In today’s Gospel, Jesus blesses as He departs and ascends. How wonderful God is that He would depart in a posture of blessing. At every mass, we offer Jesus back to the Father. And as the great offering ascends to the heavens, again we are blessed.
Jesus departed to be received by the Father. To mount his throne in the heavens. Every mass, we are blessed to receive Jesus on the throne of our hands. As Jesus takes his place in heaven, He takes his place in our hearts.
When we contemplate the mass, we remember it as a celebration of the resurrection, but within our celebration of Easter lies the Ascension. And within the sacred mysteries of the mass we remember the Ascension.
And the Ascension is intertwined with Jesus’s passion and with our mission. At His death we feel the pain of separation and the depth of his love. At His resurrection we feel the joy of reunion and the power of His divinity.
At Jesus’s ascension we feel the closeness of his presence within and the wild mystery of how far He reigns above us.
How high and mighty, yet somehow wonderfully – particular in loving each and every person.
God loves us from heaven, and from right here. God blesses us from heaven, and from right here.
And that produces a sort of longing Because even when He sends the Holy Spirit.
Which we will celebrate in ten days And as we are sent to each other and to all the world.
We always long for the return of Jesus. And for His kingdom.
God reigns from heaven and He reigns from within you– as you give him the seat of your heart today
Jesus blesses us as He ascends. That we might rise with him.
And so, with our hearts and minds and whole bodies
With longing for God's kingdom
Let us praise our mighty God with Joy this day
Let us celebrate His glorious Ascension
In the sacred mysteries of this holy mass.
Father Aaron Morris, C.S.C., is a newly ordained priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross. He currently works at Stonehill College as the Campus Minister for Faith Formation.
- Father Aaron's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
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