ASCENSION OF THE LORD  - CYCLE C – 2016

1. The Church celebrates the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord  on the Thursday after the sixth Sunday of Easter.  
2. Some countries or regions, due to pastoral needs, have the authorization to celebrate this solemnity on the seventh Sunday. Our country is one of those countries. 
    
   FIRST READING - Acts of the Apostles  1:1-11

• The liturgy takes us back to the beginning of the book of the Acts. 
• We already mentioned that Luke wrote two books of the New Testament: the Gospel and the Acts.  
• The Acts, begin  repeating the end of the Gospel, and both books begin with an introduction. 
• Luke uses a great number of images and symbols to explain the meaning of the return of the Lord to the Father.
• Let us try to understand the meaning of the images which are going to reveal to us the message: 
• The text begins saying that the Lord make himself present among them alive. After his death on the cross and during 40 days the Lord showed himself to them during 40 days giving them signs which could help understand and believe that he was alive. And at the same time he explained to them the meaning of the Kingdom of God.   

• 40 days is already one of the symbols: 40 days of the flood , 40 years wandering through the desert,  40 days of Jesus in the desert.  40 is a symbolic number in the Bible, a number which means a long time.    
• He asks them not to leave Jerusalem before the promise from the Father, the Holy Spirit About whom he had already explained in many different occasions, especially in his conversation with them after the Last Supper.   
• They will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. To be baptized is to be submerged in, we will be submerged in the Spirit of the Father and of the Son Jesus.   
•  With the Holy Spirit these men who are so afraid now, will be able to be witnesses to the limits of the earth.
• He was lifted up, whenever we think or we speak about God we look upward, there is something in the human heart which understands that God is superior to us and this we consider to be upward.   
• Jesus returns to the Father and at the same time remains with us, this is what he has told us
• His remaining with us is not visible, from now on his presence is sacramental and through his followers or through everything which is really human, good.   
• The cloud, the cloud is the symbol of the presence of God, which has two functions one to hide and the other to uncover the divine presence. During the Exodus  

• The cloud was dark during the day, and bright during the night.  
• When the cloud rested upon the tent of the encounter, they knew that God was present,  
• The cloud is the symbol of the presence of the glory of God. 

• Jesus returns to the Father, Jesus is trully the glory of God the Father, Jesus is the Son of the Father made man.  
• They continue to look to the sky, we also do the same when we are in difficulties, or we are suffering, we continue to look on high, we do not want to leave from the presence of the Lord in our temples.  
• But the angels remind to us that we have to work, we have to proclaim the kingdom, we have to find the Lord here on our earth, among the men and women who journey with us through life, we have to find him here on our earth, which is also his earth, because from the Gospel of Matthew we know that I WILL BE WITH YOU UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD, THE END OF HISTORY.
•     Jesus will come back, we do not know when, but meanwhile it is the time of the Spirit, our time, the time of the Church to continue the work that the Son of God, made men, our Master  began.
    
   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.  

• This psalm does not need much explanation, it is very clear that it is a psalm of joyful praise to God, the King of all the earth.    

• Everything that in the Old Testament was attributed to God, the community of the followers apply it to Jesus after the resurrection.    

SECOND READING  Ephesians 1:17-23 

1. Paul’s wishes for his community of Ephesus is that God the Father grant them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.  This means that we may be able to savor what God awakens in our heart in the different events of our life, and that we may be able to discover in everything his Word, his revelation, and that through all these situations we may learn to know him, not intellectually but from the deepest recesses of our being.  
2. Paul also wishes that the eyes of the heart of the community of Ephesus be enlightened to be able to know the hope which comes with his call.   
3. That we may be able to discover the riches of glory found in the saints legacy.  
4. That we may discover his power that surpasses any other power.   
5. Power which raised Jesus from the dead and gave him a seat at his right hand. To sit at the right hand of the king, was for the most important person in the kingdom after the king himself. This means that Jesus is the beloved Son of the Father. “This is my beloved son”. These are the words that the Father said of Jesus at his baptism and also at his transfiguration.    
6. Jesus through this glorification has received all power and also a name which is above any other name, and all has been put under his feet. To be under his feet means to have authority over others.   
7. Jesus has been made head of the church which is his body. He is our head, all of us his body and we are called to proclaim that He is alive, that he is present in all of us, and will be with us until his secong coming,      
    
   GOSPEL  Luke  24:46-53
   This Reading is taken from the end of the Luke’s Gospel.       
    

• Luke who is the author of both Gospel and Acts says that “afterwards”= after the evening of the resurrection, he ascended into heaven.   In the Acts Luke says that the ascension was 40 days after his death.   The evangelist is not interested in the historical accuracy in regards to the chronological time, but yes the accuracy of the truth that God reveals to us, that is in regards to the theology of history.  
• Today’s reading begins on verse 46 with Jesus teaching as a good Teacher.                                                                             

1. It was written that the Messiah had to suffer and raise and this is what has happened to him, He is the Messiah, the one sent into the world.   
2. He continues saying that they are the witnesses to these things, and that he will send them the promise of the Father, thus they have to stay in Jerusalem. From Jerusalem will come salvation as announced by the prophets.   
3. In these two verses Luke offers a synthesis of Jesus’ mission and of the church’s history.  
4. Luke describes here the mystery of the ascension using very appealing and beautiful images.  I have said that the ascension is a mystery, which means that it is a truth of faith which goes beyond our understanding, and which is explained to us through images, comparisons, symbols.  
5. Jesus blesses them, this means he says good words upon them   
6. They kneel before him, they acknowledge him as God    
7. They go back full of joy, and they bless God.   
8. The presence of Jesus in our life, the presence of the Father and also of the Holy Spirit is always a source of deep and overflowing joy, and thus contagious.   
    
                       
    

Some days before my religious profession, our Lord told me his desire to communicate a grace to my prelate, but that would not be done until he had received my profession. And the most blessed Mary told me that she would take care of making him understand that the load of the church weighted upon him.

 

So, that is what happened a few days after my profession: he was told that he had to be the angel of the Apocalypse. He himself told me this (full of admiration and astonishment) the day he came to say goodbye for the visit – I think it was November 1 1855, and I made my profession on August 27 of the same year.

             Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 79-80.

Love is the most necessary of all the virtues. Yes, I say it and will say it a thousand times: the virtue an apostolic missionary needs most of all is love. He must love God, Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his neighbors. If he lacks this love, all his talents, however fine in themselves, are for nothing. But if, together with his natural endowments, he has much love, he has everything.^[1]

Love in a man who preaches the Word of God is like fire in a musket. If a man were to throw a bullet with his hands, he would hardly make a dent in anything; but if he takes this same bullet and ignites some gunpowder behind it, it can kill. It is much the same with the Word of God. If God's Word is spoken only naturally, it does very little; but if it is spoken by a priest who is filled with the fire of charity-- the fire of love of God and neighbor--it will wound vices, kill sins, convert sinners, and work wonders. We can see this in the case of St. Peter, who walked out of the upper room afire with the love he had received from the Holy Spirit, with the result that through just two sermons he converted 8,000 people, three in the first sermon and five in the second.St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 438-439.

 

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[1]  This is one of the most stirring chapters in the Autobiography and one in which the apostolic personality of the Saint is best portrayed: "A man who is afire with love and kindles that fire wherever he goes."

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER- CYCLE  C – 2016

1.  The new heavens and the new earth will become a reality through  the Apostles (Church)  preaching.  
2. And they will be the mature fruit of the commandment given by Jesus, as the fullness of the Law given at Mount Sinai.    
    
   FIRST READING ACTS OF THE APOSTLES  14:21-27

• At the beginning of the Easter season I said that I would give more information about the book of the Acts.     
• The last weeks we have been reflecting on the meaning of the book of Revelation, which we use for the second reading.    
• Today we will go back to the book of the Acts.    
• With chapter 13, in which we read that the community of Antioch sends Paul and Barnabas in a mission, we start the third and last part of this book.  
• The Acts describe for us different communities or local churches with different organization and different names for the leadership or servants. That means that we learn about different models of the Church.   
  • The church of Antioch is presided over by 5 leaders of whom Luke gives the names in chapter 13,1.   
  • This list begins with the name of Barnabas and ends with the name of Paul.  Luke calls them prophets and teachers.   
  • Luis Alonso Schökel in his commentary on the Biblia de nuestro Pueblo says:
    • Luke helps us to see how the movement of the Spirit fashions the different churches,   
    • Calling their members to be leaders, facilitators, responsible of the community with different functions and different titles according to the needs of each community   
    • With a great participation  in decision making.     
  • The Apostles are the leaders in the community of Jerusalem, besides them we hear that some men are called deacons and others elders or presbyters. 
  • Luke does not tell us how the five leaders of Antioch planned the first mission of Paul and Barnabas, but   
  • What they say is that  
    • The initiative comes from the Holy Spirit  
    • The preparation was done through fasting and prayer.
      READING      
       
• Paul and Barnabas continue their mission which they began from Antioch, as we read on the Fourth Sunday of Easter.   
• We learned that they had difficulties with the Jews and they decided to go to the Gentiles to announce them the Good News of Jesus. We learned also that the Gentiles were happy about that decision.  
• Today we find them visiting several towns, establishing in them new communities (churches) and appointing elders to lead the community. To select them again they fast and pray, afterwards they command them to the grace of God, and leave to another town.       
• They continue their way back to Antioch from where they left sent by the community. 
• On their arrival they reported to the community how the Lord had opened the doors of faith to the Gentiles.   
• To us, the descendants of those first Gentiles, the doors of faith were opened to us through the sacrament of Baptism
• This year the universal Church celebrates this gift of faith, received when the doors of faith were opened to us.   
   
  RESPONSORIAL PSALM 145
   
  I WILL PRAISE YOUR NAME FOREVER, MY KING AND MY GOD.   
  The Lord is gracious and merciful
  Slow to anger and of great kindness
  The Lord is good to all
  And compassionate toward all his works.   
   
  Let all your Works give you thanks, O Lord,
  And let your faithful ones bless you
  Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
  And speak of your might.    
   
  Let them make known your might to the children of Adam,
  And the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
  Your kingdom is a kingdom for all ages
  And your dominion endures through all generations.   .
   

•  Many of the psalms are hymns to God who makes himself known through creation and through history.  
• They are psalms of praise used usually for worship  
• They may be organized as follows  
  • Hymns to God the Creator and the Lord of the Covenant, the God of history.   
  • Hymns to God as King.    
  • Royal psalms   (about the King )
  • Canticles of  Zion.    
• Psalm 145 which we will pray on Sunday belongs to the group of  Hymns to the Creator and Lord.  
   
  SECOND READING   Rev 21:1-5a   

• Last Sunday we left John contemplating a huge multitude of men and women….  
• Today almost at the end of the Book of Revelation John sees again something he describes to us. He says that he sees the new heavens and the new earth, and that the sea is no more.   
  • New heavens and new earth, new creation made through the redemption of Christ, where sin is eliminated, and death as well.    
  • This is the fruit of Christ’s death on the cross. This fruit will reach its fullness when all of us, men and women, open up ourselves to the gift  of redemption which Christ wants to give to us. When all of us will be ready to walk together through the way that leads to the Father, led by the hand of Christ the Lord.      
  • The former earth, where sin abides, does not exist anymore, not because God will destroy his wonderful creation, but because he will destroy our sin, to allow the new earth, the new society to develop, where love, peace, justice, brotherhood … will reign.   
  • The sea does not exist anymore, because in the Scriptures the sea is the symbol of sin, and it will not have a place in the new earth, it has already been destroyed by Christ.    
  • John sees also the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven, the city becomes the bride adorned for her husband. She is the new creation, the new earth and the new heavens  
  • From the throne a voice is heard, remember that the Father and also the Lamb are on the throne, the voice invites us to look at, what?  
    • The dwelling of God among men and women  
    • He will dwell with them and  
    • They will be his people     
    • The New Covenant prophesized by Jeremiah becomes a reality (Jer 31,33.)    
    • He will wipe every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain.  
       

• The One who seats on the throne says: BEHOLD I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW.    
   
  GOSPEL Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35

1. The liturgy takes us back to the conversation of Jesus with his Apostles, after the meal at his Last Supper,  before going to the cross. During the meal he gives to us the Sacrament of his Body and blood. He  also gives to his own the most beautiful and sacred teaching from among all his teachings.  
2. I GIVE YOU A NEW COMMANDMENT:   
   • LOVE ONE ANOTHER. 
   • AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, SO YOU ALSO SHOULD LOVE ONE ANOTHER.   
   • THIS IS HOW ALL WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES, 
   • IF YOU HAVE LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER.    
3. We call this commandment the “new commandment”, as a matter of fact Jesus calls it so 
   • But it is really the fullness of the Law proclaimed by God and given  to Moses on Mount Sinai  
   • And before that He had carved this law in the heart of every man and every woman who comes to this world.
   •  If those of us, followers of Jesus, who have been baptized into  his death and resurrection   
     • Live this commandment, that is we make it a reality in our daily life  
     • And we proclaim it with our words as Paul and Barnabas did  
     • The new earth and the new heaven will be a reality, which we do not have to wait after our death to enjoy it, because it is already among us from the moment that Jesus nailed all our sins on his cross.    
     • Now we have to play our part, we need to open up to his gift, and get ready to work so that others may be able to enjoy what we already enjoy.   
     • LET US PUT OUR HANDS TO THE TASK, LET US BEGIN WITH ENTHUSIASM AND FIRE IN OUR HEART.  JESUS WALKS WITH US, AND  LOVES IN AND THROUGH US EVERYONE. LET US MAKE HIS PRESENCE AND LOVE VISIBLE IN OUR LIVES.
        
                         

 The minister of the Lord should always fear and tremble and think that the sins are like pitch that sticks to whatever it touches, therefore when it is necessary to touch it, he must do it with caution if he does not want to be stained.

The good missionary must believe that after hearing some sins in confession, those sins are more to be cried about before God than to talk about them.

If it is necessary to talk about matters of conscience be it always with fewer as possible words and with as modest as possible terms, he must prefer to be taken as a scrupulous person than as a well informed among his brothers, he must worry to awaken the malice in the very act that he wants to be detested. God will help that what is necessary be understood.

May his modesty shine before good and bad people. This is the virtue that must characterize the missionary of Christ. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, The Apostolic Missionary 2.13-16.

I have had some consolation in the midst of my sufferings. When I go on tour with Their Majesties and Highnesses, I get to preach to the people in the morning, before Their Majesties leave the house. Afterward I go around preaching in convents to nuns, sisters, priests, seminarians, members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, etc., so that my whole day is spent in preaching, except for the exact period of time I have to spend in the palace with the royal family..  Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 639.

 

BIBLIOGRAFÍA

CLARET, Antonio María , Autobiography.

FLOR SERRANO, Gonzalo, “Introduction and Commentary to the Psalms” en Comentario al Antiguo Testamento II –      La Casa de la Biblia, 1997, 3ª. Edición.  

PARIS, María Antonia, Autobiography.  

RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según Las Escrituras, Año C, 2006

SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso, commentary to the  Biblia de Nuestro Pueblo, 2010