Dear friends today is the Ascension of the Lord. Today the Church celebrates and recount Jesus’s going up into heaven to prepare us for coming of the Holy spirit on Pentecost day.
We recall Jesus promising His disciples not to leave them orphan, but to send them another helper who will teach them everything that He has not taught them.
The solemnity of the ascension comes forty day after the resurrection of the Lord. The glory of the ascension of the Lord assures us of eternal glory and, at the same time, it reminds us of the second coming of the Lord. His second coming is to judge the world. As Christ ascends to heaven, our minds are to be on the things of heaven
In the gospel of today, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this? To suffer with Christ means to bear witness to the things that are above. It means accepting to suffer out of love for Christ.
Today we are called to be witnesses to this glorious and amazing moment, when our lord was taken into heaven. It is not a moment of sadness but of joy. It is a feast that invites us to look to earth, to people among whom we are called to make present the work of the Master. Though Jesus was no longer visible, the disciples were full of joy and the gospel hints at the reason for it. And these same reasons should cause us to be joyful too.
This is not a time when we keep focusing on the sky waiting when Jesus will come again. It is a time of practicing proper virtue that will sure that we believe in Jesus and in the works of the Holy spirit.
The second reading completes the message. Even though we must keep our eyes on the earth, we know that human life is not enclosed by it nor does it end within the narrow confines of this world. Let us ask Jesus to give us the opportunity necessary to fix our eyes on heaven and to offer the services needed on earth so that heaven will be our prize. Peace be with you.
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