Be Jesus
The Ascension of the Lord
Dear Saints,
A few announcements:
We're on again this Sunday for Drive-In Mass. Join us in the Walmart parking lot at 9:00am or 11:00am. Check out the link above for more information.
If we can figure out some last-minute logistics, we will distribute Holy Communion at Mass on Sunday. If not, we will make sure to crack the code by Pentecost Sunday (May 31). Stay tuned!
The Outside Confessional is still going strong... swing by when you get a chance. Our schedule is Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays: 10-11:30am and 3-4:30pm.
Visit our Mission Hub for up-to-date information during these Church-in-exile days.
Jesus’ Ascension into heaven - which we celebrate this Sunday - means he has entered earth’s control room. It is from heaven that Jesus sends the Holy Spirit; that he inspires (breathes into!) and animates the lives of his faithful followers.
Another way of saying this, following Saint Paul, is that Jesus is the head of the body, the Church. Being his body, you should imagine, has massive significance for our lives:
We are called, individually and together, to be Jesus in the world.
The mission of Jesus - his continuing 2,000-year mission of bringing heaven to earth - is our mission.
Our lives are eternally meaningful only inasmuch as we, trusting and following Jesus, give ourselves over totally to God and his purposes.
What we ask for in prayer, when we are totally given over to God's mission, is always given.
I’m getting ahead of myself just a bit here. We've still got a week (by the liturgical calendar) to wait for the Spirit.
In this period before Pentecost, it is ours to join the disciples in their nine days (minus a couple) of prayer: the Church’s first novena. As the Apostles were gathered together after Jesus’ Ascension they committed themselves to prayer in anticipation of receiving his Spirit.
Please join with me in prayer that, with a fresh outpouring of his Spirit, God enkindle our hearts anew that we might bring the fire of his love to everyone we encounter!
In the Peace of our Risen Lord,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
PS We dedicate the month of May to Mary. If you'd like to learn how to pray the rosary, check out this page from the USCCB.
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
The Ascension of the Lord
Jesus Ascending into Heaven
by William Brassey Hole, 1846-1917.