June 15, 2011
June 16th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 4 Period II.The Novena Rosary Mysteries
for June 16th are Luminous.
Please pray for Jimmy.
Pray for everything to do with
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The Florida Book Store
June 15, 2011
Feast of the Ascension
A Cycle June 5, 2011
Acts 1: 1-11
In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God. While at table with them, he had told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised. It is, he had said, what you have heard me speak about: John baptised with water but, not many days from now, you are going to be baptised with the Holy Spirit.
Now having met together, they asked him, Lord, has the time come for you to restore the kingdom to Israel? He replied, It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit which will come on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to earths remotest end.
As he said this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. They were still staring into the sky as he went, when suddenly two men in white were standing beside them, and they said, Why are you Galileans standing here looking into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen him go to heaven.
Psalm 47: 2-3, 6-9
For Yahweh, the Most High, is glorious,
the great king over all the earth.
He brings peoples under our yoke
and nations under our feet.Let the music sound for our God, let it sound,
let the music sound for our king, let it sound.For he is king of the whole world;
learn the music, let it sound for God!
God reigns over the nations,
seated on his holy throne.The leaders of the nations rally
to the people of the God of Abraham.
The shields of the earth belong to God,
who is exalted on high.
Ephesians 1: 17-23
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage he offers among his holy people, and how extraordinarily great is the power that he has exercised for us believers; this accords with the strength of his power at work in Christ, the power which he exercised in raising him from the dead and enthroning him at his right hand, in heaven, far above every principality, ruling force, power or sovereignty, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet, and made him, as he is above all things, the head of the Church; which is his Body, the fullness of him who is filled, all in all.
Matthew 28: 16-20
Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.'
From Fr. Joe
Feast of the Ascension - A Cycle June 5, 2011
Homily: (Acts 1,1-11; Ephesians 1, 17-23; Matthew 28,16-20) During June a lot of people get married. So I have three stories about marriage:
1) A little boy asked his father "Daddy, how much does it cost to get married? Dad replied, "I don't know, son. I'm still paying."
2) A lady put an ad in the newspaper that read, "Husband wanted." The next day she got 200 answers to her ad. They all said the same thing, "You can have mine."
3) A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day as opposed to how many words men say; - 30,000 to a man's 15,000. The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men." The husband turned to his wife and said: "What?"
Besides being the feast of the Ascension, today is also the feast of St. Boniface. St. Boniface does not quite generate the kind of celebration that is usually associated with St. Patrick (whether that's good or bad, I cannot say). However, Boniface is as important to Germany as Patrick was to Ireland. When Boniface was sent to Germany, it was mostly pagan. Even the Christianity that was there was mixed with paganism. For 35 years he worked tirelessly trying to reform the Church in Germany, to educate the clergy, and to bring the people back to fidelity to the Holy Father. It was not as glorious a task as bringing people to Christ who had never heard of him (which is what Patrick did), but Boniface had the hard work of correcting and rejuvenating the faith of those who already thought they had the faith and who thought they didn't need renewal. Learning something for the first time is easier than having to unlearn what is erroneous and then learning what is correct. Often I am asked about the stained glass window we have of Boniface cutting down the tree. That tree was considered sacred to the pagan gods and everyone thought he would be struck dead if he cut it down. Those who were nearby were pagan priests apparently waiting for lightening to strike - but Boniface cut it down without anything happening. It split into four parts when it fell and he was able to use the wood to build a chapel. He not only worked in Germany but in France and in the Netherlands too. After 35 years of service to God, Boniface, along with 53 companions, were attacked and massacred by pagans on their way to the Netherlands for a Confirmation. Thus he is a martyr, his red garb symbolizes that, and we would normally wear red on his feast, but the feast of the Ascension is what we are celebrating today.
The Ascension celebrates Jesus' glorification far above every being that could be named in this age and in the one to come (as Paul says in today's second reading). As we profess each week, Jesus ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. It is not the end of his work. He tells his disciples in today's gospel, "I will be with you always, until the end of time." He showed he was with them by how the Church grew through the teaching of the apostles, through the miracles they worked and through the courage he gave them - even giving them courage to face martyrdom for their faith.
His ascension to glory is something beyond our human abilities to understand. That is what is symbolized by the cloud that took him from their sight. yet, when Jesus' risen body entered into the world of the divine he gave us hope, for he promised us, "I am going to get a place ready for you and I will come back and take you with me, that where I am, you also may be." (John 14,3)
If we try to pinpoint the exact day for the Ascension we are unable to do so. Mark, Luke and John give us the impression in their gospels that Jesus ascended to the Father on Easter Sunday night. Luke, who also wrote the Acts of the Apostles, tells us the ascension took place 40 days after Easter. Forty is a round number that is used frequently in the Bible to give us a rough idea of how much time had passed by. Scholars tell us the ascension seems to have taken place in two stages (The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, 43:198) This might be a little heavy, so please bear with me. The first stage, which according to the gospels took place on Easter Sunday night, is called the "doxological" account. The Greek word doxa means splendor, glory, honor thus according to the doxological account of the ascension, the disciples encountered Jesus a number of times, they were instructed by him, and worshipped him. Luke describes this phase of the ascension at the end of his gospel by telling us after Jesus blessed the disciples and was 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." The second stage of the ascension can be called the "ecclesiastical" account. Ecclesia means church thus according to this account the church must move beyond this period of joyful worship and frequent appearances of Jesus and begin to travel the highways of the world with the good news. That is the message of today's gospel from Matthew. Notice in today's gospel, Matthew doesn't even mention the ascension. He wants us not so much to focus on where Jesus went but to focus on what Jesus wants us to do now. St. Luke gives us the same message when the angel asks the disciples, "Why are you standing there looking at the sky?" In other words it's time to get to work boys and girls.
Matthew tells us the apostles would go forth with the Authority of Jesus; they were to go to all the nations; their ministry would be sacramental (they would baptize) and it would be a ministry of teaching people to observe all that I have commanded you. Notice the use of the word "all." "All authority," "all nations," "all that I command," "all days." The mission of the Church (which is our mission today) has no limit. Our patron St. Boniface lived that. May each of us, in our own way, do the same.
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