Ascension of Jesus

Peace be with you.

Friends, today is the great solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord.

It's a very important feast.

Now, it's situated in between the resurrection of Jesus and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

So in between Easter and Pentecost, there's this feast of the Ascension.

Now, how do we begin to understand it? Well, think about this, that after the resurrection, Jesus exists on a kind of event horizon.

I mean, he's straddling two dimensions.

They worshiped, we hear, and some doubted.

Third glorious mystery is the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles.

It's Pentecost Sunday, 10 days after Ascension Thursday, and when the Holy Spirit came into- upon the apostles, everything changed for the better in an instant Sarah, let's take a few prayer intentions, please.

Rhonda is in Rhode Island.

She's asking prayers for her niece Carolyn and their, and her husband Nicholas.

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.

The Second Glorious Mystery The Ascension of Our Lord

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

[gentle music] I'm Father Mark Mary with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world.

The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension.

This is day 252.

To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit ascensionpress.com/rosaryinayear or text R-I-Y to 33777.

You'll get an outline of how we're gonna pray each month, and it's a great way to track your progress.

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I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to complement this podcast.

Scott, I want to give you the last word, though.

You know, we're moving from the Ascension to Pentecost on the church calendar.

and following the biblical story there.

And of course, Heidelberg has a lot to say.

Secondly, that we have our flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that he, as the head, will also take us, his members, up to himself.

Thirdly, that he sends us his spirit as an earnest, by whose power we seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God, and not things on earth." So first of all, you know, again, it's one of the things that impressed me about the Catechism, and I did a fair bit of work on the theology and career of Caspar Olivianus, who was a part of this group that at least edited the Catechism, and Olivianus made some contribution, is the importance of the Trinity.

So we have a Trinitarian answer relative to the Ascension, The other thing I see here is that we have, again, a Catholic ecumenical Christology.

What do we say about Jesus' humanity and his deity? He's true God and true man, and his true humanity is at the right hand of the Father, which means we are there in him.

Jesus has ascended, the Holy Spirit has not yet been poured out, and they do not know exactly what comes next.

So what do they do while they wait? These verses seem to be a little bit of an interesting spot between the Ascension and Pentecost, but here the disciples gather, they devote themselves to prayer, they face what has been broken, and they prepare faithfully for whatever God will do next.

This message is titled Waiting for Power, and it reminds us that waiting on God is never wasted time, even when the future is unclear.

God is still present, He is still faithful, and He is still at work.

They search the scriptures and they choose someone to take the place of Judas.

And they continue to wait.

It doesn't seem nearly as dramatic as the Ascension or Pentecost.

But Luke has not included this passage accidentally.

Amen.

Second Glorious Mystery The Ascension Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as

we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Pictures of the Apostolic Church, Its Life and Teaching, by William M. Ramsay.

The Ascension, Acts 1, 1-14.

The Acts, the second book of Luke's history, opens with a brief summary of the subject contained in his first book, and then gives a fuller statement of its final episode, the Ascension.

This episode must be regarded as the climax and the necessary conclusion of the Savior's life as Luke sets it before us, and as it must be frankly accepted or rejected.

The central idea of the Christian religion, the idea which cannot be doubted or minimized without sacrificing the essential truth of Christianity, is that God, who had always through his messengers and prophets communicated his word to men, at last, as the climax of his grace, sent his only Son into the world.