Feast of the Ascension of the Lord – Year B
“Proclaim the Good News to all creation” (Mk 16:15)
Today is one of those days when across the globe, in the Catholic Church, people may not be listening to the same readings. In many countries, on this day we celebrate the feast of the Ascension of the Lord. In some other countries, however, this feast might have been already celebrated last Thursday, marking the 40th day after Easter. As we heard in the first reading of today, Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:3) that Jesus was seen in his risen form for forty days. After those forty days, Jesus was no more seen in his risen body. The feast of today marks this stage of transition in the story of incarnation […]
Ascension
Sermon for the Ascension of the Lord – Year A: I am with you!
“I am with you always” (Mt 28:20)
Seeking redress for injustice is a human need: when we perceive that we are unjustly treated we want justice to be restored. There are mainly two ways in which we desire justice. One: by wanting revenge on the unjust aggressor; that is, by harming or wanting to harm the unjust aggressor we feel consoled, and our status restored. Though the Hebrew Scriptures see this means of seeking justice to be right, the teachings of Jesus totally rule this out. The second way that we seek justice is by appealing to a higher authority – even God – to defend us and prove us righteous. This is often referred to as the vindication of the just; that is, without necessarily causing harm to the unjust aggressor, the integrity of the victim is restored.
He made him […]