THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Go, make disciples of all the nations.
I am with you always; yes, to the end of time. MT 28:19, 20

ACTS 1:1-11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We are grateful to St. Luke, the evangelist and the author of the Acts of the Apostles. Having received first-hand accounts of what You said and did during the three years of Your public ministry from the Apostles, he recorded them faithfully. He was also part of the Apostolic mission with St. Paul. The Holy Spirit breathes life into us from the words he has written. 

For 40 days after Your glorious resurrection You appeared to Your Apostles and many other witnesses whom You taught, preached, and ate and drank. There can be no doubt O Lord, that having vanquished death You are now seated in glory at the right hand of God the Father. 

Today as the Church celebrates the feast of Your Ascension into heaven, we look forward to the hour when death will shut the door on this life and You will open the door to eternal life with You. Until then O Lord, fill us with Your Holy Spirit, and may we carry out the mission granted to us at our baptism to be authentic witnesses to Your Love in every season of our life.

Thank You for the Church who helps us keep alive through the liturgical seasons and the Sacramental life she bestows on her children all that is needful for us to live each day as light and salt in the world. Continue O Lord, to keep us save in Your life by the power of Your Holy Spirit. 

PSALM 46(47):2-3,6-9 ©

All peoples, clap your hands,
cry to God with shouts of joy!
For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear,
great king over all the earth.

God goes up with shouts of joy;
the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.
Sing praise for God, sing praise,
sing praise to our king, sing praise.

God is king of all the earth,
sing praise with all your skill.
God is king over the nations;
God reigns on his holy throne.

God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.

EPHESIANS 4:1-13 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Today we give thanks that You gave us St. Paul as the most powerful evangelist of all time. His letters are Spirit breathed, and the Word comes alive in us and burns with us kindling in us a desire to cooperate with the graces given to each according to Your will, to be witnesses of the Gospel.

While a prisoner for the sake of the Gospel he continued to lovingly encourage all the faithful in the churches he established. Every church in every diocese in every nation belongs to the one Church, the Catholic Church. What St. Paul said to the faithful in these churches is addressed to us as well. 

I, the prisoner in the Lord, implore you to lead a life worthy of your vocation. Bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all.

St. Paul reminds us that we are all given gifts of the Holy Spirit, talents that we must use and for which we will be called to give a strict account on the day of our judgment. Having ascended into heaven You sent the Holy Spirit as You promised You would and he abides in fullness in the Church and all her members, for we are Your Body. The life of the Holy Spirit keeps us alive in You.

Working together and using the talents given to us we can work in harmony with the Holy Spirit to bring about Your Kingdom on earth. Maranatha! Lord Jesus, may we hasten Your Kingdom by doing all that we are entrusted to do, faithfully, diligently, humbly, and with great love.

And to some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ. In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.

MARK 16:15-20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The Gospel today speaks of  Your Ascension into heaven, and begins with the words, 'Jesus showed himself to the Eleven.' You chose Twelve. All lived in close intimacy with You for three whole years. They witnessed first-hand all You said, did, taught, and preached. You instructed them personally. Yet, now there are only Eleven since one chose to remove himself from the chosen Twelve. It is a clear reminder to us, privileged members of the Church You founded, that we are free to choose to stay or to walk away. Love does not enslave but sets us free, and our response to Love is to freely choose to remain bound to the Lover. 

This is the mission given to all who are called by Your Name and are anointed by Your Holy Spirit:

‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name, they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.’

Lord Jesus, Savior of the world, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Seated at the right hand of God Your Father as the only mediator between God and man You plead for us day and night. Help us empower us with Your Holy Spirit to remain faithful to our mission to live and witness to the Gospel for as long as we live.  

And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.