Beloved in Christ, today is the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua. St. Anthony is the patron of lost things, but also a hundred other causes.
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He was born in Portugal and entered the Augustinian monastery in Lisbon when he was 15. He became a priest, and it was there that he developed a great understanding of the Sacred Scriptures. Now it happened at that time, that many Christians were being martyred across the Mediterranean in Morocco. Franciscan missionaries were being killed by the Muslims. The bodies of these martyrs were for a time kept at the monastery where lived St. Anthony; one night, a monk saw Anthony kneeling at the caskets of those brave martyrs with his head resting on their caskets. He too yearned to die for Christ.
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He joined the Franciscans, and did travel to Morocco, but God had other plans. He became ill and had to return; on the voyage home his boat was driven off course, and he landed in Italy where he really began his Franciscan life. One day he was at an Ordination Mass, and it turned out, that the priest who was supposed to preach did not arrive. With no warning, Anthony was asked to preach in front of the bishop and many dignitaries. With no preparation, he stepped to the pulpit, and began to speak. His words moved the heart of everyone present. He quoted the Sacred Scriptures as if he knew the entire bible by heart – which he did. This quiet Franciscan was now discovered to have an amazing gift.
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St. Francis himself sent Anthony to preach in city after city. He went through Italy and into France as well. He was such a forceful preacher that shops closed when he came to town, and people stayed up all night, waiting for his sermons. The center of his ministry became the city of Padua, where he was beloved by the people; he died there in 1231.
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One custom on the Feast of St. Anthony is known as “St. Anthony’s Bread” and it goes back to the year 1263. In the city of Padua there lived a family in which the mother left her 20 month old son Thomas alone in the kitchen. The little boy, while playing, ended up head first in a tub of water and drowned. His mother, finding him lifeless screamed in desperation, but then composing herself, she knelt down and prayed to Saint Anthony for help. She made a promise that if he would bring her son back to life, she would donate to the poor an amount of bread equal to the weight of the child. Her prayer was answered, the boy came back to life, and she kept her promise.
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St. Anthony’s Bread involves the giving away of bread to the poor, blessing bread at church and giving it away, or giving alms to the poor. (Tonight at Mass we blessed some St. Anthony’s Bread for every one to take home. We then venerated the relic of St. Anthony.)
Friends in Christ, Our Lord today gives us a warning about the wrong path in the spiritual life. ‘Be not angry – you will be liable to judgment. ‘Call no one Raqa – that is idiot – you will answer to the Sanhedrin. ‘Call no one a fool – you will be liable to the fire of hell.
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Judging another wrongly can lead to a crescendo of evil in the heart, and it all begins with suspicion. It is very easy to form an opinion of someone. We dream up all sorts of things about a person. But how many times are we wrong about what we thought of them? This is called rash judgment, caused by evil suspicions. (Summa Q. 60) St. Thomas says that suspicion is evil thinking based on slight indications, and this is due to three causes.
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First, because a person is evil in himself; his own evil heart makes him prone to think evil of others, We see malice in others when it lives in ourselves.
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Second, it can be because one has ill-will toward that person. If you already despise a person, then any slight indication will make you think evil of him.
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Third, it can be because of much experience: says St. Thomas: “old people are often very suspicious, because in their experience, they have seen many times the failings of others.”
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When one begins to doubt another’s goodness from slight indications, this is a venial sin; But when we believe a person to be wicked, in a grave matter, from a mere slight indication, this is a mortal sin. It is contempt for our neighbor. To think great evil of a person without sufficient cause, is to despise him, and do him injury. The Lord speaks of this when he says, to call someone a fool will make them liable to the fire of Gehenna.
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Consequently, unless we have evident indications of a person’s wickedness, we ought to consider him good, We should interpret in the best light, whatever is doubtful. St. Francis de Sales says, we must always put the best interpretation on the actions of our neighbor.
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Now this may lead us to be wrong from time to time, thinking our neighbor good when he is not. But there is no sin in this. But to have an evil opinion of a good person, is to do him harm.
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How can we think the best of another? One way, is to recall for ourselves some times when we WERE very wrong about what we thought of someone. There certainly were times when we thought evil of a person and were completely mistaken. The Lord says, all thoughts will be revealed on the last day. So, let’s make them good thoughts.
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of St. Ephrem. He was born about the year 406 to pagan parents, who, when he became a Christian as a boy was thrown out of their house. Eventually, at age 18 he was baptized, and for 25 years he assisted the work of the bishops at Nisibis through many difficult times. When the city fell to the Persians in 350AD, Ephrem retired to a cave in a rocky hill overlooking Edessa. Here he led an austere life of penance, eating little. It was in this cave that he wrote most of his spiritual works.
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Ephrem was very short, he had no hair or beard, and his fasting and penances caused him to look rather old. He was not a recluse however, and often visited the city of Edessa where he preached to the people. He had a fiery speech, and often spoke of the 2nd coming of Christ and the final judgment, leaving the congregation in tears.
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Ephrem noticed that Gnostic heretics would often use popular songs to teach the people false ideas about the faith. Seeing the power of music, he imitated the enemy’s tactics, and introduced sacred music into the Liturgy which was sung by a women’s choir. In this way, he completely supplanted the Gnostic hymns by hymns which taught the truth of the faith.
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Late in his life, he was ordained a Deacon, and so he is known as ‘St. Ephrem the Deacon.’
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In the winter of 372AD there was a famine in the land, and his heart was breaking for the poor. The rich were refusing to offer their grain to help others because they did not trust anyone to distribute the food. Ephrem himself therefore administered the distribution and payments of all the grain. After having tended to a great many sick people, he returned exhausted to his cave, where he died in 373AD.
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St. Ephrem was a prolific writer, and he is surely the greatest poet of the patristic age. In his writings, he emphasizes the true humanity and divinity of Christ, and he is an early witness to devotion to the Blessed Virgin. His poetry is generously sprinkled with praise of Mary. He even hints, in the 4th century, of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception: He writes: ‘Only you Jesus, and your Mother, are more beautiful than everything. For on you O Lord there is no mark; neither is there any stain on your Mother.’
Pentecost
‘And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a driving wind … and there appeared to them tongues as of fire … and they were filled with the Holy Spirit’
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Beloved in Jesus Christ, Today is Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. It is the day that the Holy Spirit brings the Church alive. After Our Lord had ascended to heaven, there he told the Holy Spirit, ‘now, You must go! Go down to my disciples, to the Holy Church, and give them your Life. And so down came the Good Holy Spirit in a Wind, into the souls of the followers of Jesus; into the souls of those sons and daughters of God, and into us – at our baptism.
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Some[i] people wrongly think, that the Holy Spirit has come to ‘finish the job’ of what Jesus started, as if Christ’s work was imperfect. No, this is not it. How the Holy Spirit has brought the Church alive – how the Holy Spirit acts in us, dwells in us, moves us – the explanation of the work of this Divine Consoler must be found in Jesus Christ. If we wish to know how WE possess the Holy Spirit, all we have to do is know how JESUS possesses him.
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St. Paul says: ‘As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.’
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The Holy Church is literally the Body of Christ. The Church continues the Incarnation; this ‘birthing of Christ’ is essentially prolonged in the world – in us, and as we shall see, the Holy Spirit is the one who accomplishes this. We call the Church the Body of Christ, and so it is. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says #1108: The Holy Spirit is sent, in order to bring us into communion with Christ and so to form his Body.’ So the Church is the prolongation, the continuing of the Incarnation through history.
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See what a happened, when Jesus came into the world. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ is made present in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Well, on Pentecost, we can say that by the power of the HOly Spirit, Christ is made present in the womb of the Church; the Spirit of Jesus is born his people. In fact, the entire Book of the Acts of the Apostles shows how the Apostles began to live and do what Jesus did. The Holy Spirit is making them into ‘other Jesus’s’. So what happens at Pentecost, is really the same as what happened at the Incarnation.
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At Baptism, we are born new, of water and Spirit. And here at Holy Mass, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ becomes present in the womb of Mother Church; so we are, more and more, being incorporated into the Body of Christ. Father Mersch in his book says:[ii] He who fashioned Christ’s physical Body – the Holy Spirit – is also fashioning his Mystical Body, the Church. St. Irenaus beautifully says: ‘When the Son of God became Man, the Spirit descended upon him, and in this way, the Holy Spirit became accustomed to dwelling with the human race.[iii]
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So the birth of the Church extends over the centuries. The Holy Spirit is continually being sent, and Pentecost never comes to an end; this is a reality: This Divine Paraclete, this Holy Spirit, is in us! ‘Do you not know that you are temples of the Holy Spirit?,’ says St. Paul.
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By his Gifts, this Divine Consoler wishes to do great things in us, really make us ‘other Christs.’ Jesus wishes to reproduce his life in us. You know, when St. Teresa of Avila would pray in the chapel, sometimes the Holy Spirit came with such power, that she was lifted off the ground, levitating in the air while she prayed. Many saw this.[iv]
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One time, St. Anthony was preaching at a Church at 9:30 in the morning, and during the Homily, he suddenly realized he was supposed to be leading the chant at a monastery 30 miles away, he had forgotten. He prayed to the Holy Spirit, and sat down for about 4 minutes, then rose to continue his homily. It was reported the next day that St. Anthony WAS at that distant Church leading the chant at 9:30 in the morning.
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Levitation, miraculous transport – the saints show the power of the Holy Spirit; but this Great Friend will work daily, real miracles in our own lives, if we ask him. I can’t tell you how many times I faced a difficult situation, or a problem with no seeming solution; a short prayer to the Holy Spirit, and then – well, the results could only be caused by that great Friend.
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A lady had a terrible argument with her cousin, but she prayed for help to the Holy Spirit, then went to see the cousin. It seems that just the right words came out, and they were accepted. The quarrel was over that fast.
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We should speak often to this dear Consoler, this Divine Friend, this Advocate. ‘Oh Holy Spirit, I love you. Guide me; animate me and help me.
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Friends, we are like a ship with a sail. When there is no wind, we can paddle along, but we make little progress. Yet when we pray to the Holy Spirit, that Breath of God fills our sails and we go much farther and faster than we ever could ourselves. St. John Vianney says it is the Holy Spirit that makes unlearned people wiser than many others. But we must listen to Him.
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Let us give the Holy Spirit what he wants, what we know he is asking of us. Give the Holy Spirit what he wants – and then he will ask for more! May the dear Blessed Virgin intercede for us; Mary, pray for us, that by the help of the Holy Spirit, we ourselves will build up the beautiful Body of Christ.
Entrusted to the prayers of St. Nicholas
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[i] Introductory ideas here are taken from Fr. Mersch’s ‘Theology of the Mystical Body,’ pp. 415-417.
[ii] Theology of the Mystical Body, p. 417
[iii] Office for Pentecost
[iv] She says: though I tried to resist, it seemed that I was being lifted by a force so powerful that it can compare with nothing else…. (Mysteries Marvels, Miracles /Cruz…p. 19)
Friends in Christ, today as we near the end of the Easter Season, the Gospel reading is from the very end, of the gospel of John. The first reading from Acts, is the very end of Acts of the Apostles. Something is coming to an end here.
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In John’s Gospel, we see that the life of St. Peter is nearing the end. Jesus has foretold his death, that he will be a martyr, crucified like him. And it will soon be so. In Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul is in prison, in Rome, where he will die. He will be a martyr, decapitated for the Faith. So we are hearing about endings today. Endings to the gospel, to Acts, to the life of St. Peter and St. Paul – It is an indication, a sign for us, of the ending of the Apostolic Age. St. John will be the last of the Apostles, who will die at the end of the 1st Century.
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Mother Church gives us these readings today just before Pentecost. And it is Pentecost in which we see that the Church has come alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is this Holy Spirit, who drives St. Peter on, drives St. Paul and St. John and the rest, to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth.
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Jesus continues to live on in the Church, in his Mystical Body, which is us. He is doing many things, much good in us. At the end of the Gospel today it says that Jesus did many other things, more than could ever be written in all the books of the world – I think this means, that Jesus continues to live in his Mystical Body, in us, and he wishes to do many good things in us.
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The message therefore that we can take, is that even though the great Apostles will die – even though the Apostolic Age is coming to a close – the Church is alive, and this work of the Holy Spirit in the Church will continue and flourish to the end of time.
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After Pentecost we will return to Ordinary time, and the Liturgical color becomes green. Green – for growth. Growth for us in our daily spiritual life, and also growth for the whole Church. The death of the Apostles and the end of the Apostolic age were only the seeds for the growth of the Church. We grow by the grace and the Spirit of Christ, and together Mother Church grows in us.
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The Church is a great Ship; all through the scriptures, the ‘boat’ is the symbol of the Church, even from Noah’s Ark; in this Ship, the Church, the wind in our sails is the Divine Breath of the Holy Spirit, moving us through the waters of time. The world will pound and assail the Ship of Christ, but the wind blows, and we sail on, toward heaven.
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of St. Norbert. St. Norbert was born near Cologne, in present-day Germany, about the year 1080. His father was a Count, and he was even related to the Emperor.[i] Norbert had become a minor cleric, called a sub-deacon, and although he was in minor orders, he seemed to be interested in nothing more than a life of leisure. When he was appointed to the court of the Emperor, he easily joined in all the diversions of an easy life with little thought of God. His life was not good.
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But all of that suddenly changed. He was one day riding his horse through open land in Westphalia, when a violent thunderstorm approached. A flash of lightening struck just in front of him, at which point his frightened horse threw him to the ground. Lying on the ground unconscious for nearly an hour, God did something to him; When he came to, he said the same words as St. Paul: ‘Lord, what will you have me do?’ He seemed to hear an inner voice say: ‘Norbert, turn from evil and do good.’
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Well, he changed his life on the spot, almost as completely as did St. Paul. He then continued his studies to become a priest, but this time with seriousness. He sold off all of his wealth, keeping only a few vestments, a chalice a paten, and a mule. He then undertook a long pilgrimage of penance, walking barefoot over 650 miles, to kneel at the feet of the Holy Father, Pope Gelasius, to whom he made a general confession of his sins. The Pope then sent him on his way to preach the Gospel wherever he chose.
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Norbert preached the gospel throughout Germany and France, urging everyone to turn away from sin, to take their spiritual life seriously, to pray daily, and to follow Christ. Along with 13 others he founded the Premonstratensian Order. Since his conversion to the Lord, his whole life had been about reform of Christian life, of each person, of the clergy, and of the Church.
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St. Norbert was known to be friendly and charming with every person. He was equally at ease with the poor and the rich, the simple and the great. He knew how, like St. Paul said, to be ‘all things to all people, so that he could bring many to Jesus Christ.
We should be the same.
[i] This was part of the Holy Roman Empire
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of St. Boniface. St. Boniface was a Benedictine monk in England who lived in the 8th century. At age 30 he was ordained a priest, and soon it was seen that he had the gift of preaching.
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Now it is interesting that in those days, the monks often did missionary work, and Boniface was sent to Germany. Germany was composed mostly of pagan tribes, and this first missionary effort in 716 was not very successful. But Pope Gregory asked him to go again, and on this trip he was able to convert quite a number in Frisia, a Germanic region on the northwest coast of Germany.
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In 724 Boniface moved to the interior of Germany, bringing the gospel to the Hessians. Now many people in that region worshiped pagan gods, and at the village of Geismar there was a giant oak tree which was considered to be the sanctuary of the god Thor. Boniface called upon Thor to strike him dead if he were to cut down the “holy” tree. As Boniface started to chop the oak down, a great wind, as if by miracle, blew the massive oak over. When their so-called-god, Thor did not strike down Boniface, many of the people became open to the True Faith. With the wood from that tree, Boniface built a chapel dedicated to St. Peter.
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This moment is often considered the beginning of the Christianization of the Germanic peoples. From there Boniface pressed on, destroying many pagan shrines. Despite many, who were against his efforts, he continued to put his trust in God and to persevere. Conversions to the Faith were astoundingly numerous.
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Having been named a bishop, he proceeded to organize the Church of Germany. He installed worthy bishops, set up dioceses, promoted the spiritual life of clergy and laity, and founded the monastery of Fulda, which became a center of religious life in central Germany. Christianity was largely spread in Germany by the monasteries.
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At age 74, he then went on another missionary effort, but while administering Confirmation, a group of pagans overpowered him and put him to death.
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Many credit St. Boniface with the invention of the Christmas Tree.
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St. Boniface, when he was once facing so many difficulties, he wrote: ‘I am terrified when I think of all this. Fear comes upon me. I would gladly give up the task of guiding the Church if I could find this warranted by the fathers or the holy Scriptures. Let us therefore trust in the Lord with all our heart, and not rely on ourselves. He will guide our steps.’
St. Boniface is the patron saint of Germany, of tailors, and of brewers.
Friends in Christ, today in the 1st reading, we see St. Paul at Miletus – near Ephesus – he knows he will soon be arrested – and killed. So he gathers with the presbyters of the Church. This is where we get the word for ‘priests’ – presbyters. They came from all around Asia Minor to say goodbye; it would be the last time they would see him until the next life. St. Paul knelt down and prayed with them all. They were weeping as they threw their arms around him and kissed him, for they were deeply distressed that they would never see his face again.
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St. Paul prayed for his priests, and in the Gospel today, Our Lord also, prays for his priests. This is the long discourse Jesus has with his priests before his Passion. He prays for them: ‘Father, keep them in your name …. I do not ask, Father, that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the Evil One.’ Christ knew that the devil would be after his priests from day one, why? It is from the priest’s hands that the life-blood – Christ, in his body – comes into the Church. It is through the priest that forgiveness is given in Confession.
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St. Paul knew of these dangers; he said to his brother: ‘I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting that truth.’ St. Joseph Cafasso says: A priest is taken from people, and ordained for the sanctification of people; but he does not belong to the people; the priest belongs to God. The priest is to be a man of God, not a man of the people. (St. Joseph Cafasso, p. 22)
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For a few decades now, there has been a push by the secular world, to convince priests to stop being men of God, and to be men of the world. But Jesus says, ‘they do not belong to the world.’ We are called to live IN the world – but not OF the world, this is true for all of us.
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Yet essentially the priest’s life is a war against the Devil. Referring to his priests, Jesus prayed: ‘Father, keep them from the Evil one.’ That devil, is on the opposing side of everything the priest does.
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As I walked into a hospital yesterday, a young black man shouted out, ‘Hello Preacher!!’ I said, ‘How are you!?’ ‘Very good, very good.’ I saw that he was an Orkin man. I said, ‘You go around driving out pests.’ ‘SURE ‘NOUGH!, he said. ‘I do the same. Different kind of a Pest though!’ ‘Yeah…I gotcha!’
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The Church needs more men to step up for battle – against the Pest. But God gives us according to what we deserve, so we should pray daily, for more vocations to the priesthood. And if we know any young man of good character – a neighbor, a grandson – ask him: ‘Ever thought of being a priest?’
Beloved in the Lord, today is the Feast of St. Marcellinus and Peter, two saints who have been listed in Eucharistic Prayer I since ancient times. Marcellinus was a prominent priest in Rome during the reign of Emperor Diocletian; Peter, athough he was not a priest, was an exorcist. Well, they were arrested, and cast into prison because they had brought many to the Catholic faith.
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In jail, the guard of the prison was named Archemius. His daughter was possessed, so Peter the exorcist said to him, ‘If you believe in Christ, your daughter will be freed from the demon. Archemius answered: ‘How is it that your God will free my daughter, but he cannot free you?’ ‘My God HAS the power to free me if he wishes, said Peter, but it is only through suffering that we arrive at eternal glory.’ Archemius said, ‘if I clamp double chains on you and your God frees you and cures my daughter, I will believe in Christ immediately!’ At that, the power of God stirred, the chains fell free, the girl was cured; and so not only Archemius, but his whole family were baptized by Marcellinus, the priest. He also allowed the other prisoners to go free.
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The prefect hearing of this, and that even in prison these two were making more Christians, he ordered Archemius to sacrifice to the gods, but he refused, and so the judge ordered he and his wife to be strangled in an underground crypt. This order was not carried out however, but when the pagans heard that Archemius himself had become a Christian, he was beheaded, and his wife and daughter were buried alive under a pile of stones.
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Then Marcellinus was laid out naked on broken glass in his cell, and Peter was bound to a stake in his cell. In 304 AD, they were taken to the black forest and beheaded for the Faith. This account is given on the authority of Pope Damasus, who learned the details of the story when he was a boy, having heard them from the lips of the executioner himself. The executioner also became a Christian.
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Friends, as we live out our own lives in the paganizing culture around us, there are plenty of opportunities to witness to the Truth. We should do so, and like Sts. Marcellinus and Peter, we should always be ready to give our lives for the teachings of the Holy Faith.
Feast of the Ascension
Beloved in Jesus Christ, today we celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord into heaven. St. Leo the Great says, ‘At Easter, it was the Lord’s Resurrection which was the cause of our joy; our present rejoicing is on account of his ascension into heaven.'[i]
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Now this event actually involves all of us; Christ’s entire Mystical Body is ultimately being brought to heaven. ‘And when I am lifted up, I will draw all men to myself,’ he said. Today is the day when our human nature is carried up to the very throne of God.[ii] Jesus shows us the way, he shows us our future which is already beginning. To be resurrected in our body is one thing, to be glorified and brought to the loveliness of heaven, to the joy of union with Our Heavenly Father, well – that is quite another; but this is where He is taking us!
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Before considering the meaning of all this for ourselves, let us go back to that day, let’s place ourselves with Jesus, on that day. Gentilucci[iii] says that it is most likely that Christ ascended at the Mount of Olives where he had begun his passion. We remember that after his resurrection, Our Lord had spent 40 days – a month and a half – living with his Apostles, teaching them, eating with them, showing them how to say Mass, how to preach – all of this they did with a Resurrected Man – As St. Luke says:[iv] ‘he showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs during 40 days…..speaking of the kingdom of God while eating with them…’ their Faith could not have been stronger. Their Faith, having known a Resurrected Man – having seen in Christ their own destiny – for these apostles, who would ultimately become martyrs – their faith would remain unshaken even through tortures and prison. They had seen their own destiny, that death has been conquered.
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But was Christ the only resurrected person they had seen? It would seem not. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27, there is a sort of hidden statement, at the Lord’s crucifixion, which says: ‘the earth quaked, rocks were rent, tombs opened, and bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose, coming forth out of the tombs AFTER his resurrection; they went into the holy city, and appeared to many.’
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So after the Lord’s resurrection, there were these other people who had died, who came out alive from the tombs. What happened to all these people? Origen, St. Jerome,[v] St. Thomas,[vi] and others[vii] believe that they ascended to heaven with Jesus. Among that group who had risen from the dead, it is believed by many[viii] was St. Joseph.[ix] Even Pope John XXIII mentioned this, saying that it may be piously believed.
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In any case, as we come to this day of the Ascension, when the Lord in his visible presence would leave his Apostles, was it a sad day? Not at all. Silveira writes that on the way to Bethany from where Christ would ascend, there was surely a sort of procession through Jerusalem; Jesus with his Mother Mary, the saints of whom we have spoken;next the Apostles and the disciples who had formerly followed Jesus. Silveira says ‘this privileged band of the faithful no doubt passed through the streets of Jerusalem,’ while the astonished spectators looked on. ‘No one had the courage to opposed the march of this blessed procession’ as they marched off toward Bethany.[x]
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So speaking with his Mother and these disciples, the procession ascended that mountain from where every part of Jerusalem could be seen. Cornelius Lapide[xi] says that the nearer Jesus approached the summit, surely the more sweetly he spoke to his disciples, like a good father who leaving a beloved family. John Chrysostom says that to Mary were whispered great mysteries, and then she kissed him, and engulfed in a cloud, he was taken up to heaven.
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Were they sad? not at all. They recalled the words he had spoken to them: ‘you will see me again, and on that day no one will take your joy from you.'[xii] And as St. Luke says: ‘They returned to Jerusalem with great joy.'[xiii]
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Why were they so happy at Our Lord’s Ascension? They had Faith. Jesus leads the way up to heaven, and he brings our humanity, he brings our human nature there with him.
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In this life we are baptized into Christ, we live our days as a Christian, we follow Jesus in this journey. And we will follow him up in his Ascension, to heaven – its our goal. To go up there! Visiting a hospital one time, I was on the elevator, and a lady herself stepped in as well. I asked: ‘Going up?’ ‘OH I HOPE SO FATHER!!’ she said.
Yes, we wish to ascend. Jesus’ words echo in our mind: ‘Come, follow me.’ ‘Lord, we DO wish to follow you – to heaven.’
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As St. Leo the Great says, ‘Our Redeemer’s visible presence has now passed into the sacraments. Now we live by Faith. This Faith in the Lord throughout history has led men and women, young girls and boys to give their life’s blood for this Faith. It is a faith that has driven out devils, healed the sick and raised the dead. Our Faith impels us to live daily the life of Christ, and God-willing, ascend with him to heaven.
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You know, when my own father passed away, we kids surrounded his bed with prayers; we prayed for God’s mercy as he closed his eyes. and I suppose we all like to receive a ‘sign’ from God – Well, I felt some peace, when I realized: Dad! You died on the Ascension!’ – it gave me some peace.
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May we be worthy to Ascend to heaven with Jesus. May the Blessed Virgin help us in the journey of this life, that we ourselves, may ascend with Christ to Paradise.
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Entrusted to the prayers of St. Bernadette .
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[i] St. Leo the Great: Roman Breviary, Office for Friday of the 6th week of Easter.
[ii] St. Leo the Great
[iii] Life of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Msgr. Romuald Gentilucci, p. 370.
[iv] Acts 1:3;
[v] Life of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Msgr. Romuald Gentilucci, p. 370.
[vi] Summa, Supplement, Q. 77, a1, reply to Obj. 3. Thomas is open to the question however in III, Q. 53, a3.
[vii] ‘Origen, St. Jerome, St. Bede, St. Clement of Alexandria and others believe that they ascended in the body to heaveh. Gentilucci, p. 373 note.
[viii] Pope St. John XXII, in a homily on the Ascension,1960.
[ix] Gentilucci, p. 268: ‘the common opinion of the doctors, is that St. Joseph was of the number of the Saints who arose with the divine Master….and at last on the 40th day, with Christ, he ascended body and soul to heaven.’ The footnote says: This is the opinion of St. Bernardine of Sienna, who says: ‘as the family lived a laborious life on earth, so they reign, body and soul in amorous glory in heaven.’ St. Francis de Sales says it is without doubt. Another proof is that no part of the body of St. Joseph is venerated.
[x] Gentilucci, p. 370
[xi] Gentilucci, p. 372
[xii] John 16:22
[xiii] Luke 24:52
