The Ascension of the Lord
Ascension
Lectionary: 58
21 MAY 2023 A.D.


Reading 1
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.”


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
R.  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.


Reading 2
Eph 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.


Alleluia
Mt 28:19a, 20b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Go and teach all nations, says the Lord;
I am with you always, until the end of the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.


Gospel
Mt 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.”


Overview of the Gospel:

• Like the Gospel of John, the Gospel of Matthew from which we take this reading does not
contain an explicit account of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. It is included, however, in Mark
(16:14:20), with which it bears many similarities, and Luke (24:50-53). In the liturgy today we
hear the account from the Acts of the Apostles.

• After his resurrection, Jesus walked the earth and taught his disciples for 40 days (Acts
1:3). Included in these teachings were a promise to be with his Church “until the end of
the age [the world]” (verse 13), as well as specific instructions on what they were to be
about until that time: “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” (verses 19-20).

• Thus Jesus entrusts the Church with his saving mission until he comes again in glory. Next
Sunday at Pentecost, we will see that he gives them, not only the authority to carry out this
mission (verses 18-19; Matthew 18:18; Luke 10:16; John 20:20-21), but also the power.
[courtesy of Vince Contreras: "Sunday Scripture Study for Catholics"]


"Those who have a sure hope that they will rise again lay hold of what lies in the future as though it were already present." ~ St. Cyril of Alexandria

"Let us look at what is happening in this crucial phase of the history of humanity and of the life of the Church with realism and without letting ourselves be deceived: we have come very close to the end times, and perhaps those three and a half years during which the Woman will flee into the desert are not as remote as we might wish."

Archbishop Vigano's Homily for Today's Votive Mass

...from a Pro:

Pope Benedict's Homily on the Ascension

...footnote to this history: Pope Benedict gave this Homily at Italy's Monte Cassino, scene of one of the most terrific and brutal battles of WW2. The huge hilltop Monastery, built in 529 AD by Saint Benedict himself, was first pulverized by repeated allied bombing and then continuous artillery barrages to dislodge the NAZI paratroopers defending it, but these defenders tenaciously hung on.

After many waves of unsuccessful Allied ground attacks, the Polish Catholic infantrymen of the Polish II Corps finally captured the hill after 121 days of vicious and bloody fighting.

I ponder why Pope Benedict chose this elevated site to deliver this wonderful homily of hope, peace and joy from such carnage....

Thanks!

Always welcome, Brother, tortilla-flats!