Saint Augstine on our Lord's Ascension

(Sermo de Ascensione Domini, Mai 98, 1-2: PLS 2, 494-495)

Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him. Listen to the words of the Apostle: If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. For just as he remained with us even after his ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies.

Christ is now exalted above the heavens, but he still suffers on earth all the pain that we, the members of his body, have to bear. He showed this when he cried out from above:Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? and when he said: I was hungry and you gave me food.

Why do we on earth not strive to find rest with him in heaven even now, through the faith, hope and love that unites us to him? While in heaven he is also with us; and we while on earth are with him. He is here with us by his divinity, his power and his love. We cannot be in heaven, as he is on earth, by divinity, but in him, we can be there by love.

He did not leave heaven when he came down to us; nor did he withdraw from us when he went up again into heaven. The fact that he was in heaven even while he was on earth is borne out by his own statement: No one has ever ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.

These words are explained by our oneness with Christ, for he is our head and we are his body. No one ascended into heaven except Christ because we also are Christ: he is the Son of Man by his union with us, and we by our union with him are the sons of God. So the Apostle says: Just as the human body, which has many members, is a unity, because all the different members make one body, so is it also with Christ. He too has many members, but one body.

Out of compassion for us he descended from heaven, and although he ascended alone, we also ascend, because we are in him by grace. Thus, no one but Christ descended and no one but Christ ascended; not because there is no distinction between the head and the body, but because the body as a unity cannot be separated from the head.

On the Ascension and Presence of Jesus Christ

On the Ascension from Insight Scoop, by Carl Olson

 

First, here is a short excerpt from "The Ascension: The Beginning of a New Nearness," from Images of Hope: Meditations on Major Feasts (Ignatius, 2006):

You are surely familiar with all those precious, naïve images in which only the feet of Jesus are visible, sticking out of the cloud, at the heads of the apostles. The cloud, for its part, is a dark circle on the perimeter; on the inside, however, blazing light. It occurs to me that precisely in the apparent naïveté of this representation something very deep comes into view. All we see of Christ in the time of history are his feet and the cloud. His feet—what are they?

We are reminded, first of all, of a peculiar sentence from the Resurrection account in Matthew's Gospel, where it is said that the women held onto the feet of the Risen Lord and worshipped him. As the Risen One, he towers over earthly proportions. We can still only touch his feet; and we touch them in adoration. Here we could reflect that we come as worshippers, following his trail, close to his footsteps. Praying, we go to him; praying, we touch him, even if in this world, so to speak, always only from below, only from afar, always only on the trail of his earthly steps. At the same time it becomes clear that we do not find the footprints of Christ when we look only below, when we measure only footprints and want to subsume faith in the obvious. The Lord is movement toward above, and only in moving ourselves, in looking up and ascending, do we recognize him.

When we read the Church Fathers something important is added. The correct ascent of man occurs precisely where he learns, in humbly turning toward his neighbor, to bow very deeply, down to his feet, down to the gesture of the washing of feet. It is precisely humility, which can bow low, that carries man upward. This is the dynamic of ascent that the feast of the Ascension wants to teach us.

And this from "The Threefold Presence of Christ", from You Crown the Year With Your Goodness: Sermons Throught the Liturgical Year (Ignatius, 1989), by Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar:

[Christ's] disappearance from the world begins with his Passion and ends with his Ascension. For since he was laid in the tomb, no worldly person, no one who lacks the Spirit of Christ, has seen him anymore. His coming to us, however, starts on Easter morning, where he meets one disciple after another; it continues throughout the Forty Days and is brought to its fulfillment at Pentecost, when he pours out his Spirit over the Church and thus fills her with his own innermost being. It is not that his presence changes into his absence; what changes is the mode of his presence. ...

As Catholics we can try to view this new presence from three angles: from God's point of view, from Christ's point of view and from the Church's point of view. ...

The Lord shares in God's mode of presence, but he is not only God, he is also man for all eternity, with a human body and a human soul. Now this humanity explicitly participates in the new mode of his presence and indwelling. And this is the really astonishing and baffling thing: that this finite soul and this limited body can share in the limitless omnipresence and intimacy of God. His wisdom and love have brought this miracle about: it is called "Eucharist". It is not only a spiritual being-together in which the parties think of one another, nor is it simply the kind of presence whereby man is in God: it is an indwelling of the divine-human being of Christ, soul and body, in the whole person, body in body and soul in soul. "He who eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood abides in me and I in him." ...

[Christ] is with us not only as God, not only as the eucharistic God-man, but also, essentially, as Church. What we mean by "Church" comes into being as a result of his Eucharist, from the outpouring of his Spirit; the Church lives in the power of his being-with-us all the days, to the end of the world. ...

Love is heaven on earth. Only thus is the mystery of the Ascension complete, in which the Son comes to us so that we may be where he is. He is with God, and God is love. And if we love, says John, we are with God and in God.

Finally, from my article, "The Image of Man Has Been Raised Up: On the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord":

At the Ascension the crucified, risen Son of God returns to His Father. Having descended to dusty earth, He now returns to heavenly glory. Having conquered death, He ascends to eternal life. But He returns to the right hand of the Father not just as the Word, but as the Incarnate Word. The doors of heaven are now open and humanity can now approach the throne room of God, the way having been paved by the life, death, and resurrection of the God-man. Pentecost, finally, is the manifestation of the God-man's Church, which is both human and divine. The Church was revealed to the world on that day—fifty days after Easter—by the power of the Holy Spirit.

All of this theology is nice enough, but what does it mean for us? It means the Feast of the Ascension is a celebration of salvation won. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that "in the Eastern Church this feast was known as analepsis, the taking up, and also as the episozomene, the salvation, denoting that by ascending into His glory Christ completed the work of our redemption." The tendency is often to think of the Resurrection as the culmination of Jesus' salvific work, but it is the Ascension that places the final stamp of approval on the sacrificial and victorious work of our Savior. This is beautifully expressed in the first chapter of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians:

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 ... (Eph. 1:17-20).

Now that the Incarnate Son of God has ascended into heaven and sits in the throne room of God, mankind can follow. United to the Son through baptism and deepening communion with Him through reception of the Holy Eucharist and the other sacraments, the hope of heaven is ours.

"The ascension of Christ is our elevation," declared Leo the Great in a sermon on the Ascension, "Hope for the body is also invited where the glory of the Head preceded us. Let us exult, dearly beloved, with worthy joy and be glad with a holy thanksgiving. Today we not only are established as possessors of paradise, but we have even penetrated the heights of the heavens in Christ." Where the sin of the first Adam closed the gates of Paradise, the righteousness of the new Adam has opened them wide.

Read the entire piece.

Gospel Reflection-Speaking Plainly of the Father

by Winston Elliott III

John 16:23b-28

23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name. 24 Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. 25 "I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the Father. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father."

"O Lord Jesus Christ,  open the eyes of my heart, that I may hear Your word and understand and do Your will, for I am a sojourner upon the earth. Hide not Your commandments from me, but open my eyes, that I may perceive the wonders of Your law. Speak unto me the hidden and secret things of Your wisdom. On You do I set my hope, O my God, that You shall enlighten my mind and understanding with the light of Your knowledge, not only to cherish those things which are written, but to do them; that in reading the lives and sayings of the saints I may not sin, but that such may serve for my restoration, enlightenment and sanctification, for the salvation of my soul, and the inheritance of life everlasting. For You are the enlightenment of those who lie in darkness, and from You comes every good deed and every gift.  Amen." (St. John Chrysostom)

Jesus is preparing the Apostles for His death on the cross. They do not know this of course.  But now Jesus is speaking of "that day." Is "that day" a reference to the three days He will be away from His disciples before the resurrection? Is He preparing them for when He will ascend to heaven? He doesn't explain. They, as usual, don't understand what He is telling them. They love Him as a friend and teacher but they do not understand His truth and nature. Not yet. But, Jesus admits that up until this time he has been speaking to them in "figures." But, the hour is coming when He will tell them "plainly of the Father." He will  set their hearts on fire on the road to Emmaus. And again in the Upper Room. Then once more by the Sea of Tiberias when He stood on the beach and called out "...children, have you any fish?" Within moments of hauling in the fish Peter is in the water swimming to His beloved Teacher. And finally on the mountain immediately before His ascension. But was that the end of "speaking plainly of the Father?"

No, for the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit. So Jesus, in unity with the Father and the Spirit spoke to the Apostles after His ascension. And He continues to speak to us today. The Word of God speaks of the Holy Trinity to us in His word, in the Holy Spirit and in the sacraments of His Church. Why is so much effort expended on our behalf? We who are slow to listen and slow to love. According to Jesus it is because "the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the Father." So simple. So beautiful and so mysterious. Without Divine Grace we can't begin to understand such Love. But, with it we can begin to love as God loves us. Jesus, who "came from the Father...into the world..." is "leaving the world and going to the Father." But in His love for us He never leaves us alone. We are welcome in the Holy Community of the Blessed Trinity. How amazing and how wonderful is so great a gift? Thank you Lord.  

"For in the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven meets His children with great love and speaks with them; and the force and power in the word of God is so great that it stands as the support and energy of the Church, the strength of faith for her sons, the food of the soul, the pure and everlasting source of spiritual life." Dei Verbum 21 (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation)

Clarity in Religious Practice-Romano Guardini

O God, you bear all creation over the abyss of nothingness and infuse it with your power, so that it moves and lives. You have given a spark of clarity to all things, for only from you, the Father of light, do they receive their truth and their worth.

All things are moved by your breath and filled with your mystery. Each thing guides the spirit of man beyond itself to a being higher than itself, and allows man's heart to sense a power that does not come from his own resources.

Thus, pictures and concepts of the divine originate everywhere among peoples and individuals. Frequently they hold a deep meaning that moves the heart and promises goodness, but they also may hold evil and confusion that lead to error.

And so I beseech you to open my heart to the mystery that everywhere declares itself; but guard it also from the seduction to which it may give rise. Make my conscience secure, that at all times it may call the good good and the evil evil. Enlighten my mind so that it may distinguish that which leads to you, the true Holy One, and that which leads away from you into error and deceit.

Amen.

(From Prayers from Theology by Romano Guardini)

Gospel Reflection-Are our Hearts Full of Joy?

by Winston Elliott III

John 16:20-23
20 'In all truth I tell you, you will be weeping and wailing while the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. 21 A woman in childbirth suffers, because her time has come; but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering in her joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So it is with you: you are sad now, but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy, and that joy no one shall take from you. 23 When that day comes, you will not ask me any questions. In all truth I tell you, anything you ask from the Father he will grant in my name.
  
"Creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom, lofty origin of all being, graciously let a ray of your brilliance penetrate into the darkness of my understanding and take from me the double darkness in which I have been born, an obscurity of both sin and ignorance." Amen. 

With the assistance of this prayer from Thomas Aquinas I am hopefully better prepared to reflect on this challenging passage from the Gospel of St. John. Jesus warns His friends that"...you will be weeping and wailing while the world will rejoice..." Times seem to be good for the disciples of Jesus. The crowds have welcomed Jesus. Much good teaching and numerous miracles have been experienced. But, here at the end of the Last Supper, Jesus' words are troubling. What is this about wailing and weeping while the world rejoices? They are enjoying fellowship with Jesus, and with each other, and Jesus is saying "you will be sorrowful." Aren't we like the disciples? For we don't know what is yet to come and we celebrate today when tomorrow will bring suffering. We cannot read the signs of the times. We hear Jesus' words but we often tune out the references to suffering and hardship. But Jesus never leaves us in despair. For he reminds the disciples, and us, that after the pain of childbirth the mother "...forgets the suffering in her joy that a human being has been born into the world." 

The story is about to move from the Upper Room to the garden where Judas' betrayal will be completed with a kiss. The disciples don't know this and I'm confident they are puzzled by Jesus' words. There is soon to be great sorrow, with Jesus' suffering and death on the cross. The disciples will desert Him and go into hiding. And yet all is not lost. Jesus has said that in a short time they won't see Him but they will see Him again. And He has also told them of the Comforter who is soon to come. Jesus follows his words of warning with words of hope: "...but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy, and that joy no one shall take from you." Yes, the resurrected Lord will be with the disciples again and they will be full of joy. But what about us? Are our hearts full of joy? We have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, the Holy Spirit is with us and with Him we should have "joy no one shall take from you." Do we have the joy of the mother when, after the suffering of childbirth, she sees her newborn child? Yes, we have the resurrected Jesus. We have the Holy Spirit. But, do we have Joy?

"When that day comes, you will not ask me any questions. In all truth I tell you, anything you ask from the Father he will grant in my name." Does Jesus speak here of our days on earth or when we meet Him in His Father's house? It seems "the day" has not come for me for I still ask Him many questions and what I ask of the Father is not always granted. I believe that in this final sentence of today's Gospel Jesus is alluding to the time when we join Him in Heaven. This passage seems to address both our times of suffering here and our joyfully anticipated reunion with Jesus in Heaven. Jesus often seems to speak in "both/and" mode as opposed to "either/or." Of course we wish it were easier to understand His teachings. We should pray to the Holy Spirit to increase our understanding of the Word of God and His words. And that our Joy may be complete.

I close with the rest of the prayer of Thomas Aquinas which began this reflection. Creator God, Three in One "...give me a sharp sense of understanding, a retentive memory, and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally. Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations, and the ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm. Point out the beginning, direct the progress, and help in completion; through Christ our Lord. Amen"

Blessed Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.

‘Tis the season for commencements

by Andrew Seeley

‘Tis the season for commencements: collegiate, high school, elementary school, even kindergarten. Some are silly, some cute, some respectful, some tedious, some beautiful. On Saturday, I was blessed to attend one which, more than anything, was deeply joyful. The school was St. Augustine’s Academy in Ventura, California, which combined high school graduation with eighth grade promotion. From the hugs given by seniors to the eighth graders as they symbolically handed them their certificates to the evident affection and pride expressed by graduates, teachers and administrators, I couldn’t help but wish that I could say to a relativistic world, “This is all we want for you – love God, strive for goodness, excellence and self-control, sprinkle charity over all, and you can have joy!” When I returned home, I read this reflection of Pope Benedict’s, inspired by the daily reading from the Acts of the Apostles ("There was great joy in that city."):

"We are deeply impressed again and again by this expression, which in essence communicates a sense of hope, as if saying: It is possible! It is possible for humanity to know true joy, because wherever the Gospel arrives, life flourishes, just as an arid terrain that, irrigated by rain, is immediately verdant."

The first senior address expressed it all. Delivered by a beautiful, natural, confident young woman, in whose face shone mirth and gladness as she spoke wisely, seriously, and, above all, joyfully, her speech moved us deeply. The perfect blend of heart and head spoke more powerfully than any possible advertisement for the intellectual and moral strength of the school community in which she was nurtured.

Why don’t we as a society turn to such models, desiring to discover the secret of their success so that it might be shared with the young throughout the land? Alas, such models are too rare; many have never even heard that this is possible, so they never look. Others might hear people like me shouting, “Here is the real deal!” But not experiencing it for themselves, their impoverished imaginations twist all they hear and return our offer with sneering and mockery. Finally, the daunting commitment to the life of faith and discipline that makes such joy possible makes many turn away.

Gospel Reflection-Would this be the Day?

by Winston Elliott III

Mt 28:16-20 
16 Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. 17 When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. 18 Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.'

 Alleluia! Come, let us worship Christ the Lord as he ascends into heaven. Alleluia! Today is the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord. 

Would this be the day? Jesus has told the disciples that He must leave them, but that He will send them the Spirit, the Counselor who will guide them with wisdom and truth. They know that Jesus must leave them. But, while rejoicing at His resurrection are they perhaps still sad that He will leave? As a young boy who loved his father with a great passion I frequently would stand at the front door as my father left for work. I would watch him get into his truck and drive off. In my small world leaving for work meant leaving my world. What if he didn't return? Some days I would not rise early enough to hug him and kiss him before he left. On those days I would go to the door, perhaps seeing his truck pull out, I was too late. My fear that he would not return, compounded by the lack of a warm goodbye and expression of my love for him, would leave me weeping at the door. Were some of the disciples weeping when their master, their teacher and friend left them? Was knowing that Jesus was sending them the Spirit a great enough consolation that within those tears of loss that they could focus on the joy of the Ascension and the coming of the Comforter?

"When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated." We aren't told why they hesitated. We just know that they did. Would you and I hesitate? Is it because we still doubt that He is who He says He is? Is it possible that some of the hesitation is because they are anticipating what comes next? Jesus is leaving. They will be left behind. Yes, the Spirit is coming. But they may be thinking, what comes next? What will we do now? Jesus speaks words of consolation: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Don't worry. I have the authority to give you a new mission, a purpose in life. Now get ready. Here it comes. "Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." The mission is given. The Lord has spoken and the disciples are given their orders. "Go and make disciples of all the nations..." Not just preach and make converts. Make disciples. Disciples don't only believe they strive to follow Jesus' commands. True disciples center their lives, all that they do, on Jesus. Their world is transformed so that they view culture, economics, politics and family life through the lens of Christ. Jesus commands that His disciples go to all the nations "and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you." This is our task as disciples of Jesus. Who are we teaching? Or are we waiting for someone else to respond to the "Great Commission?" 

Lord we know that you said: "And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time." Thank you for staying with us. Still we are often weak and wounded disciples who hesitate. Sometimes we are lonely and just want to draw near to You. Please don't leave us at the door thinking that You have left and we didn't get to tell You that we adore You. Remind us that You are with us till the end of time. Holy Spirit, be our comforter. Strengthen us so that we may respond to the great commission with a resounding Yes. Guide us to serve the Blessed Trinity in all that we do. Teach us the fullness of truth so that we may make disciples of all nations in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Blessed Virgin Mary, our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.

Gospel Reflection-Uncomfortable Truth

by Winston Elliott III

John 16:12-15
12 I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you to bear now.13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking of his own accord, but will say only what he has been told; and he will reveal to you the things to come.14 He will glorify me, since all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine.15 Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine.

The disciples are more than a bit confused and disturbed. They were prepared for what they thought would be a pleasant supper with Jesus before the start of the festival of Passover. Then Jesus washed their feet. What was that about? He told them about serving one another, but He was Lord and Master so why wash their feet? Then He spoke of betrayal and soon after Judas left in a hurry.  Later He talked about being hated by the world and coming persecutions. And now Jesus speaks of the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth. Who is the Spirit of Truth? Hasn't Jesus been telling them the Truth for three years? This is not the nice supper with the Teacher the disciples had expected.

"I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you to bear now." We are like the disciples aren't we? The Lord has many things to say to us but we are not prepared, not strong enough, to hear His words. Or, perhaps even more disturbing, we are afraid if we listen to closely to His teaching we may have to change our lives.  Maybe sometimes Jesus is too honest for us. He holds up a mirror and the image we find there is not pretty. How can we face the truth about the world and ourselves? Jesus gives us the answer. The Spirit of Truth is coming and He will "lead you to the complete truth...and he will reveal to you the things to come." The complete truth is available to us in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. Jesus tell us that all that the Spirit "reveals to you will be taken from what is mine." So the Holy Spirit reveals to us the fullness of the truth that Jesus has been teaching. The truth of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is not three truths. Jesus makes clear that there is complete unity of purpose and truth in the community of the Blessed Trinity. "Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he {the Spirit of Truth} reveals to you will be taken from what is mine." Are we ready for the Three in One Creator, a Triune community of Truth? No. And yet, Jesus has told us, the Spirit will guide us to truth and reveal the things to come. People get ready because, ready or not, the Spirit is with us. The Spirit of truth is here. Let us greet Him with open arms and prepared hearts. When the truth makes us the most uncomfortable, that is when we most need to implore the Holy Spirit to come to our aid. We can't handle the truth. Not by ourselves.

Holy Spirit, like the disciples we are often hardheaded, sometimes hardhearted. We want the truth but we still fear the truth. We beseech You to fill us with Your truth and give us the grace to accept it. Show us how to love as You, the Father and the Son love. Come Holy Spirit, fill us with your love, your truth and your light. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Mary, our Hope, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us. Amen.

Today's Gospel Reflection-Does Yes lead to Joy?

by Winston Elliott III

Luke 1:39-56
39 Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. 40 She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 She gave a loud cry and said, 'Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? 44 Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. 45 Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.' 46 And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; 48 because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name, 50 and his faithful love extends age after age to those who fear him. 51 He has used the power of his arm, he has routed the arrogant of heart. 52 He has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly. 53 He has filled the starving with good things, sent the rich away empty. 54 He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his faithful love 55 -according to the promise he made to our ancestors -- of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever. 56 Mary stayed with her some three months and then went home.

I write this on the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary who at the news of the pregnancy of her cousin Elizabeth immediately sets off "into the hill country to a town in Judah." From her love of her cousin, and prompted no doubt by the Holy Spirit, Mary takes what is believed to be a four day journey into the hills. It must have been a strenuous walk for a pregnant teenage girl. Imagine the scene. Arriving tired she most likely wishes for  a chance to rest and freshen up. But, she is greeted with another in a series of awe inspiring moments in her life. For Elizabeth greets her with "Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?" What an amazingly powerful greeting packed with theological punch. The most blessed of all women, all women in all of time. First the angel Gabriel with the startling news of the Annunciation and now Elizabeth. Was Mary still reeling from Gabriel's message? Perhaps she already was experiencing the inner peace of those blessed ones who respond to God with a resounding Yes. Mary's fiat is a joy for her and a gift to us. But, let's not pass over the rest of Elizabeth's greeting: "Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled." Mary is saluted not only for being the Theotokos, the Mother of our Lord. She is our marvelous inspiration for she believes the "promise made by the Lord would be fulfilled." What an incredible faith. Do we have such a faith? Have we asked the Lord to pour forth His grace upon us so that we may have the faith that Mary has? The faith that both comes from and leads to believing His promises to us will be fulfilled?

What would we do with a faith as strong as Mary's? I think I know. You see it is revealed to us in the words of Elizabeth. Here's what will happen to us if we allow ourselves to fully live the Annunciation, Mary's fiat, Elizabeth's greeting, and our Mother's marvelous Magnificat. Lean in, listen closely, this is where it gets good: "Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy." John leapt for joy. Even in the confinement of Elizabeth's womb, John leapt for joy. Will we leap for joy? Just stand up for a moment. Give it a go. Just start with a little leap. We should leap you know. I think Jesus would appreciate a leap. Mary, our Mother, would smile at our leaps. Maybe you have been a Christian your whole life. Maybe you are a convert like me.  It doesn't matter how long you have believed the promises of our Lord would be fulfilled. It matters that you believe what Mary believed. And then you say Yes. Mary says "the Almighty has done great things for me." Hasn't He done great things for us too? Now, how about that leap?

O Lord God, Blessed Father, Son and Holy Spirit hear my prayer.  Give me the grace to say Yes. Let it be done unto me according to Your Word. Teach me to leap for joy. For You are Love, Joy, Truth, Beauty and Goodness. And You offer everything to me. I want to say Yes. Yes. Yes. A thousand times Yes. With Your grace, even in my weakness, please help me to say Yes. This day and every day, Yes.

Mary, Mother of God, Bearer of the Son, our Mother. Thank you for your Yes. Pray for us Mother. Especially today. Pray that we may learn to leap.

Joy of Joys! Dedication of the new Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham

First Holy Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham!

On May 28, 2011 the new Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham was dedicated in Houston. Thank you Blessed Mother for guiding our parish and for Your Yes which brought us the gift of Your Son. (More photos here.)

Cardinal DiNardo gives the Homily at the Mass of Dedication

Prayer for the intercession of Our Lady of Walsingham 

O blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham, Mother of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon us, our parish, our country, our homes, and our families, and upon all who greatly hope and trust in your prayers.  By you it was that Jesus, our Savior and hope, was given to the world; and he has given you to us that we may hope still more. Plead for us your children, whom you did receive and accept at the foot of the Cross, O sorrowful Mother. Intercede for our separated brethren, that with us in the one true fold they may be united to the Chief Shepherd, the Vicar of your Son. Pray for us all, dear Mother, that by faith fruitful in good works we all may be made worthy to see and praise God, together with you in our heavenly home. Amen.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.

On Mourning, Broken Families and our Earthly Pilgrimage

It is troubling to watch good Catholic families in pain, job loss, separation, divorce.The Faith is not a bullet proof defense from our broken world full of broken pilgrim souls in a society which has forgotten God. When I first became Catholic I thought you would be safe if you went to daily Mass and were obedient. How foolish of me. A childish hope in a temporal salvation. How much I didn't know, and still don't. Our Lord's tears would flood the world I fear.

O that it be easier or that we were stronger Lord. Please immerse us in Your Grace. I know I wasn't seeking a journey, but a safe home. That is yet to come as in this world of toil and troubles peace is only to be found in spiritual union with the Blessed Trinity. The safe is home is not yet. And yet it is here in our hearts, in our souls, in the Blessed Sacrament. O Lord I need you so for I am broken and weak. In my brokenness I need you more than in my strength. Thank you Lord. For I need you all the time. I weep Lord. Bathe me in Your love. Nothing less will bring me home.

Blessed Mother of us All, pray for wounded families that they may be healed. That we may see the loving community of the Holy Trinity as our inspiration, our strength and our refuge. Amen.

Today's Gospel Reflection-Witnesses to the Truth

by Winston Elliott III

Jn 15:26-16:4a
26 When the Paraclete comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness. 27 And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning. 1 I have told you all this so that you may not fall away. 2 They will expel you from the synagogues, and indeed the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is doing a holy service to God. 3 They will do these things because they have never known either the Father or me. 4 But I have told you all this, so that when the time for it comes you may remember that I told you. I did not tell you this from the beginning, because I was with you;

"When the Paraclete comes...he will be my witness." Who is the Paraclete? Our Lord says He is the Spirit of truth. Jesus also proclaims the Paraclete is "my witness."  But wait, why does the Son of God, He who says "I am the Way; I am Truth and Life" need a witness? Moreover, the Spirit of truth is not to be the only witness. Jesus' disciples too "will be witnesses." What is happening here? Is Jesus on trial? Why does he need witnesses at all? Didn't over five thousand participate in the miraculous meal of loaves and fishes? How many witnesses are needed? Jesus is offering a preview of the trials to come for Him and for His disciples. Trials which will lead to torture and death, His own included. Its going to get rough for "the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is doing a holy service to God."

The Paraclete will witness for Jesus. To us and to the whole world. Who will we witness to?  Will we testify on our Lord's behalf, will we share His story of forgiveness, love and salvation? Those who persecute Him, and us, "...will do these things because they have never known either the Father or me." Perhaps this is an answer to why witnesses are needed. Our Lord tells us these persecutors know neither Him nor His Father. So perhaps we should start with them. Let us witness to those who persecute us. It doesn't mean they will stop the persecutions. Not right away. Not completely. But through us they may meet Jesus and His Father. Introduce them to "the Way...Truth and Life." They probably won't thank you for it. But wait...perhaps if you are a faithful witness you may hear those beautiful words...well done good and faithful servant,  join the company of saints. You are welcome here in My Father's house.

Come Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, Spirit of Truth! Please witness to me and to the whole world. Teach me to testify for Jesus, who is the Way, Truth and Life. Without Him there is no life within us. We are creatures and the Lord God, Three in One, is our Creator. Blessed and Holy Trinity pour forth your grace upon us so that we may brighten the whole world with the light of Your truth.

Holy Mary, our Hope, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us. Amen.

Jesus is Catholic

Jesus Is Catholic | Hans Urs von Balthasar | From In The Fullness of Faith: On the Centrality of the Distinctively Catholic

http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2006/hub_jesusiscatholic_oct06.asp

Jesus must be Catholic, otherwise his Church, which follows him and is promised his fullness, could not be called Catholic. Being Catholic means embracing everything, leaving nothing out. How can an individual human being do this, even if he is the only begotten Son of God? We shall not explain this by theological speculation. It is something that can reveal itself to us only if, in the openness of faith, we let our eyes rest on his self-manifestation. He is the revelation of someone else, of the Father, who is "greater" than he, and yet with whom he is "one". This is the message of his words and his life.

He can reveal the Father in this way only through a twofold movement: he steps forward (with divine authority) in order to make the Father visible, and simultaneously he steps back (as the Suffering Servant) in order to reveal the Father, not himself. We must not fail to discern him in his mode of stepping back, for he is the only way to the Father. In other words, the Father reveals himself by revealing the Son; he gives himself by giving his Son: dando revelat, et revelando dat (Bernard). Nor must we cling to him in his stepping forth, for, in all the density of his flesh, his whole aim is to be transparent, revealing the heart of God. In the same breath he can say, "My flesh is food indeed" and "It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail." We must not hedge him round with a pietistic Jesus-spirituality on the grounds that "only the Son knows the Father"; he is the Door, and a door is not for clinging to: it is for going through. He is "the way": we are not meant to stand still on it but walk along it, toward "my Father's house", which has "many rooms". And at the same time we do not leave these rooms and this path behind us, for Jesus is also the light of the world, the truth, the Resurrection, the presence of eternal life. But he is these things, not in his own power, but because he manifests the Father's love.

Lest we become completely confused and wearied by this riddle of his simultaneous stepping forward and stepping back, his appearances and disappearances, he goes beyond it: when he rises from the dead and goes back to the Father, he sends the Holy Spirit from the Father. This Holy Spirit is the one, whole, personal manifestation and confirmation of this baffling unity between Father and Son, the divine "We" that is more than the mere "I" and "Thou". It leads beyond the endless process of counting up, of supplementary definitions, to the reality of mutual presence and indwelling, without causing Father and Son to submerge in the Spirit. The Spirit comes to the aid of our helplessness in the face of the unity of opposites so clearly expressed in the gospel. He rewards us for not trying to resolve this apparent contradiction by our own efforts-for this would be to destroy the core of the Catholic reality: if we are to see things properly, we must include the opposite of what we have seen. It is not that what we see suddenly turns ("dialectically") into its opposite, but that in the lowliness of Jesus there is a direct revelation of his lofty nature; that in his severity we discern his mercy, etc.

And it is not that, in his human lowliness, he shows the greatness of the divine Father; it is not that his human severity prepares the way for the Father's compassion. Rather, his lowliness reveals the humiliation of the Father's love, and that shows his greatness. Thus, too, his human severity reveals the unshakable nature of the Father's love, and hence of its compassion. So, in the distinction between Father and Son, we discern simultaneously the unity of the divine essence, and, within it, the possibility of uniting those qualities that seem to us irreconcilable. The famous Catholic "and"--Scripture "and" Tradition, etc.--which is the object of Protestant criticism, has its true origin here, and here alone.

A Church can be Catholic only because God is Catholic first, and because, in Jesus Christ and ultimately in the Holy Spirit, this catholicity on God's part has opened itself to the world, simultaneously revealing and giving itself. The Spirit is "Person", the "We" in God: he provides the basis for the "we" that exists between God and ourselves, and hence too between men. But we would know and possess nothing of this if Jesus Christ had not stood at the alpha and omega of all God's ways in the world, as the form of revelation available to anyone who is open to it, i.e., is prepared to believe.

The Spirit Proves...What Is Beyond Proof

The Spirit's chief quality, in obediently allowing himself to be sent out into the world by Father and Son, is his freedom. He blows whither he will and cannot be fixed in any particular form. He appears as a hovering presence (the "dove"), communication ("tongues"), devouring transformation ("flame"), a breeze that allows us to breathe deeply ("wind"). He "interprets" the mysterious figure of Jesus, revealing its divine being, its trinitarian dimensions, its mystery-quality; in this way the Spirit proves and "convicts" (Jn 16:8). He withdraws Jesus from all rationalistic incursions, and he also prevents Scripture (which he inspired), dogma (which interprets) and the Church's discipline from being swallowed up in purely worldly categories. He lends his wings to the Woman of the Apocalypse so that she may flee to the desert. He refuses to let himself be caught and domesticated, not even by pneumatic "methods" of prayer. We must not cling to Jesus, but let him ascend "to my Father and your Father"; only if we exhibit a readiness that stipulates no conditions can the Spirit, in his freedom, prove to us that the entire Catholic revelation-God, Christ, the Church- was and remains a project undertaken by the sovereign free love of God.

God's Love Is Catholic

God's love is ever greater; we can never catch up with it. It has no other ground but itself. It comes to us from ever further afield and goes forth to embrace wider vistas than I could ever imagine. That is why, in my limitedness, I always have to add an "and"; but what I thus "add" has always been there in the love of God.

When God, in sovereign freedom, enters into a world, he is not doing something else, something additional (as if God were Catholic in himself and became even more Catholic by bringing what is not-God, creation, into his totality); the Father of Jesus Christ is never any other than the Creator, who, showing them great care, carries all his creatures in his bosom. Everything temporal has its place within God's eternity. The Incarnation is not an episode in the life of God: the Lamb is slain from all eternity, and hence was born, grew up, and rose again from all eternity too. In itself, the adopting of human nature, with all its ignorance and limitation, into the divine nature is not an event in time, although the human nature so adopted, like ours, was something living and dying in time. (C. S. Lewis) Furthermore, the process of integrating creation into God's world (and within the time-dimension it really is a process: the lost sheep is searched for, carried home and put back into the flock) is always present in God's plan of salvation (cf. Eph 1 :1-10) as a complete design; it is carried out in a sequence that is unbreakable (cf. Rom 8:29f.) and in which neither human nor divine freedom is overplayed.

At the beginning there stands the "and" in "God and the world". In its abstractness, in this context of juxtaposition, however, it would not be a Catholic "and" unless it were contained, right from the outset, in the concrete "hyphen" represented by the incarnate Son (and he is more than a mere "mediator" between two parties: he is the One who creates unity: Gal 3:20) and the sending of the Holy Spirit, who brings everything to a conclusion (yet definitively opens everything up), enabling the creature to participate in the "divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4) as well as embracing it-as the divine "We"--in the community of the Trinity. This community cannot perfect itself apart from the mutual presence to one another of the divine Persons; equally, it cannot do without the reciprocity of God and his creature if it is to show forth its precious richness.

Just as this catholicity goes beyond a dialectic of reversed opposites, it also goes beyond a coincidentia oppositorum. Rather, it is an inclusion: nature is included in grace, the sinner is included in forgiving love, and all plans and purposes are included in a supreme gratis--"for nothing".

Today's Gospel Reflection-If you love Me?

by Winston Elliott III

John 14:15-21
15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."

Jesus begins these words from John 14 with the a loaded question. "If you love me..." But wait. Isn't he talking to his disciples? Why does he begin his teaching with "IF you love me..." At this point in the story Judas has left the room. Surely our Lord does not need to begin by saying "If you love me..." These are His closest friends and they are still asking Him "to show us the Father." If this is the state of His closest friends then what chance do we have? They had spent three years living with our Lord and still didn't know him. He still had to begin His teaching with the words "IF you love me..."

But, the love of our Lord for His disciples, and the whole world, is demonstrated in the words that follow. "I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever." The Counselor is coming and is here. The "Spirit of truth...for he dwells with you." What is possible with this Spirit? The most amazing, wonderful, joy filled, transforming possibility of all. For with the guidance of the Counselor, the grace of the Father, and the inspiring love most beautifully demonstrated by the great community of love, the Blessed Trinity, we may yet be what we were Created to be. With the help of the Holy Spirit we may become "He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."

O Lord we are heartily sorry that our poverty of spirit makes it necessary for you to begin with "IF you love me..." We are weak and sinful, just like Your first disciples. But our gratitude is great for You have not left us alone in our sin. You came and showed us true Love. And You and the Father presented us with the Counselor, so that we may follow your commandments and be loved by Your Father and You. Come Holy Spirit, show us the Father and the Son. Please teach us to love as the perfect Triune God loves. Help us to love with beauty so that our Joy may be complete. You in us and we in You.

Mary, our Hope, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us. Amen

Prayer for the Light of Truth-Cardinal John Henry Newman

O my God, I confess that You can enlighten my darkness. I confess that You alone can. I wish my darkness to be enlightened. I do not know whether You will: but that You can and that I wish, are sufficient reasons for me to ask, what You at least have not forbidden my asking. I hereby promise that by Your grace which I am asking, I will embrace whatever I at length feel certain is the truth, if ever I come to be certain. And by Your grace I will guard against self-deceit which may lead me to take what nature would have, rather than what reason approves. -Cardinal John Henry Newman