Dear parishioners and visitors;
Today we joyfully celebrate the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Luke and St. Mark clearly describe Jesus’ Ascension (Acts 1:1-11, Mk.16:19, Lk 24:50-52). The Church concisely states and firmly proclaim it in the Creed: “He ascended into Heaven”.
There is a good theological connection between the Incarnation, the Birth of Jesus, and His Ascension. (CCC. 1194). In the Incarnation the Son of God took flesh becoming the Incarnate Word, the Emmanuel, to save mankind. At the Ascension the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, having conquered death, returned to his heavenly glory. By his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension the door of heaven is now opened for those who firmly believe in Him and faithfully follow Him as their way, their truth and their life.
“The Ascension of Christ is our elevation”, St. Leo the Great, the Pope and Doctor of the Church, declared and said “Let us exult, dearly beloved, with worthy joy and be glad with a holy thanksgiving”.
As we celebrate and reflect upon the true meaning of Jesus’ Ascension, it is very important for us to take St. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:17-19 to be our personal prayer for one another. “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe”. Where Jesus our risen Lord is now; we are called to follow in hope. So let us “commit ourselves to lead a life worthy of our calling” (Eph. 4:1).
Have a blessed long weekend. Fr. Peter Hoan Nguyen (Sorry No writing about Lectio Divina this week).