12/9/2023 0 Comments Ascension of jesus 2022![]() The apostles are asked by the angels, “Why are you gazing in astonishment at the sky? Just as you have seen Him ascend into heaven, so, in like manner, shall He return” (Acts 1.11). We wish to go to heaven where Christ has gone. This gift encourages us to desire deeply and always the glory of heaven. In the celebration of the Lord’s Ascension we rejoice greatly for the assurance that future glory is realized in Jesus Christ and offered to the human race. This is no easy task, but with the help of God’s Holy Spirit, the promised Comforter, we can make progress in virtue and humility, asked of us by our having “put on Christ” at baptism. We are asked to follow the Lord without fear or regret. ![]() We all must learn throughout our earthly sojourn what it means to really belong to Christ, to forget ourselves that others may have, to take up our cross each day and embrace our vocation without compromise. ![]() Of course, we have free will and cannot be stopped from rejecting God’s call, but the challenge is to cultivate God’s life within us in order to bear lasting fruit. We have “put on Christ,” Saint Paul tells us, by the fact of our baptism, so we cannot so easily walk away from the light and life being offered us in the Church. ![]() We are all united to Christ and one another in the great mystery of salvation in Jesus Christ. Perhaps we may feel little or nothing of note to reply to these questions, but we must not think for a moment that the saving events of Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension have no meaning in our lives. We may ask: how do I feel about Christ’s obedience unto death, how does it touch me, and what role do I play in the mystery being celebrated on Ascension of the Lord? What is being asked of me as a follower of Christ? Its purpose was and is to bring eternal life to every human being. It is precisely there, in the midst of the mundane, that we are being invited to encounter the God who has not left us orphans, but lives among us and who loves us until the end of time.Ĭhrist completed the Father’s work on earth as a mission of obedience to the will of God. That is how life seems to goes, cycle after cycle, what has been called an infinity of little hours. It seems we just began our Paschal celebrations and now this joyful liturgical season is drawing to a close. We recount with joy the day Christ completed his earthly mission and returned to the Father to reign in majesty and to be the judge of the living and the dead. We celebrate our Lord’s Ascension, taking place forty days after his resurrection. Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11 Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 1:17-23 Gospel According to Saint Mark 16:15-20 Sayings and Stories from the Desert Fathers.How We Pray and Chant – Monastic life has prayer at its very heart.Abbot’s Archives – Personal reflections from our abbots across the years.Subscriptions – We can add you to our postal or electronic mailing lists for monastery news and homilies.Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.Take yourself on a virtual tour around our Monastery.
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