Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Announcements: Ascension of the Lord

Dear Holy Rosary Mission Parishioners, here are a few announcements:


Blessing of the Fleet: This coming Sunday, June 5, will be the blessing of the fleet. Please contact Angela Clark if you would like to donate some of your time and talent. The Blessing will be after Mass at 2:00 PM.

Confirmation and First Communion Pics: Please see our website for the pictures or CLICK HERE.

Thank you: Thank you to Archbishop Schwietz and Deacon Harry Moore for a wonder celebration of First Communion and Confirmation. Please hurry back!

Thank you: Thank you Nora Johnson for putting out the flowers on the church steps again this year.

Gospel: The Ascension will be celebrated in place of the 7th Sunday of Easter. Please see the homily and readings below.

Around the Mission: I flew to Clarks Point on Friday and the archbishop, Deacon and Harry, and I flew to Saint Theresa on Saturday. I flew to Anchorage on Monday, round trip, six and one half hours. I was going to spend the night in Anchorage but a storm was coming in so I got back the same day. I had time to pick up my new Tacoma and park it in our hanger at Merrill Field.


Thank you: Pat Durbin and Deacon Harry fixed a drain in our Rectory. I had tried several times but the pipe was clogged somewhere beyond my ability to fix it.

Have a fantastic week...Fr. Scott

Homily and Readings:

Ascension, Year A, DLG 2011, Hearts Ascend, Acts 1: 1-11; Eph 1: 17 23; Mat 28: 16-20

Ask children to come up front and hold each card. Ask for volunteers to put these cards in order:

1. Walk on Water
2. Assumption
3. Crucifixion
4. Resurrection
5. Last Supper
6. Presentation
7. Incarnation
8. Annunciation
9. 10 Commandments
10. Ascension

The Ascension reminds us that Jesus is divine. Jesus is glorified. Although his physical body is not present with us, he is still present in us. We experience that presence in our daily lives.

Saint Augustine helped me to understand the Ascension. He said that Christ ascended into heaven. As humans living on earth our bodies do not ascend, but our hearts ascend to Jesus. We naturally seek Jesus above. Saint Augustine says we can be with Jesus right now through love.

Saint Augustine said that since Jesus is God, it is easy for him to be with us right now. Since Christ Ascended, he said, and he is the head of us and we are the body, we can NEVER be separated.

Acts tells us, “Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” Jesus sent us his Holy Spirit. Although his physical body is not visibly present…Jesus is certainly present in each one of us right now. Our role in the Ascension is to make that presence visible to everyone that we meet (223 Words).

Acts 1: 1-11
In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days 2 and speaking about the kingdom of God. While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for "the promise of the Father 3 about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit." When they had gathered together they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going 4 to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He answered them, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven."

Ephesians 1: 17-23
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of (your) hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, 11 the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

Mat 28: 16-20
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

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