June 1, http://www.tribtimes.org
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William Zambrano MD
Jun 1, 2025, 9:34:16 AMJun 1
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(Act 1:10-11) And while they were beholding him going up to heaven, behold two men stood by them in white garments. Who also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come as you have seen him going into heaven.
POPE LEO XIV: The solemnity of the #AscensionOfTheLord turns our gaze heavenward. It also reminds us of the mission Jesus Christ entrusted to us here on earth. May the Holy Spirit help us fulfill it faithfully!
CATHOLIC EXCHANGE: Leo the Great: Pope of the Ascension
SERMON SAINT LEO THE GREAT: The days between the resurrection and ascension of our Lord
THE CATHOLIC THING: What the Ascension Means
VATICAN NEWS: Lord's Day Reflection: The Ascension of the Lord
The Mass prayers of the Ascension remind us of a central fact: “the Ascension of Christ … is our exaltation” (Collect); “we pray … that we too may rise up to the heavenly realms” (Prayer over the Offerings); “that Christian hope may draw us onward to … you” (Prayer after Communion). This is our hope, our desire, our destiny. Meanwhile, however, we are left behind to shoulder our responsibility, but not before we have received the power of the Holy Spirit. The Ascension may be seen as the celebration of our coming of age, when, no longer accompanied by Jesus in the same way, we must dedicate ourselves with maturity and courage to the spreading of the Gospel.
People are sometimes discouraged by the fact that God does not magically intervene to put right the problems of the world. But has he not left us with the challenge to grow up and exercise the gifts he has given us, and supremely, that of the Holy Spirit whom we shall celebrate next Sunday at the culmination of the Easter season? For those who do not observe the Ascension this Sunday, the gospel of the seventh Sunday of Easter is taken from the priestly prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper. He implores the Father for those who believe in me through their (the apostles’) word. He expresses the profound and constant union between the Father, the Son and those who believe. He prays for the unity of believers among themselves, so that his message may touch the world. It is a message pertinent to every level of human life. As we await the Spirit of truth, we can remember the words of Pope Leo addressed to the diplomatic corps on May 16 this year: “truly peaceful relationships cannot be built, also within the international community, apart from truth”.
CNA: How Christ’s ascension takes the training wheels off our faith
Jesus could have stayed on earth until the end of time as the Good Shepherd, crisscrossing the globe after every lost sheep, saving them one by one. As he ascended, however, he placed his own mission in our hands, commanding us to “go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15).
He took the training wheels off our discipleship and removed any excuses we might have to pass the buck of sharing and spreading the faith. “You will be my witnesses,” he told us, “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
His confidence and trust in us, despite all our weaknesses, is astonishing. He wanted to incorporate us into — actually entrust to us — his mission of the redemption of the world.
But he didn’t leave us orphans (cf. Jn 14:18).
St. Luke gives us a beautiful image and detail, that Jesus “led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he was blessing them, he parted from them and was taken up to heaven” (Lk 24:50-51).
Jesus departed in the very act of blessing us. Pope Benedict XVI in his trilogy “Jesus of Nazareth” commented on how the risen Jesus in heaven is perpetually blessing us.“Jesus departs in the act of blessing,” he states. “He goes while blessing, and he remains in that gesture of blessing. His hands remain, stretched out over this world … [which] expresses Jesus’ continuing relationship to his disciples, to the world. … That is why the disciples could return home from Bethany rejoicing. In faith we know that Jesus holds his hands stretched out in blessing over us. That is the lasting motive of Christian joy.”
Jesus is continuously blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens (cf. Eph 1:3). He’s seeking to transform us into his incarnate benediction of the world.
The great manifestation of that blessing is the descent of the Holy Spirit, for whose renewed coming we pray in the annual decenarium from the 40th to 50th days of Easter. St. Luke recalls Jesus’ words: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). That’s the power, the blessing, that came down upon the Church on Pentecost.
CONCLUDING PRAYER DIVINE OFFICE: Gladden us with holy joys, almighty God, and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving, for the Ascension of Christ your Son is our exaltation, and, where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is called to follow in hope. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. — Amen.
The Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Charity
2. He also said, 'Our life and our death are with our neighbour. If we do good to our neighbour, we do good to God; if we cause our neighbour to stumble, we sin against Christ.'
"Have ANY Catholic Question? Just ask Ron Smith at: hfmin...@roadrunner.com
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June 1, 2025(Act 1:10-11) And while they were beholding him going up to heaven, behold two men stood by them in white garments. Who also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come as you have seen him going into heaven.
POPE LEO XIV: The solemnity of the #AscensionOfTheLord turns our gaze heavenward. It also reminds us of the mission Jesus Christ entrusted to us here on earth. May the Holy Spirit help us fulfill it faithfully!
CATHOLIC EXCHANGE: Leo the Great: Pope of the Ascension
SERMON SAINT LEO THE GREAT: The days between the resurrection and ascension of our Lord
THE CATHOLIC THING: What the Ascension Means
VATICAN NEWS: Lord's Day Reflection: The Ascension of the Lord
The Mass prayers of the Ascension remind us of a central fact: “the Ascension of Christ … is our exaltation” (Collect); “we pray … that we too may rise up to the heavenly realms” (Prayer over the Offerings); “that Christian hope may draw us onward to … you” (Prayer after Communion). This is our hope, our desire, our destiny. Meanwhile, however, we are left behind to shoulder our responsibility, but not before we have received the power of the Holy Spirit. The Ascension may be seen as the celebration of our coming of age, when, no longer accompanied by Jesus in the same way, we must dedicate ourselves with maturity and courage to the spreading of the Gospel.
People are sometimes discouraged by the fact that God does not magically intervene to put right the problems of the world. But has he not left us with the challenge to grow up and exercise the gifts he has given us, and supremely, that of the Holy Spirit whom we shall celebrate next Sunday at the culmination of the Easter season? For those who do not observe the Ascension this Sunday, the gospel of the seventh Sunday of Easter is taken from the priestly prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper. He implores the Father for those who believe in me through their (the apostles’) word. He expresses the profound and constant union between the Father, the Son and those who believe. He prays for the unity of believers among themselves, so that his message may touch the world. It is a message pertinent to every level of human life. As we await the Spirit of truth, we can remember the words of Pope Leo addressed to the diplomatic corps on May 16 this year: “truly peaceful relationships cannot be built, also within the international community, apart from truth”.
CNA: How Christ’s ascension takes the training wheels off our faith
Jesus could have stayed on earth until the end of time as the Good Shepherd, crisscrossing the globe after every lost sheep, saving them one by one. As he ascended, however, he placed his own mission in our hands, commanding us to “go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15).
He took the training wheels off our discipleship and removed any excuses we might have to pass the buck of sharing and spreading the faith. “You will be my witnesses,” he told us, “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
His confidence and trust in us, despite all our weaknesses, is astonishing. He wanted to incorporate us into — actually entrust to us — his mission of the redemption of the world.
But he didn’t leave us orphans (cf. Jn 14:18).
St. Luke gives us a beautiful image and detail, that Jesus “led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he was blessing them, he parted from them and was taken up to heaven” (Lk 24:50-51).
Jesus departed in the very act of blessing us. Pope Benedict XVI in his trilogy “Jesus of Nazareth” commented on how the risen Jesus in heaven is perpetually blessing us.“Jesus departs in the act of blessing,” he states. “He goes while blessing, and he remains in that gesture of blessing. His hands remain, stretched out over this world … [which] expresses Jesus’ continuing relationship to his disciples, to the world. … That is why the disciples could return home from Bethany rejoicing. In faith we know that Jesus holds his hands stretched out in blessing over us. That is the lasting motive of Christian joy.”
Jesus is continuously blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens (cf. Eph 1:3). He’s seeking to transform us into his incarnate benediction of the world.
The great manifestation of that blessing is the descent of the Holy Spirit, for whose renewed coming we pray in the annual decenarium from the 40th to 50th days of Easter. St. Luke recalls Jesus’ words: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). That’s the power, the blessing, that came down upon the Church on Pentecost.
CONCLUDING PRAYER DIVINE OFFICE: Gladden us with holy joys, almighty God, and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving, for the Ascension of Christ your Son is our exaltation, and, where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is called to follow in hope. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. — Amen.
The Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Charity
2. He also said, 'Our life and our death are with our neighbour. If we do good to our neighbour, we do good to God; if we cause our neighbour to stumble, we sin against Christ.'
Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerR...@aol.com
"Have ANY Catholic Question? Just ask Ron Smith at: hfmin...@roadrunner.com
This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.
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