Reading of the day A reading from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles Acts 1:1-11
In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established 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, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians 1:17-23
Brothers and sisters: May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
Gospel of the day From the Gospel according to Matthew 28:16-20
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
The words of the Popes With the Ascension, something new and beautiful happened: Jesus brought our humanity, our flesh, into heaven — this is the first time — that is, he brought it in God. That humanity that he had assumed on earth did not remain here. The risen Jesus was not a spirit, no. He had his human body, flesh and bones, everything. He will be there in God forever. We could say that from the day of the Ascension on, God himself “changed” — from then on, he is not only spirit, but such is his love for us that he bears our own flesh in himself, our humanity! The place awaiting us is thus indicated; that is our destiny. (…) What does Jesus do in heaven? He is there for us before the Father, continually showing our humanity to him — showing him his wounds. I like to think that Jesus, prays like this in front of the Father — showing him his wounds. “This is what I suffered for humanity: Do something!” He shows him the price of redemption and the Father is moved. This is something I like to think about. This is how Jesus prays. He did not leave us alone. In fact, before ascending, he told us, as the Gospel says today, “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20). (Pope Francis, Regina caeli, 21 May 2023)
Joy is not living from laughter to laughter. No, it's not that. Joy is not being funny. No, it’s not that. It's something else. Christian joy is peace. The peace that is in the roots, the peace of heart, the peace that only God can give us. This is Christian joy. It is not easy to safeguard this joy. Christian joy is the breath of the Christian, a Christian who is not joyful in the heart is not a good Christian. It is the breath, the way of expressing oneself as Christian, joy. It is not something that one buys or I make it with effort, no: it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. What makes the joy in the heart is the Holy Spirit" .(Pope Francis Santa Marta, 28 May 2018)
Ronchi - The disciples have returned to Galilee, to that mountain they knew well. When they saw Him, they prostrated themselves. Jesus left the world with a deficit: He was left with only eleven afraid and confused men and a small group of courageous and faithful women. They followed Him for three years on the streets of Palestine, they did not understand much but they loved Him very much. And they are all there on the last mountain. This is the only guarantee Jesus needs. Now He can return to the Father, reassured that he is loved, even if not completely understood. Now he knows that none of those men and women will forget him. But they doubted... Jesus performs an act of enormous, illogical confidence in people who still doubt. There He not yet remains a little, to explain better, to clarify the dark points. But He entrusts His message to people who still doubt. There is no true faith without doubt. Doubts are like the poor, we will always have them with us. If you question them with courage, from apparent enemies they will become defenders of the faith, they will protect it from the assault of superficial answers and sentences. Jesus entrusts the dreamed world to the fragility of the Eleven, and not to the intelligence of the first of the class; he entrusts the truth to the doubters, he calls the claudicants to go to the ends of the earth, he has faith in us who have no firm faith in him. I have been given over to every power in heaven and on earth... Go then. That therefore is beautiful: therefore my power is yours; therefore all things mine and yours also: therefore I am the one that dwells in you and presses you. Therefore, go. Make disciples of all peoples... To what end? Enlist devotees, strengthen the ranks? No, but for a contagion, an epidemic of life and birth. And then the last words, the will: I am with you, every day, until the end of the world. With you, always, never alone. What Ascension be, we understand from these words. Jesus did not go far or high up, in some remote corner of the cosmos, but he became closer than before. If before He was with the disciples, now He will be inside them. He did not go beyond the clouds, but beyond the forms. He has ascended into the depths of things, into the depths of creation and creatures, and from within He presses as an ascending force toward more luminous life: "The Risen One mysteriously wraps the creatures and orients them to a destiny of fullness. The same flowers of the field and the birds that He contemplated admired by his human eyes, are now filled by His luminous presence" ( Pope Francis -Laudato si', 100). He who knows how to feel and enjoy of this mystery, walks on the earth like inside a tabernacle, inside an endless baptism.
Reading of the day
RispondiEliminaA reading from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles
Acts 1:1-11
In the first book, Theophilus,
I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught
until the day he was taken up,
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit
to the apostles whom he had chosen.
He presented himself alive to them
by many proofs after he had suffered,
appearing to them during forty days
and speaking about the kingdom of God.
While meeting with them,
he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem,
but to wait for “the promise of the Father
about which you have heard me speak;
for John baptized with water,
but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
When they had gathered together they asked him,
“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons
that the Father has established 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,
and to the ends of the earth.”
When he had said this, as they were looking on,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,
suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
They said, “Men of Galilee,
why are you standing there looking at the sky?
This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven
will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians
1:17-23
Brothers and sisters:
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation
resulting in knowledge of him.
May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
for us who believe,
in accord with the exercise of his great might,
which he worked in Christ,
raising him from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,
far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,
and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And he put all things beneath his feet
and gave him as head over all things to the church,
which is his body,
the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
Gospel of the day
From the Gospel according to Matthew
28:16-20
The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
The words of the Popes
RispondiEliminaWith the Ascension, something new and beautiful happened: Jesus brought our humanity, our flesh, into heaven — this is the first time — that is, he brought it in God. That humanity that he had assumed on earth did not remain here. The risen Jesus was not a spirit, no. He had his human body, flesh and bones, everything. He will be there in God forever. We could say that from the day of the Ascension on, God himself “changed” — from then on, he is not only spirit, but such is his love for us that he bears our own flesh in himself, our humanity! The place awaiting us is thus indicated; that is our destiny. (…) What does Jesus do in heaven? He is there for us before the Father, continually showing our humanity to him — showing him his wounds. I like to think that Jesus, prays like this in front of the Father — showing him his wounds. “This is what I suffered for humanity: Do something!” He shows him the price of redemption and the Father is moved. This is something I like to think about. This is how Jesus prays. He did not leave us alone. In fact, before ascending, he told us, as the Gospel says today, “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20). (Pope Francis, Regina caeli, 21 May 2023)
Joy is not living from laughter to laughter. No, it's not that. Joy is not being funny. No, it’s not that. It's something else. Christian joy is peace. The peace that is in the roots, the peace of heart, the peace that only God can give us. This is Christian joy. It is not easy to safeguard this joy. Christian joy is the breath of the Christian, a Christian who is not joyful in the heart is not a good Christian. It is the breath, the way of expressing oneself as Christian, joy. It is not something that one buys or I make it with effort, no: it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. What makes the joy in the heart is the Holy Spirit"
Elimina.(Pope Francis Santa Marta, 28 May 2018)
Ronchi - The disciples have returned to Galilee, to that mountain they knew well. When they saw Him, they prostrated themselves. Jesus left the world with a deficit: He was left with only eleven afraid and confused men and a small group of courageous and faithful women. They followed Him for three years on the streets of Palestine, they did not understand much but they loved Him very much.
RispondiEliminaAnd they are all there on the last mountain. This is the only guarantee Jesus needs. Now He can return to the Father, reassured that he is loved, even if not completely understood. Now he knows that none of those men and women will forget him. But they doubted...
Jesus performs an act of enormous, illogical confidence in people who still doubt. There He not yet remains a little, to explain better, to clarify the dark points. But He entrusts His message to people who still doubt. There is no true faith without doubt. Doubts are like the poor, we will always have them with us. If you question them with courage, from apparent enemies they will become defenders of the faith, they will protect it from the assault of superficial answers and sentences.
Jesus entrusts the dreamed world to the fragility of the Eleven, and not to the intelligence of the first of the class; he entrusts the truth to the doubters, he calls the claudicants to go to the ends of the earth, he has faith in us who have no firm faith in him.
I have been given over to every power in heaven and on earth...
Go then. That therefore is beautiful: therefore my power is yours; therefore all things mine and yours also: therefore I am the one that dwells in you and presses you. Therefore, go. Make disciples of all peoples...
To what end? Enlist devotees, strengthen the ranks?
No, but for a contagion, an epidemic of life and birth.
And then the last words, the will: I am with you, every day, until the end of the world. With you, always, never alone.
What Ascension be, we understand from these words.
Jesus did not go far or high up, in some remote corner of the cosmos, but he became closer than before. If before He was with the disciples, now He will be inside them. He did not go beyond the clouds, but beyond the forms.
He has ascended into the depths of things, into the depths of creation and creatures, and from within He presses as an ascending force toward more luminous life:
"The Risen One mysteriously wraps the creatures and orients them to a destiny of fullness.
The same flowers of the field and the birds that He contemplated admired by his human eyes, are now filled by His luminous presence" ( Pope Francis -Laudato si', 100).
He who knows how to feel and enjoy of this mystery,
walks on the earth like inside a tabernacle,
inside an endless baptism.