Pastor's Message

                 6th Sunday of Easter

                                      "He enters into communion of power and life with the living God, into God's dominion over space; Hence he has not gove away, but now and forever by  God’s Power, He is present with us and for us.” ." (Jesus of Nazareth Vol. 2 Pg 283.)

     “As Jesus was talking to them, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.”

      Today, we celebrate the Ascension Sunday, forty days, this past Thursday since the day of his resurrection. Jesus ascends to Heaven; in his Words to Mary Magdalene on that Easter Morning; “…Ascending to My God and your God, to my Father and your Father.”                            

      He, the Son of God, became one with us, in that Great Miracle of Incarnation and was born in Bethlehem. He, “God Among us,” the highest point in God’s Revelation, revealed the Face of the Father!

      With his journey on earth now complete, Jesus returns to the Father having completed his Salvific Mission on earth; His self-giving on the Altar of the Cross; Thus, revealing the extent to which God in His Love was willing to pursue us, reconciling us to Himself; Our Creator and Father. This is a Great Uplifting beyond every human fathoming!

      And as if this was not enough, in the opening prayer of this Mass, the Priest pleaded with the words; “gladden us with holy joys, Almighty God, and make us rejoice with devote thanksgiving, for the Ascension of Christ your Son is our exaltation.”

      How is Christ’s Ascension Our Exaltation?

      Pope Francis wrote, and I quote; “Jesus leaves our earthly space to enter the fullness of God’s Glory, taking our humanity with him. In other words, our humanity entered heaven for the first time.” (Pope Francis – Regina Coeli 8th May 2016)

      Ascension is our exaltation, because in Christ’s return to the Father, He carried our poor human nature, in Him; above all the hosts of heaven, above all the ranks of angels, beyond the highest heavenly powers to the very throne of God the Father.” (St. Leo the Great)

      You can see, then, why Jesus told us in last Sunday’s Gospel Reading; “If you Loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, … because the Father is greater than I.”

      The question then becomes; are we human beings, attentive enough to appreciate our blessedness in this privilege?

      Christ’s departure, is not a journey out of the cosmos, but an entry into the Mystery of God; an absolute inner closeness in the Divine. In the words of Pope Benedict “He enters into communion of power and life with the living God, into God’s dominion over space; Hence he has not gone away, but now and forever by God’s Power, He is present with us and for us.” (Jesus of Nazareth Vol. 2 Pg 283.)

     The Disciples in St Luke’s Gospel, by the Power of the Holy Spirit, understood this. That’s why St Luke concludes the scene of the Ascension with the words; “They returned to Jerusalem with Great Joy.” (Luke24:52)