"ASCENSION OF JESUS"

“ASCENSION OF JESUS”

May 21, 2023. The Ascension of the Lord.

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.”

Reflection:

A blessed solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord! Today, we celebrate Christ who triumphed over death through His resurrection, and who now went back to His Father in Heaven. Even while there, we must remember that Jesus is still present with us today. He said that He will not leave us orphans and indeed, He did not. The following Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. We will then remember how God sent His Holy Spirit as promised. We have now become temples of the Holy Spirit. He lives within us. Through the same Holy Spirit, we too receive the Body and Blood of Christ through the hands of a priest in the Holy Eucharist. 

This is God’s wonderful plan of salvation for us. We were always meant to live with Christ in the flesh in the form of Bread and Wine. He is truly, fully, and really present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Oftentimes, it is humans who fail to recognize Him there and feel like orphans, not by God’s will but by spiritual blindness. 

Jesus became the Prisoner of the Tabernacle in the altars of the churches so we too could find solace in Him anytime we need it or in our hearts anytime we are alone in silence. We must be reminded that He promised He shall be with us even until the end of time. Happy are those who go on living life on Earth recognizing God’s presence in the Tabernacle in Holy Mass and adoration until we reunite with Him face to face in heaven. This is the ultimate goal of our lives. We have all come from God and we, too, like Christ shall return to God. 

This is why sin is so ugly because it breaks our relationship with God, and stains it. Therefore, we must do all we can through the sacraments to avoid sin by gaining wisdom through the power of the Holy Spirit to know how to best avoid sin and temptation. 

In the Gospel today, Jesus spoke to them one last time in His resurrected bodily form as a Divine Person. The mission of the apostles is to preach the Gospel, baptize, and make disciples as the continuation of Jesus’ mission. 

They are our mission too. In whatever way we can, if we know the faith and can speak, we, too can become instruments of God’s Word through the Holy Spirit. How do we place importance on this in our lives? We can preach by word or by good deed towards the poor to live the Gospel. If we obey Jesus and carry our Crosses with Him, it will be a path for us to Heaven. In our own way, what simple things and doable things can we do to help spread the Word of God? 

May we also remember to pray for our brothers and sisters who labor for the Church through the media and social media in promulgating the faith as we celebrate Catholic Communications’ Sunday today. May God bless us all and make our works fruitful in the name of Jesus Christ who ascended into Heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. Amen. + 

God bless us all in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. + 

Full Readings: Go to USSCB - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052123-Ascension.cfm

Also seen on DSP Our Lady of the Abandoned | Katholos Fidei