Reading I 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 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 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 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.”
Responsorial Psalm Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9 R. (6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord. or: R. Alleluia. All you peoples, clap your hands, shout to God with cries of gladness, For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome, is the great king over all the earth. R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord. or: R. Alleluia. God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy; the LORD, amid trumpet blasts. Sing praise to God, sing praise; sing praise to our king, sing praise. R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord. or: R. Alleluia. For king of all the earth is God; sing hymns of praise. God reigns over the nations, God sits upon his holy throne. R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord. or: R. Alleluia.
Reading II Eph 1:17-23 Brothers and sisters: May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, 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, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER Since that day, the Apostles and every disciple of Christ have been able to live in Jerusalem and in all cities of the world, even in those most afflicted by injustice and violence, because above every city there is the same heaven and every inhabitant can lift his or her gaze with hope. Jesus, God, is true man, with his human body, he is in heaven! This is our hope, it is still ours, and we are firm in this hope if we look to heaven. In this heaven lives that God who revealed himself so closely as to take on the face of a man, Jesus of Nazareth. He remains for us always the God-with-us — let us remember this: Emmanuel, God with us — and he never leaves us alone! (Regina Caeli, 8 Maggio 2016)
FAUSTI - The return of Jesus to the Father is the redemption of the cosmos, the return of everything to Him from Whom it has come out. It is the great Saturday, ending of God's work. He led them to Bethany, and raised His hands, blessed them: In the decisive moments of His Life, Jesus prays. In the final part, He Himself becomes prayer for us; His hands, always raised to the Father, are stretched out for ever over us; this is the last image of Himself that leaves to us, compendium of His past and a guarantee of our future; His full communion with the Father becomes a definitive blessing for us. He said: "It is good for you that I leave": His distance is not absence. It creates in us that emptiness and that desire that He will fill and fulfill with His Spirit. Man desires what of which he is lacking and becomes that which he desires. With Jesus we have learned to know God. His absence makes us desire Him. To the abyss of our desire for Him, He responds with the gift of His Spirit of Love. Mysteriously already now in His Flesh ascending to heaven, all humanity has returned to the source of life. Having rejoined the Heart of the Father, Jesus is near to each brother, so that he may make His own way. That is why the disciples are filled with joy! The Lord, ascending upwards, has accomplished the greatest wonders in our favor. He has destroyed the slavery that separates us from the homeland of desire, overcoming our death and giving Himself as the meaning of our lives; He has distributed all His gifts, offering us His Spirit and the possibility of living His Life. Children in the Son, finally made adults and responsible, we can witness and proclaim to our brothers and sisters the Love of the Father, continuing to do and teach to the extreme ends of the earth what He began to do and teach from Galilee to Jerusalem. At the end of the Gospel Jesus gives us His blessing. He blesses us twice: continuously and forever. When He was with us, He "passed by doing well". Now, glorified, it remains " well-saying " His saying is the creative power of the Word. It is, in fact, the Son, the perfect Word of the Father, whom we worship like Him in holiness and mercy. In Him we can finally praise God. "Blessed be God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven, in Christ" (Eph 1:3). We reach the purpose for which we were created: We rejoice in the same joy of God, of God Himself, Who is joy. This joy, which at Pentecost will explode outward over the whole earth, is the beginning of the Church, what moves Her along the way. We rejoice in Him as He rejoices of us. The disciples bless the One who blessed them by filling them with all good. To say well is to praise. And the praise is the strength of creation. His Glory fills the earth. The Temple, God's dwelling place, is now man's stable dwelling place. Both live together. Indeed, God makes Himself man's dwelling place and man makes himself God's dwelling place. This is the full blessing. God wished to place in man a desire: to desire Him as He Himself wished it. Now it is fulfilled. "I have asked the Lord, for one thing, this is the only thing I am looking for. To dwell in the house of the Lord every day of my life, to taste the sweetness of the Lord" (Ps 27:4). And the Lord says : Amen, this is it, this is it!
JOHN PAUL II - REGINA COELI - Sunday, May 27, 2001 1. The ASCENSION of JESUS to Heaven is being celebrated today in Italy and other countries. The traditional day would have been last Thursday, but for pastoral reasons the feast has been moved to today's Sunday. That of the ASCENSION of JESUS is an event that left an indelible imprint on the memory of the first disciples, so that we find WITNESS of it in the Gospels and the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. 40 DAYS after His RESURRECTION, JESUS led His disciples to the MOUNT OF THE ULIVES, "toward BETHANY," and, "while He was blessing them, He detached Himself from them and was carried up to the HEAVEN" (Lk 24:50-51). Of course they remained looking upward, but were immediately called back by TWO ANGELS, "Why are you looking up at the SKY? This JESUS ... will return one day in the same way as you saw him go to Heaven" (Acts 1:11). 2. "As in Heaven so on EARTH": these words, which we repeat every day in the prayer of our FATHER, express well the new condition of the disciples, transformed by the experience of the paschal mystery of CHRIST. They are at the same time citizens of the EARTH and of the SKY. CHRIST, in fact, created in Himself the bridge between SKY and EARTH: He is the Mediator between God and man, between the KINGDOM OF SKY and the HISTORY of the world. United with Him in His very SPIRIT, the BELIEVERS form a new community, the Church, whose nature is both visible and spiritual, PILGRIMING in the world and sharing in heavenly GLORY (cf. Lumen gentium, 8. 48-51). 3. Of all creatures, Mary Most Holy has been more than any other associated with this mystery. As the new Eve from whom the new Adam was born, She points the way to our commitment on EARTH; at the same time, having been assumed into Heaven in body and soul, She invites us to reach out to our true homeland, where the fullness of life in the love of the Triune God awaits us. As the Church sets sail into the ocean of the new millennium, she does not lose sight of the North Star, which guides her navigation. That star is CHRIST, Lord of the ages. Beside Him is His and our Mother, who never ceases to accompany her children in their EARTHLY PILGRIMAGE. To Her we look in sincere HOPE. To Her we entrust the expectations and plans of the Church as they emerged in the Extraordinary Consistory just concluded. To Her we ask for the whole world the gift of peace!!!!! as we sing the "Regina caeli" with renewed confidence.
BENEDICT XVI -REGINA CÆLI - St. Peter's Square - Solemnity of the ASCENSION of the Lord - Sunday, May 16, 2010 Today, in Italy and other countries, we celebrate the ASCENSION of JESUS into Heaven, which took place on the fortieth DAY after Easter. This Sunday also includes the World Day of SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS, on the theme, "The Priest and Pastoral Care in the Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word." The liturgy recounts the episode of the final separation of the Lord JESUS from His disciples (cf. Lk 24:50-51; Acts 1:2, 9); but it is not an abandonment, for He remains forever with them - with us - in a new form. St. Bernard of Clairvaux explains that JESUS' ASCENSION to Heaven is accomplished in three degrees: "the first is the GLORY of RESURRECTION, the second the power of judgment, and the third sitting at the right hand of the FATHER" . This event is preceded by the blessing of the disciples, which prepares them to receive the gift of the HOLY SPIRIT so that salvation will be proclaimed everywhere. JESUS Himself says to them, "Of this you are WITNESSES. And behold, I send upon you the One whom my FATHER has promised" (cf. Lk. 24:47-49). The Lord draws the Apostles' gaze - our gaze - to the SKY to show them how to walk the path of good during their earthly life. He, however, remains in the texture of human HISTORY, is near to each of us and guides our Christian walk: He is companion to those persecuted because of FAITH, is in the hearts of those marginalized, is present in those to whom the right to life is denied. We can hear, see and touch the Lord JESUS in the Church, especially through the Word and the Sacraments. In this respect, I urge the children and young people who receive the sacrament of Confirmation in this Easter season to remain faithful to the Word of God and to the doctrine they have learned, as well as to assiduously approach Confession and the Eucharist, knowing that they have been chosen and constituted to WITNESS the Truth. I then renew my special invitation to the brothers in the Priesthood, so that "in their lives and actions they may be distinguished by a strong evangelical TESTIMONY" (Letter of Indiction of the Year for Priests) and know how to use wisely the means of COMMUNICATION as well, in order to make known the life of the Church and help people today to discover the face of CHRIST.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord, opening for us the way to Heaven, makes us already on this EARTH foretaste the divine life. A 20th-century Russian author, in his spiritual testament, wrote: "Look more often at the stars. When you have a burden in your soul, look at the stars or the blue SKY. When you feel unhappy, when you are offended, ... entertain yourself ... with the SKY. Then your soul will find stillness" (N. Valentini - L. Žák ). I thank the Virgin Mary, Whom I was able to venerate in the past few days at the Shrine of Fatima, for Her maternal protection during the intense PILGRIMAGE I made in Portugal. To Her who watches over the WITNESSES of Her Beloved Son we confidently address our prayers.
PAPA FRANCIS - REGINA COELI - May 8, 2016 Today we celebrate the ASCENSION of JESUS to Heaven, which took place 40 DAYS after Easter. We contemplate the mystery of JESUS leaving our EARTHLY space to enter the fullness of God's GLORY, taking our humanity with Him. That is, we, our humanity enters the HEAVEN for the first time. Luke's Gospel shows us the reaction of the disciples before the Lord who "detached Himself from them and was taken up, into Heaven" (24:51). There was no sorrow or bewilderment in them, but "they prostrated themselves before Him; then they returned to JERUSALEM with great joy" (v. 52). It is the return of those who no longer fear the city that had rejected the Master, that had seen Judas' betrayal and Peter's denial, had seen the dispersion of the disciples and the violence of a power that was feeling threatened. From that day for the Apostles and for every disciple of CHRIST it was possible to dwell in JERUSALEM and in all the cities of the world, even in those most troubled by injustice and violence, because over every city there is the same SKY and every inhabitant can look up with HOPE. JESUS, God, is real man, with His body of man is in HEAVEN! And this is our HOPE, it is our still, and we are firm in this HOPE if we look at the SKY. In this SKY dwells that God who revealed Himself so close that He took the face of a man, JESUS of Nazareth. He remains forever the God-with-us-remember this: Emmanuel, God-with-us-and He does not leave us alone! We can look up to recognize before us our future. In the ASCENSION of JESUS, the resurrected Crucified One, there is the promise of our participation in the fullness of life among God. Before parting from his friends, JESUS, referring to the event of His DEATH and RESURRECTION, had told them, "Of this you are WITNESSES" (v. 48). That is, the disciples, the apostles are WITNESSES of the DEATH and RESURRECTION of CHRIST, in that day, also of the ASCENSION of CHRIST. And indeed, after seeing their Lord ascend to Heaven, the disciples returned to the city as WITNESSES who joyfully proclaim to all the new life that comes from the RISEN Crucified One, in whose name "conversion and the forgiveness of SINS will be preached to all peoples" (v. 47). This is the WITNESS - made not only with words but also with daily life - the WITNESS that should come out of our churches every Sunday and enter during the week into homes, offices, schools, meeting places and places of entertainment, in hospitals, prisons, homes for the elderly, places crowded of immigrants, city suburbs... This WITNESS we must bring every week: CHRIST is with us; JESUS has ascended to Heaven, He is with us; CHRIST is alive! JESUS has assured us that in this proclamation and this TESTIMONY we will be "clothed with power from on high" (v. 49), that is, by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT. Here lies the secret of this mission: the presence among us of the RESURRECTED Lord, Who by the gift of the SPIRIT continues to open our minds and hearts to proclaim His love and mercy even in the most refractory environments of our cities. It is the HOLY SPIRIT that is the REAL CREATOR of the multifaceted TESTIMONY that the Church and every baptized person renders in the world. Therefore, we can never neglect recollection in prayer to praise God and invoke the gift of the SPIRIT. In this week, leading up to the feast of Pentecost, let us remain spiritually in the Upper Room, together with the Virgin Mary, to receive the HOLY SPIRIT. We do so even now, in communion with the faithful gathered at the Shrine of Pompeii for the traditional Supplication.
Reading I
RispondiEliminaActs 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
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
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 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.”
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
R. (6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading II
Eph 1:17-23
Brothers and sisters:
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
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,
the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
from the Gospel according to Luke
RispondiEliminaLk 24:46-53
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you;
but stay in the city
until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Then he led them out as far as Bethany,
raised his hands, and blessed them.
As he blessed them he parted from them
and was taken up to heaven.
They did him homage
and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
and they were continually in the temple praising God.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
Since that day, the Apostles and every disciple of Christ have been able to live in Jerusalem and in all cities of the world, even in those most afflicted by injustice and violence, because above every city there is the same heaven and every inhabitant can lift his or her gaze with hope. Jesus, God, is true man, with his human body, he is in heaven! This is our hope, it is still ours, and we are firm in this hope if we look to heaven. In this heaven lives that God who revealed himself so closely as to take on the face of a man, Jesus of Nazareth. He remains for us always the God-with-us — let us remember this: Emmanuel, God with us — and he never leaves us alone! (Regina Caeli, 8 Maggio 2016)
FAUSTI - The return of Jesus to the Father is the redemption of the cosmos, the return of everything to Him from Whom it has come out.
RispondiEliminaIt is the great Saturday, ending of God's work.
He led them to Bethany, and raised His hands, blessed them: In the decisive moments of His Life, Jesus prays. In the final part, He Himself becomes prayer for us; His hands, always raised to the Father, are stretched out for ever over us; this is the last image of Himself that leaves to us, compendium of His past and a guarantee of our future; His full communion with the Father becomes a definitive blessing for us.
He said: "It is good for you that I leave": His distance is not absence. It creates in us that emptiness and that desire that He will fill and fulfill with His Spirit.
Man desires what of which he is lacking and becomes that which he desires.
With Jesus we have learned to know God. His absence makes us desire Him.
To the abyss of our desire for Him, He responds with the gift of His Spirit of Love.
Mysteriously already now in His Flesh ascending to heaven, all humanity has returned to the source of life.
Having rejoined the Heart of the Father, Jesus is near to each brother, so that he may make His own way.
That is why the disciples are filled with joy! The Lord, ascending upwards, has accomplished the greatest wonders in our favor. He has destroyed the slavery that separates us from the homeland of desire, overcoming our death and giving Himself as the meaning of our lives; He has distributed all His gifts, offering us His Spirit and the possibility of living His Life.
Children in the Son, finally made adults and responsible, we can witness and proclaim to our brothers and sisters the Love of the Father, continuing to do and teach to the extreme ends of the earth what He began to do and teach from Galilee to Jerusalem.
At the end of the Gospel Jesus gives us His blessing.
He blesses us twice: continuously and forever. When He was with us, He "passed by doing well". Now, glorified, it remains " well-saying " His saying is the creative power of the Word.
It is, in fact, the Son, the perfect Word of the Father, whom we worship like Him in holiness and mercy.
In Him we can finally praise God.
"Blessed be God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven, in Christ" (Eph 1:3).
We reach the purpose for which we were created:
We rejoice in the same joy of God, of God Himself, Who is joy.
This joy, which at Pentecost will explode outward over the whole earth, is the beginning of the Church, what moves Her along the way.
We rejoice in Him as He rejoices of us. The disciples bless the One who blessed them by filling them with all good. To say well is to praise. And the praise is the strength of creation.
His Glory fills the earth. The Temple, God's dwelling place, is now man's stable dwelling place.
Both live together. Indeed, God makes Himself man's dwelling place and man makes himself God's dwelling place.
This is the full blessing. God wished to place in man a desire: to desire Him as He Himself wished it. Now it is fulfilled. "I have asked the Lord, for one thing, this is the only thing I am looking for. To dwell in the house of the Lord every day of my life, to taste the sweetness of the Lord" (Ps 27:4).
And the Lord says : Amen, this is it, this is it!
JOHN PAUL II - REGINA COELI - Sunday, May 27, 2001
RispondiElimina1. The ASCENSION of JESUS to Heaven is being celebrated today in Italy and other countries. The traditional day would have been last Thursday, but for pastoral reasons the feast has been moved to today's Sunday.
That of the ASCENSION of JESUS is an event that left an indelible imprint on the memory of the first disciples, so that we find WITNESS of it in the Gospels and the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. 40 DAYS after His RESURRECTION, JESUS led His disciples to the MOUNT OF THE ULIVES, "toward BETHANY," and, "while He was blessing them, He detached Himself from them and was carried up to the HEAVEN" (Lk 24:50-51). Of course they remained looking upward, but were immediately called back by TWO ANGELS, "Why are you looking up at the SKY? This JESUS ... will return one day in the same way as you saw him go to Heaven" (Acts 1:11).
2. "As in Heaven so on EARTH": these words, which we repeat every day in the prayer of our FATHER, express well the new condition of the disciples, transformed by the experience of the paschal mystery of CHRIST. They are at the same time citizens of the EARTH and of the SKY.
CHRIST, in fact, created in Himself the bridge between SKY and EARTH: He is the Mediator between God and man, between the KINGDOM OF SKY and the HISTORY of the world. United with Him in His very SPIRIT, the BELIEVERS form a new community, the Church, whose nature is both visible and spiritual, PILGRIMING in the world and sharing in heavenly GLORY (cf. Lumen gentium, 8. 48-51).
3. Of all creatures, Mary Most Holy has been more than any other associated with this mystery. As the new Eve from whom the new Adam was born, She points the way to our commitment on EARTH; at the same time, having been assumed into Heaven in body and soul, She invites us to reach out to our true homeland, where the fullness of life in the love of the Triune God awaits us.
As the Church sets sail into the ocean of the new millennium, she does not lose sight of the North Star, which guides her navigation. That star is CHRIST, Lord of the ages. Beside Him is His and our Mother, who never ceases to accompany her children in their EARTHLY PILGRIMAGE. To Her we look in sincere HOPE. To Her we entrust the expectations and plans of the Church as they emerged in the Extraordinary Consistory just concluded. To Her we ask for the whole world the gift of peace!!!!! as we sing the "Regina caeli" with renewed confidence.
BENEDICT XVI -REGINA CÆLI - St. Peter's Square - Solemnity of the ASCENSION of the Lord - Sunday, May 16, 2010
RispondiEliminaToday, in Italy and other countries, we celebrate the ASCENSION of JESUS into Heaven, which took place on the fortieth DAY after Easter. This Sunday also includes the World Day of SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS, on the theme, "The Priest and Pastoral Care in the Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word." The liturgy recounts the episode of the final separation of the Lord JESUS from His disciples (cf. Lk 24:50-51; Acts 1:2, 9); but it is not an abandonment, for He remains forever with them - with us - in a new form. St. Bernard of Clairvaux explains that JESUS' ASCENSION to Heaven is accomplished in three degrees: "the first is the GLORY of RESURRECTION, the second the power of judgment, and the third sitting at the right hand of the FATHER" . This event is preceded by the blessing of the disciples, which prepares them to receive the gift of the HOLY SPIRIT so that salvation will be proclaimed everywhere. JESUS Himself says to them, "Of this you are WITNESSES. And behold, I send upon you the One whom my FATHER has promised" (cf. Lk. 24:47-49).
The Lord draws the Apostles' gaze - our gaze - to the SKY to show them how to walk the path of good during their earthly life. He, however, remains in the texture of human HISTORY, is near to each of us and guides our Christian walk: He is companion to those persecuted because of FAITH, is in the hearts of those marginalized, is present in those to whom the right to life is denied. We can hear, see and touch the Lord JESUS in the Church, especially through the Word and the Sacraments. In this respect, I urge the children and young people who receive the sacrament of Confirmation in this Easter season to remain faithful to the Word of God and to the doctrine they have learned, as well as to assiduously approach Confession and the Eucharist, knowing that they have been chosen and constituted to WITNESS the Truth. I then renew my special invitation to the brothers in the Priesthood, so that "in their lives and actions they may be distinguished by a strong evangelical TESTIMONY" (Letter of Indiction of the Year for Priests) and know how to use wisely the means of COMMUNICATION as well, in order to make known the life of the Church and help people today to discover the face of CHRIST.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord, opening for us the way to Heaven, makes us already on this EARTH foretaste the divine life. A 20th-century Russian author, in his spiritual testament, wrote: "Look more often at the stars. When you have a burden in your soul, look at the stars or the blue SKY. When you feel unhappy, when you are offended, ... entertain yourself ... with the SKY. Then your soul will find stillness" (N. Valentini - L. Žák ). I thank the Virgin Mary, Whom I was able to venerate in the past few days at the Shrine of Fatima, for Her maternal protection during the intense PILGRIMAGE I made in Portugal. To Her who watches over the WITNESSES of Her Beloved Son we confidently address our prayers.
PAPA FRANCIS - REGINA COELI - May 8, 2016
RispondiEliminaToday we celebrate the ASCENSION of JESUS to Heaven, which took place 40 DAYS after Easter. We contemplate the mystery of JESUS leaving our EARTHLY space to enter the fullness of God's GLORY, taking our humanity with Him. That is, we, our humanity enters the HEAVEN for the first time. Luke's Gospel shows us the reaction of the disciples before the Lord who "detached Himself from them and was taken up, into Heaven" (24:51). There was no sorrow or bewilderment in them, but "they prostrated themselves before Him; then they returned to JERUSALEM with great joy" (v. 52). It is the return of those who no longer fear the city that had rejected the Master, that had seen Judas' betrayal and Peter's denial, had seen the dispersion of the disciples and the violence of a power that was feeling threatened.
From that day for the Apostles and for every disciple of CHRIST it was possible to dwell in JERUSALEM and in all the cities of the world, even in those most troubled by injustice and violence, because over every city there is the same SKY and every inhabitant can look up with HOPE. JESUS, God, is real man, with His body of man is in HEAVEN! And this is our HOPE, it is our still, and we are firm in this HOPE if we look at the SKY.
In this SKY dwells that God who revealed Himself so close that He took the face of a man, JESUS of Nazareth. He remains forever the God-with-us-remember this: Emmanuel, God-with-us-and He does not leave us alone! We can look up to recognize before us our future. In the ASCENSION of JESUS, the resurrected Crucified One, there is the promise of our participation in the fullness of life among God.
Before parting from his friends, JESUS, referring to the event of His DEATH and RESURRECTION, had told them, "Of this you are WITNESSES" (v. 48). That is, the disciples, the apostles are WITNESSES of the DEATH and RESURRECTION of CHRIST, in that day, also of the ASCENSION of CHRIST. And indeed, after seeing their Lord ascend to Heaven, the disciples returned to the city as WITNESSES who joyfully proclaim to all the new life that comes from the RISEN Crucified One, in whose name "conversion and the forgiveness of SINS will be preached to all peoples" (v. 47). This is the WITNESS - made not only with words but also with daily life - the WITNESS that should come out of our churches every Sunday and enter during the week into homes, offices, schools, meeting places and places of entertainment, in hospitals, prisons, homes for the elderly, places crowded of immigrants, city suburbs... This WITNESS we must bring every week: CHRIST is with us; JESUS has ascended to Heaven, He is with us; CHRIST is alive!
JESUS has assured us that in this proclamation and this TESTIMONY we will be "clothed with power from on high" (v. 49), that is, by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT. Here lies the secret of this mission: the presence among us of the RESURRECTED Lord, Who by the gift of the SPIRIT continues to open our minds and hearts to proclaim His love and mercy even in the most refractory environments of our cities. It is the HOLY SPIRIT that is the REAL CREATOR of the multifaceted TESTIMONY that the Church and every baptized person renders in the world. Therefore, we can never neglect recollection in prayer to praise God and invoke the gift of the SPIRIT. In this week, leading up to the feast of Pentecost, let us remain spiritually in the Upper Room, together with the Virgin Mary, to receive the HOLY SPIRIT. We do so even now, in communion with the faithful gathered at the Shrine of Pompeii for the traditional Supplication.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiX3CgdHcAc&t=6s
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