Commentary on the Gospel of
Feast of Hope
Read:
Both the First Reading and the Gospel speak of the event of ascension of the Lord. The Letter to the Hebrews speaks of the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ that gives us hope for a share in his glory.
Reflect:
Just as the Passover marked the liberation of Israel from slavery in Egypt, the Passion and Resurrection of Christ won for us liberation from the slavery to sin. However, the Israelites had to travel for 40 long years to finally enter the Promised Land. The Ascension of Christ happens 40 days after the Resurrection, showing us where we are headed to: redeemed from slavery to sin, we are now to walk the “forties” to enter the final promise—a definitive share in the Triune life of Glory, into which Christ, as the firstborn has ascended, as a promise and hope for us. The Spirit would soon descend, to accompany us in the journey of the forties all the way to where Christ is. So, “why keep looking up at the sky?” Let’s get busy living, get busy loving, preaching and practicing repentance and forgiveness for all.
Pray:
Pray for those who live without hope to find hope in God.
Act:
Help someone to ascend from hopelessness to a life of hope.
===========================================================================
5th Sunday of Easter - Day of the Ascension of the Lord
"I will be with you always, even to the end of the age".
"WORLD DAY OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS".
What the evangelist Luke is trying to make the disciples see is that the fact that Jesus is risen does not mean that history has come to an end, but rather that Easter means that God has created a space and a time for the Church to develop, to announce the Good News, starting from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.
This was the task that Jesus Christ gave to his Church, to his followers, starting with the apostles, who had to give an account of what they had seen and heard, and at his farewell, at his Ascension, the Lord reminds them: "You will be my witnesses", was his last wish. This is also the mission of those of us who consider ourselves his disciples: to be his witnesses here and now, to tell of his life. If today, with its lights and shadows, the cause of Christ continues to go forward, it is because that handful of men did not "stand looking up to heaven", but stayed in the city of men and went about doing and teaching all that Jesus had done, moved by the Holy Spirit.
Paul VI said: "The world needs witnesses more than teachers. The witness is one who speaks with his life, and who has done this better than Christ, no one defined himself before Pilate as a "witness of the truth" (Jn.18,37). No one and nothing can replace the personal and communal witness of the Gospel, that is why, before He withdraws from their sight, He makes a promise to His disciples. "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and so you will be my witnesses in all Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. "
Every day we need His grace, because every day we have to overcome our own whims, selfishness and comfort. We must be steadfast in the face of an environment that will often be contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ, to overcome human respects, to bear simple but eloquent witness to the Lord, as the apostles did.
We have to ask for his help to overcome the resistance to fulfil the duties that cost us, to face the normal obstacles of every existence, to be constant in the apostolate, to overcome adversities with serenity and a supernatural spirit. With our own strength, we will achieve little or nothing.
Prayer: Lord, help us to do your will and create a little bit of heaven on this earth.
Action: I will see to it that my world, and those who live in it, do not forget the words of the Lord.
(Psalm 46) God ascends amidst acclamations; the Lord, to the sound of trumpets.
HAPPY SUNDAY TO YOU ALL.
