 (The Ascension of the Lord)

Luke 24:46-53

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending 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, raised His hands, and blessed them. As He blessed them He parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did Him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.

For the full readings, click here: 

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052922-ascension.cfm

Blessed Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord! Today, we commemorate the event when Jesus Christ physically left the world to be with His Father. And yet, He will always remain with the Church until the end of the age as He sent the Holy Spirit. By entering the dwelling place of God, our Savior gives us hope to be with Him forever. If we die in the state of grace, then we will leave this world with the complete assurance of being united to Christ in heaven. At the same time, the action of Jesus of leaving this world has a significance even today while we are still alive. 

Like Jesus, we should also leave the world. Although we live in this world, we should not be part of it. This means that we should leave and reject the worldly ways that we see around us which are contrary to the will of God. After the disciples saw the Lord being taken up in heaven, they were joyful, and they continuously praised the Lord in the temple. Our celebration of this Solemnity should not end with the mere attendance of the Mass, but it should lead us to pray to Jesus and glorify Him in our prayers during many moments of the day. One of the lies in this world is that we should spend just little time, like morning or evening, with God, then we can spend the majority of the time for our own selves. But, we should imitate the examples of the apostles. God is truly worthy of our honor and love because despite our sinfulness, He still grants us the hope of salvation and eternal life. 

We should remember that praising God should be done, not only in our words or prayers, but in our deeds as well. After the ascension of the Lord and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the message of repentance was preached. Even today, we are in need of true repentance. If we truly desire to enter the heavenly Kingdom of God, our hearts must be purified from every evil. It is unfortunate that the message of repentance seems to be offensive to some people today. It's as if we may think that we don't need to change at all. But, Jesus came to our world, suffered on the cross, rose on the third day and ascended to heaven, not for us to feel good but for us to actually be good and persevere in holiness. During the moments that we have committed to grave sins, especially because of temptations such as lust in this culture where chastity and modesty are no longer respected, may we never lose our hope in the sacrament of confession and seek to avoid the occasions of sins. 

And yet, we should not just desire for ourselves to leave this world, but we should lead others to see the truth of Christ. The proclamation of the gospel by the apostles took place as they received the Holy Spirit, the promise of Jesus. Instead of following the world where vain and unnecessary things are the trending topics, let's discern in our prayers how we can share the truth of the Catholic faith through social media or through having conversations with people. Just like the disciples, we may receive strong criticisms and opposition from others. But, Jesus will never leave us. He is always with us, and He guides us through the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, His Mystical Body here on earth. Let's always follow Jesus because His ascension is our glory and our hope. 

Amen +

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be with us always until the hour of our death. Amen. +

 

May the Lord + bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. +  

Reflection by: Dominic