DAILY- HOMILY

May 28, 2017 – SUNDAY, ASCENSION OF THE LORD

Solemnity, White

Acts 1: 1 - 11 / Eph 1: 17- 23 / Mt 28:16- 20

FROM THE 1ST READING:     Acts 1: 1 - 3, 6- 11

     In the first part of my work, Theophilus, I wrote of all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day he ascended to heaven.

     But first he had instructed through the Holy Spirit the apostles he had chosen. After his passion, he presented himself to them, giving many signs that he was alive; over a period of forty days he appeared to them and taught them concerning the kingdom of God....

     When they had come together, they asked him, "Is it now that you will restore the Kingdom of Israel?" And he answered, "It is not for you to know the time and the steps which the Father has fixed 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, even to the ends of the earth."

     After Jesus said this, he was taken up before their eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight. While they were still looking up to heaven where he went, suddenly, two men dressed in white stood beside them and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will return in the same way as you have seen him go."

GOSPEL READING:     Mt 28: 16- 20

     As for the Eleven disciples, they went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Jesus, they bowed before him, although some doubted.

     Then Jesus approached them and said, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples from all nations. Baptize them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to fulfill all that I have commanded you. I am with you always until the end of the world."

REFLECTION

     The liturgical season of Easter which celebrates the great and central mystery of the Lord's resurrection began at the Easter Vigil. It closes on Pentecost Sunday with the celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. The Lord's resurrection is truly called the mystery of mysteries.

     The Easter mystery is celebrated in three manifestations: the rising of the Lord from the dead, the ascension and return of the risen Lord to the Father's right hand in heaven and the gift of the Holy Spirit to fulfill Christ's promise that

he will be with us always.

     What does the Lord's ascension to heaven mean for us?

     The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles recounts the Lord's ascension into heaven: the Lord is seen "rising" from the earth and being taken "up" to the heavens "above."

     These images of time and space, "rising" "up" into the heavens "above" are truly symbolic expressions of a totally new life for the risen Christ, of God­ made-Man. Now he is no longer limited by earthy space and time; he returns into heavenly eternity. He remains true to his promise that he would not leave us orphans even as he rises above the earth. Today, tomorrow and for all eternity, as God-made-Man he is at the Father's side interceding for us. Now he is with us no matter where we may be on this earth.

     And there is even more than that. Part of the Easter mystery is the sending of the great Gift of the Holy Spirit. All of us who have been baptized in the name of the Triune God have become sharers of the life of the risen Christ. Even now we begin to live the life of Christ. What is asked of us is that we live as Jesus has commanded us, loving God and our neighbor.

     The Lord's ascension into heaven may seem to be a departure from us; it is in reality his entry into new life. He has promised that he would take us to be with him and that we too would enter into that new life. Let us begin to live even now that life of the risen Christ as day by day we live our earthly life as Jesus lived his.

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

     REESE GUILIANA DYSY

IN MEMORIAM (†) 

     EDMUNDO INOCENTES (NOV 16, 1936 ·MAY 28, 2002)

     JOSE YAN SY

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most. 

Have a good day!

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