THE
ASCENSION OF THE LORD – 2021
«
Forty days ago,
we celebrated Jesus’ triumph over death, his RESURRECTION.
«
During this time
Jesus has appeared in different ways to his apostles, who will be the witnesses
of his resurrection.
«
Today we
celebrate in the liturgy Jesus return to the Father, from a visible existence
to the Father, where He came from by the Incarnation.
« He will not be visible anymore; he will be present in his church through the sacrament, the Word and his witnesses.
FIRST READING – Act 1:1-11
-
Jesus asks them
to remain in
-
Luke says in this
book that the Lord has tried in different ways to convince them that he is
alive.
-
John baptized in water;
you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
-
Let us reflect on
the meaning of the word “baptize.” To baptize means to submerge into water. Thus,
when Jesus says they will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, it means that they
will be submerged in the Spirit of God that we call the Holy Spirit. He is the
third Person of the Trinity, God like the Father and the Son, the three are the
one and only God.
-
And this will
happen also to those who will follow him through the centuries.
-
This means that
the Spirit does not come to us in a visible and external way, but that the
Spirit submerges us in Him.
-
The apostles ask
if the kingdom of Israel will be restored, but Jesus says that this is known
only by the Father.
-
But they will
receive the Holy Spirit who will come upon them and make them witnesses of
Jesus throughout all the world.
-
It is important
to enter into the symbolic meaning of the vocabulary used to describe this
mystery of faith, the passage or return of Jesus to the Father.
o
Lifted = we
always look at the blue sky when we speak about heaven, the abode of God. Thus,
to be lifted means that Jesus goes to the Father.
o
They continue to
look intently; we feel so good when we experience the presence of God
o
Why are you
standing there looking at the sky? He will return
o
But now “you have
to be his witnesses”, now it is the time of the church, our time when we must
do the same works that Jesus did. We have been called to do that in our
baptism.
-
It is not a sad
farewell, it is not a day of mourning, it is the day of Jesus triumph, that is
why the church puts on our lips the responsorial psalm:
o
We are invited to
clap our hands, to shout with cries of joy, to sing the praises of our King, to
sing hymns
o
Because the Lord
has established his throne upon the heights, he reigns over the nations and he
sits as King on his sacred throne.
-
His triumph is also
ours in hope, now for a little while we have to work with the Lord to invite
all to the heavenly banquet for all eternity.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
-
R. (6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for
the Lord.
All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts
of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts
of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts
of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
SECOND
READING Ephesians 1:17-23
Before we meditate on the contents of the second
reading it will help us to read a short introduction of the letter
Ø Most likely a secretary or
later disciple of Paul
Ø The date around 80-100 A.D.
if it is written by a disciple, but 61-63 A.D. if written by Paul.
Ø Written from Rome or from
Caesarea
Ø The word Mystery, is a major
theme in this letter, the Latin translation of this word is sacrament
Ø It means God’s grand plan of
universal salvation that is finally revealed in Jesus Christ.
Ø The center of this plan is that
the Gentiles are included as co-heirs with the Jews.
-
The author of
this letter asks that the Lord Jesus
o
May grant us a
spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him
o
May the eyes of
our heart be enlightened to know what is the hope that belongs to his call
What are the riches of his glory, the inheritance
among the holy ones, destined to be distributed to the members of the Church.
o
So, we may
experience his power in our life
o
This is the same
power that the Father has revealed in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead
and in giving to Jesus a glory which is above all that has been created.
o
He has put all
things beneath the feet of Jesus; this means that he has made Jesus Lord and
Head of the church which is his body.
o
We glimpse the true nature of the Church: the
fullness of Christ, and imperfection of this body which is being shaped through
the process of life. The perfect reality and the process through the unfinished
journey of the community and of each one of its members.
-
A good preparation
for the celebration of Jesus’ triumph will be to reflect and try to answer this
question:
o Do I really know Jesus, do I know him in such a way that this knowledge fills me with hope, joy, strength, and trust without limits? Let us have a heart-to-heart conversation with the Lord.
GOSPEL
Mark 16:15-20
ü
This reading is
part of the longer ending of the Gospel of Mark
16,9-20 .
ü
The Gospel
written by Mark ends on verse 8, the verses from 9 to 20 were added later. And
this addition was also considered part of the cannon of the Scriptures.
ü
The Lord sends
the 11 to proclaim the good news to all creation.
o
Whoever believes
will be saved, and whoever does not believe will be condemned.
o
This gospel
becomes a trail of salvation or condemnation.
o
It is a gospel (a
good news) that forces to take a stance
o
Condemnation, not
for those who have never heard of the Gospel, but for those who have heart and
have rejected it.
o
The key word is
“freely”. We need to accept the message as free human beings, as God has
created us. Persons able to obey, that is “listen” and follow the voice of God
they have heard. This means that we acknowledge that God is, that he is not an
imagination.
ü
Let us examine
the words used in this gospel to describe the signs which will accompany the
Works of those who believe:
o
They will drive
out demons = evil will be
destroyed
o
They will
speak new languages = The Holy
Spirit comes upon all the believers in a ongoing Pentecost, upon all the peoples
and all the cultures, so that we may be able to understand the unique language
of love of our Father God and of the love of and to our brothers and sisters who
live together with us on this wonderful planet called earth.
o
They will
pick up serpents with their hands= the
serpent is the symbol of all that is evil.
o
If they drink
any deadly thing it will not harm them = a poison is the symbol of all that threatens life.
o
They will lay
hands on the sick, and they will recover = the sick will be comforted and
healed which does not precisely mean cured from their sickness but aliviated
from their sufferings by the compassionate love of the followers of Jesus.
o
The mission of
the church will be same mission of Jesus who proclaimed the Kingdom and healed
all that were afflicted by any suffering.
o It is a mission which requires the action of the whole person: Words, hands, eyes and mind.
ü The disciples are left
now without the visible presence of the Lord.
o
Each one will go
to a different part of the world to preach the good news of salvation, the good
news of the unconditional love of God who is Father, Brother and Friend
(Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
o The Lord is with them, with his church, and works with them with signs which can be accomplished only by him.
CLARETIAN CORNER
J.M.J.
To Mother María Antonia de S. Pedro
Madrid, March 12 1865
My dear mother in J.C., I have received your letter from the
3rd of this month, and after reading it I say to you:
That it is
the Lord who guides us giving health and life for his greatest honor and glory
and our good as well, he takes us from this exile and this valley of tears to
give us the eternal glory; and thus, we only have to abandon ourselves in his
most holy hands so He may do whatever his most holy will and pleasure be. In this
disposition of the will, we find the perfection, doing with promptitude, joy
and perseverance whatever he may require from us, no matter how disgusting they
might be to our nature.
[…]
I know that
in Tarragona they are working for your Community, for the establishment of a convent
in Reus; some days ago, I was consulted about a difficulty that the Vicar general
of the Diocese had, and I clarified it. You
know the many things that the Vicars general must do to form a case file for
the foundation of the Convents of nuns, according to the Sacred Canons.
I do not
recall if I have already sent to you the booklet untitled Tardes de Verano etc., (Summer Evenings….) called to do much
Good, with the help of the Lord. It is about the main truths of our Religion
and as a bright light it dissipates the darkness of error of our present time. We
are giving these books with profusion, people like them very much.
Your most
attentive and secure servant,
Anthony Mary Archbishop of Trajanópolis
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PÉREZ HERRERO, Francisco. “Evangelio Según San Marcos” en Comentario al Nuevo Testamento. Casa de
la Biblia 1995.
RAVASI, Gianfranco. Según las
Escrituras – Año B. San Pablo-Bogotá, Colombia 2005.
Cartas de los Orígenes (Letters from the Origins) – RR de María Inmaculada
Misioneras Claretianas – Madrid 2009
Little Rock Study Bible . Liturgical Press 2019.
