Ascension [a]

Thursday, May 1, 2008 or Sunday, May 4, 2008

Readings

Acts 1:1-11

Ephesians 1:17-23

Mt 28:16-20

Calendar

May
1: Usually the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker;
International Workers’ Day

May
3: World Press Freedom Day

May 5: Cinco de Mayo in Mexico

May 8: World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day

See: http://www.redcross.org/news/in/measles/030502WRChistory.html

May 11: Pentecost

May 11: Mother’s Day

Quotes

The true apostle
is first of all a person who is "tuned in,” a servant ready for God's
action.

John Paul II Athens, May 5, 2001

Look about you with Christ’s eyes,
listen with his ears, feel and think with his heart and mind. Are you ready to
give all as he did for truth and justice? … We must listen deeply. We must
respond with a renewed social action that stems from the universal love that
knows no bounds. In this way, we ensure that our works of mercy and justice
become hope in action for others.

Benedict
XVI, Address to Young People and Seminarians, 19 April 2008

The joys and the hopes, the griefs and
the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in
any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of
the followers of Christ.

Vatican
II, Gaudium et Spes

Intense prayer,
yes, but it does not distract us from our commitment to history: by opening our
heart to the love of God it also opens it to the love of our brothers and
sisters, and makes us capable of shaping history according to God's plan.
…. A spirituality of communion means,
finally, to know how to "make room" for our brothers and sisters,
bearing "each other's burdens" (Gal 6:2) and resisting the selfish
temptations which constantly beset us and provoke competition, careerism,
distrust and jealousy.

John Paul
II, Novo Millennio Ineunte

We have a
lot of work to do. Every time we reach out and assuage someone's hunger, and do
that in memory of Jesus, a sense of Eucharist will bring to consciousness the
Spirit and the real presence of Jesus - in us, through us, among us. That
Spirit alone is capable of transforming us and the world.

Miriam Therese Winter, MMS

Thoughts for your consideration

In the first reading the followers of
Jesus look to heaven.

The angels ask them “Why?”

It is as if the angels are saying:

“Why don’t you just look around? Maybe
then you will see.”

Look
around and you will see the presence of Christ.

Look
around and you will hear the call of God.

Look
around and you will know the Power of the Spirit.

Look
around and you will be empowered.

Look
around and you will be filled with joy.

You
will be involved in the struggle for justice and peace.

You
will hear the voice of God among the poor and needy of the world.

You will
hear God speak in the struggle for peace and justice.

You
will be led into life and grace.

God
dwells in the world.

In a sense the Ascension experience
sends the followers of Jesus into the world to “find God in all things.” The
spirituality of Christ is not a spirituality that looks to get out of the world
and its challenges. The spirituality of Christ is a spirituality connected to
the world around us – the world of people and nature – a world with rich and
poor, men and women, young and old, nature and grace, conflict and
reconciliation, war and peace, human rights, conflicts in the law, and
complexity in issues of justice.

The disciples are sent out not with a
rigid ideology or a fully spelled out set of rules, but rather with a spirit –
a spirit of openness – a spirit that proclaims “repentance and forgiveness of
sins to all nations.”

Even though our world today, on a
certain level, is radically different than the world of 2000 years ago, Christ
can still be found. Christ is still
alive and present. The Ascension of the Lord allows all this to happen. As Jesus says: “It is better for you that I
go, for if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will sent him to you.” (John
16:7) Catholic Social Teaching affirms and supports our involvement in the
world and its problems – our involvement with all the richness, diversity, and
mystery of human life. We can “find God in all things.”

Pope Benedict recently reminded young
people on his trip to the United
States: “We must listen deeply. We must
respond with a renewed social action that stems from the universal love that
knows no bounds. In this way, we ensure that our works of mercy and justice
become hope in action for others.”

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group

How have you been surprised by the presence of God in
daily life?

How have you experienced the presence of God in a
difficult human situation?

Actions - Links

The Friends Committee on National Legislation
(FCNL) is a “Quaker Lobby for the Public Interest.” See http://www.fcnl.org. They are working to
get the US Government to ban the use of cluster
bombs. For info: http://www.fcnl.org/weapons/clusterlanding/clusters_landing9.htm. To send a letter on this issue to the US
Senate on this issue, go to: http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=11024431&type=CO
.

“Crazy Facts”

In talking about the Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2007, statistician Lars Johansen reports: "In the year 2005, the
majority of college freshmen, 75 percent of them, said their primary objective
was to be very well-off financially. However, back in 1970, the majority of the
college freshmen, 79 percent, had as an important personal objective to develop
a meaningful philosophy of life."

Prayers of Intercession

Response:
Come Holy Spirit, guide us on the road to justice.

For the grace to find God in the challenges
and problems of life, we pray….

For immigrants and refugees who have come to
our nation, we pray….

For the people of Iraq and other troubled lands, we
pray….

For the people of our nation who are without
productive work or adequate income, we pray….

For children who grow up in poverty, we
pray….

For our political leaders, that they may always
seek the common good, we pray….

Prayer

The
following prayer for the Feast of the Ascension is from the “This is Church”
website:

http://www.thisischurch.com/intercession/inter020512.htm

Christ, let me see You in others

Christ, let others see You in me

Christ, let me see.

You are the caller,

You are the poor,

You are the stranger

At the door.

You are the wanderer,

The unfed,

You are the homeless

With no bed.

You are the man

Driven insane.

You are the child

Crying in pain.

You are the other

Who comes to me.

Open my eyes that

I may
see.