On this Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, the day when our blessed Saviour ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father.<\/p>\n
Today is a time for both joyful jubilation and somber sadness.\u00a0 On the one hand, the Risen Christ is taking his rightful place as the true High Priest to intercede for us for all eternity.\u00a0 On the other, his earthly ministry has come to an end and he is leaving his disciples.\u00a0 Perhaps many of us, like Mary Magdalene upon seeing the Resurrected Jesus, would prefer to hold him close and have him remain on earth with us.\u00a0 How painful the words of Christ to her must have been: \u201cDo not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father\u201d (John 20:17).\u00a0 Indeed this pain would have been inconsolable if not for the promise of the coming Comforter, the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth.\u00a0 Christ does not leave us orphaned when he ascends into heaven.\u00a0 He sends the Holy Spirit to guide us in the ways of righteousness and love, all while interceding to the Father on our behalf.<\/p>\n
In another short week we will again gather to celebrate the holy feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit comes from heaven to clothe the disciples with \u201cpower from on high\u201d (Luke 24:49), power to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to all corners of the world.\u00a0 But this power does not come if we cling to Christ and try to hold him for ourselves.\u00a0 The Gospel must be lived and shared with others, lest its power wither away.\u00a0 Our Lord does not say to us: \u201ckeep me for yourselves and never speak of me to others.\u201d\u00a0 Rather, he commands us \u201c\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>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,\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age\u201d (Mt 28:19-20).<\/p>\n Jesus is truly with us, even here on earth.\u00a0 Naturally, we desire to see Our Lord in the flesh, and yet we may often forget we do see, hear, and even taste him at every celebration of the Most Holy Eucharist.\u00a0 We hear him in the words of Sacred Scripture, proclaimed at every Mass.\u00a0 We see him in the person of the priest and in the congregation of the faithful who make up the Body of Christ.\u00a0 We taste him in the Eucharist, his very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, which is the most intimate encounter with Our Lord possible this side of heaven.\u00a0 Truly he is with us \u201cto the close of the age.\u201d<\/p>\n St. Augustine details the mission of a Christian in one of his sermons: \u201cThe turbulent have to be corrected, the faint-hearted cheered up, the weak supported; the Gospel’s opponents need to be refuted, its insidious enemies guarded against; the unlearned need to be taught, the indolent stirred up, the argumentative checked; the proud must be put in their place, the desperate set on their feet, those engaged in quarrels reconciled; the needy have to be helped, the oppressed to be liberated, the good to be encouraged, the bad to be tolerated; all must be loved\u201d (Sermo <\/em>340).\u00a0 This is the great commission of Christ, his last commandment before ascending into heaven.<\/p>\n So on this Ascension Sunday let us not hold onto Christ for ourselves alone, but share the Good News with others and bear witness to the hope and joy we have as Catholics.\u00a0 In a world that seeks to silence people of faith, let us proclaim from the rooftops \u201cJesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:11).\u201d\u00a0 Let us not be ashamed of the Gospel, but boast in its power to save, its power to transform lives, to heal wounds and warm hearts.<\/p>\n Kevin Ponte<\/strong> –\u00a0St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta<\/p>\n Fot. Eberhard Grossgasteiger\/Unsplash.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Solemnity of the Ascension<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[200,38,152,142],"class_list":["post-2051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider","tag-ascension","tag-gospel","tag-holy-spirit","tag-kevin_ponte"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n