The Ascension of Our Lord, which occurred 40 days after Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, is the final act of our redemption that Christ began on Good Friday. On this day, the risen Christ, in the sight of His apostles, ascended bodily into Heaven (Luke 24:51; Mark 16:19; Acts 1:9-11).

The reality of the Ascension is so important that the creeds (the basic statements of belief) of Christianity all affirm, in the words of the Apostles’ Creed, that “He ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.” The denial of the Ascension is as grave a departure from Christian teaching as is denial of Christ’s Resurrection.

Christ’s bodily Ascension foreshadows our own entrance into Heaven not simply as souls, after our death, but as glorified bodies, after the resurrection of the dead at the Final Judgment. In redeeming mankind, Christ not only offered salvation to our souls but began the restoration of the material world itself to the glory that God intended before Adam’s fall.

The Feast of the Ascension marks the beginning of the first novena, or nine days of prayer. Before His Ascension, Christ promised to send the Holy Spirt to His apostles. Their prayer for the coming of the Holy Spirit, which began on Ascension Thursday, ended with the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, ten days later.

The observance of this feast is of great antiquity. Although no documentary evidence of it exists prior to the beginning of the fifth century, St. Augustine says that it is of Apostolic origin, and he speaks of it in a way that shows it was the universal observance of the Church long before his time. Frequent mention of it is made in the writings of St. John Chrysostom, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and in the Constitution of the Apostles. The Pilgrimage of Sylvia (Peregrinatio Etheriae) speaks of the vigil of this feast and of the feast itself, as they were kept in the church built over the grotto in Bethlehem in which Christ was born (Duchesne, Christian Worship, 491-515).

It may be that prior to the fifth century the fact narrated in the Gospels was commemorated in conjunction with the feast of Easter or Pentecost. Some believe that the much-disputed forty-third decree of the Council of Elvira (c. 300) condemning the practice of observing a feast on the fortieth day after Easter and neglecting to keep Pentecost on the fiftieth day, implies that the proper usage of the time was to commemorate the Ascension along with Pentecost. Representations of the mystery are found in diptychs and frescoes dating as early as the fifth century.

Certain customs were connected with the liturgy of this feast, such as the blessing of beans and grapes after the Commemoration of the Dead in the Canon of the Mass, the blessing of first fruits, afterwards done on Rogation Days, the blessing of a candle, the wearing of mitres by deacon and subdeacon, the extinction of the paschal candle, and triumphal processions with torches and banners outside the churches to commemorate the entry of Christ into heaven. There was the English custom of carrying at the head of the procession the banner bearing the device of the lion and at the foot the banner of the dragon, to symbolize the triumph of Christ in His ascension over the evil one. In some churches the scene of the Ascension was vividly reproduced by elevating the figure of Christ above the altar through an opening in the roof of the church. In others, whilst the figure of Christ was made to ascend, that of the devil was made to descend.

In the liturgies generally the day is meant to celebrate the completion of the work of our salvation, the pledge of our glorification with Christ, and His entry into heaven with our human nature glorified.

Photo credit: Tupungato / Shutterstock.com

Love uCATHOLIC?
Get our inspiring content delivered to your inbox every morning – FREE!






The post The Solemnity Of The Ascension appeared first on uCatholic.

Daily Reading

 

Daily Meditation

 

More...

The Word Among Us

Regnum Christi

One Bread, One Body

Evangeli

Living Faith

Click here for daily readings

“But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.  He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming” (John 16:13-14).

During a recent Confession, I realized my greatest desire was truly to do the will of God; at the same time, coming to grips with this is also my greatest difficulty. My contrite heart longs to please God; however, as Jesus told the sleepy Apostles in Gethsemane, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  How do we please God? Jesus, our model of pleasing the Father, did so by simply doing the will of the Father. 

This is where my flesh is weakest, discerning God’s will over mine. My fear of the unknown or doing the wrong thing can overwhelm me. I take comfort in this Scripture verse that the Spirit will guide us to that truth. We merely need to pray, listen, and trust. Trusting God should not be as difficult as I make it. How easily I allow fear to overcome my heart and forget the Spirit’s role in guiding my path. What is the Spirit of God trying to declare to you? 

Sometimes, discerning God’s Will can be incredibly daunting for me; I waffle back and forth, especially when the decision requires doing things out of my comfort zone. I find in those moments that it is best to pray and beg for the Lord to make it 100% clear what He wills. As I write this from thousands of feet in the air, I would still rather, for so many reasons, be at home. Yet I could not deny the message revealed to me was to step out in faith and go.

My spiritual director, the late Deacon Jerry Ryan, used to say, “if you’re going to trust God, then trust God.” I need to live what I believe by merely asking for the grace to be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit, to continue to seek his guidance in my life, and to have the courage to respond to what he declares. 

Contact the author

Daily Reading

 

Saint of the Day

 

More...

The Word Among Us

Regnum Christi

One Bread, One Body

Evangeli

Living Faith

Saint Victor Maurus was a native of Mauretania. He was born in the third century, and was called Maurus to distinguish him from other confessors named Victor. He is believed to have been a soldier in the Praetorian guard. Victor was a Christian from his youth, but it was not until he was an elderly man that he was arrested for the Faith.

After severe tortures, including being basted with molten lead, he was decapitated under Maximian in Milan around the year 303. Later a church was erected over his grave. According to St. Gregory of Tours, many miracles occurred at the shrine. In 1576, at the request of St. Charles of Borromeo, Victor’s relics were transferred to a new church in Milan established by the Olivetan monks. The church still bears St. Victor’s name today. After a life of adherence to the Faith during perilous times, St. Victor Maurus was taken prisoner and tortured as an old man.

Despite age, infirmity, and declining health, he remained steadfast in the Faith, gladly giving up his life for the Kingdom. His generous response to the call to martyrdom stands as a solemn sign to the modern church of the folly of the things of this world. His feast day is May 8th.

Photo credit: G.dallorto via Wikimedia Commons

Love uCATHOLIC?
Get our inspiring content delivered to your inbox every morning – FREE!







The post Saint Victor Maurus appeared first on uCatholic.

Daily Reading

 

Daily Meditation

 

More...

The Word Among Us

Regnum Christi

One Bread, One Body

Evangeli

Living Faith

Click here for daily readings

Today’s Gospel offers a unique insight into the work of sanctity in a few short lines. Jesus is talking with His apostles about how an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will come to them. However, in order for the Holy Spirit to come, Jesus must return to the Father. Jesus notices that this news fills the apostles with grief. They cannot imagine what it would be like to lose Him. 

It is God’s Will, which means it is Jesus’ Will, that he return to heaven. It also means that this plan will be for the good of the apostles and the good of the whole world. In that moment, the apostles can only see their loss. How can the Messiah leave them? 

Jesus is teaching the apostles how to let go, even of good and beautiful things, so that they can more freely receive what God intends for them. In this case, the Holy Spirit was coming to dwell intimately with the new Christian community and to continue spreading the faith of the salvation found in Jesus Christ. This isn’t a trade in, as if the Spirit is somehow better than Jesus. The Holy Spirit is, in every way, God, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. But His presence with us is uniquely His own and different from Jesus walking on the earth. 

Being a saint involves listening closely to the whisperings of the Spirit. Just like the apostles had to let go of Jesus to receive the Spirit, we may be asked to let go of something good or fulfilling in order to receive something new from God. 

Like the apostles, this isn’t a trade-in system like when we trade in a new phone for an upgrade. God’s ways are not our ways. We may not be able to see with clarity how the experience or situation being sacrificed can ever be replaced. However, we can trust in God’s faithfulness. St. Paul reminds us that, “all things work for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Contact the author

Daily Reading

 

Saint of the Day

 

More...

The Word Among Us

Regnum Christi

One Bread, One Body

Evangeli

Living Faith

Saint Rose Venerini was born at Viterbo in Italy, the daughter of a doctor. Following the death of her fiancé she entered a convent, but soon returned home to care for her newly widowed mother. Meanwhile, Rose invited the women of the neighborhood to recite the rosary in her home, forming a sort of sodality with them.

As she looked to her future, Rose, under the spiritual guidance of a Jesuit priest, became convinced that she was called to become a teacher in the world rather than a contemplative nun in a convent. Clearly, she made the right choice: She was a born teacher, and the free school for girls she opened in 1685 was well received.

Soon the cardinal invited her to oversee the training of teachers and the administration of schools in his Diocese of Montefiascone. As Rose’s reputation grew, she was called upon to organize schools in many parts of Italy, including Rome. Her disposition was right for the task as well, for Rose often met considerable opposition but was never deterred.

She died in Rome in 1728, where a number of miracles were attributed to her. She was beatified in 1952 and canonized in 2006. The sodality, or group of women she had invited to prayer, was ultimately given the rank of a religious congregation. Today, the so-called Venerini Sisters can be found in the United States and elsewhere, working among Italian immigrants.

She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 15, 2006.

Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Love uCATHOLIC?
Get our inspiring content delivered to your inbox every morning – FREE!







The post Saint Rose Venerini appeared first on uCatholic.

Daily Reading

 

Daily Meditation

 

More...

The Word Among Us

Regnum Christi

One Bread, One Body

Evangeli

Living Faith

Click here for daily readings

Have you ever heard the song “Blessings” by Laura Story? It talks about blessings coming amid the storms and healing being granted through pain. These types of contradictions sometimes happen during the four seasons as well. Last winter it was 55 degrees on Christmas and some Easters we have had snow. We may even experience some seasons of our lives when things are so topsy turvy that we don’t know which way is up and which way is down. 

Those of us who have lived a few decades understand that that’s just the way life is. We have good times and bad times, moments of plenty and moments of scarcity, laughter and tears. For those who are a bit younger, it may be difficult to understand why life has to be so hard or why things don’t go their way just a little bit more often. 

Although I’ve been around the block a few times, I still have a lot to learn, and like it or not, much of that learning comes during times of difficulty. When my mind and my heart are stretched to function beyond their normal capacity, when I am called to make changes in the way I act and react in order to become a better person, when I am asked to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns his followers about a case of opposites as well. “The hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. (John 16: 2-3) Imagine thinking that you are offering worship to God by killing someone! It is hard for us to fathom.

But if we take a long and honest look at our interior, we may find that we have a few areas for growth as well. They may come in different shapes and sizes. They may be mountains or molehills. They may be complicated or simple. But all of them can be refined and healed at the hand of our loving Savior. All of them can truly be transformed into blessings.

I pray that you are able to find a few of those hidden blessings today. 

Contact the Author

Daily Reading

 

Saint of the Day

 

More...

The Word Among Us

Regnum Christi

One Bread, One Body

Evangeli

Living Faith

Saint Francois de Laval was born at St. Martin de Montigny-sur-Avre, Normandy, France. He wanted to become a priest from his earliest childhood. When he was eight years old, his father placed him with the Jesuits, where he lived for fourteen years far from his family.

Francois lost his father in 1636. His uncle, a bishop, appointed him a canon of Evreux to assist his family. He was ordained a priest on May 1, 1647. King Louis XIV chose him as the first Bishop of New France. On December 8, 1658, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the thirty-eight year old prelate was consecrated a bishop. He left for Quebec on June 16, 1659, and immediately began making pastoral visits throughout his immense diocese.

Upon his arrival, he won everyone’s confidence with his charity, piety, discernment and impartiality. His first concern consisted in advancing the organization of the Church in Canada. He contributed greatly towards both the civil and religious formation of the country. Even though he had to face many difficulties, with his wise, firm action, he succeeded in implanting the Faith all over North America

Bishop de Laval first founded the Seminary of Quebec which gathered together a community of priests; in 1663 he entrusted the formation of his clergy to this seminary. Five years later, a Minor Seminary was opened for the recruitment of his clergy. In conformity with holy practice in the early centuries of the Church, all the clerics and churchmen lived out of a common fund.

Blessed Francois de Laval had to fight with all his might against disorders that had been introduced into the country at the beginning of its colonization, chiefly the traffic of intoxicating liquor. Saint Mary of the Incarnation wrote, “The bishop has had many conflicts in New France concerning liquor given to the natives which almost led to the total ruin of this new Church.” Thanks to his apostolic zeal, this shameful commerce was absolutely forbidden.

The secular powers raised serious opposition to his evangelizing activities, but Bishop de Laval never capitulated in the face of his adversaries’ odious proceedings. With firmness and perseverance, the holy bishop resisted all encroachments of civil authorities in Church government. He rose up with authority against anyone who wanted to hinder the implantation of Christianity in the blessed land of New France. With supreme patience, he endured all the wicked actions that earthly magnates wrought against him, as well as two major fires that demolished his seminary, for which he had labored so hard.

This holy bishop, a pioneer of the Church in New France, lived in constant, heroic renouncement. He wore a hair shirt and slept very little, so as to be able to pray all his offices and rosaries. As for the brief rest he granted himself, he took it on a wretched mat laid on a bed of boards, without even a sheet to cover himself. His great evangelical simplicity was also very praiseworthy, for never did any man have a greater horror of showmanship and vanity, especially when it presented itself under a cover of religion.

This worthy, virtuous prelate wore old, patched garments. For twenty years he owned only two winter cassocks. At his death one of them was still good; the other, threadbare and patched, attested to his wonderful spirit of poverty. Hard on himself, this admirable man of God was prodigal to excess towards Christ’s poor. Every year he never failed to give the needy 1,500 to 2,000 pounds.

Blessed Francois de Laval endured the sufferings of his last years with great serenity and resignation to God’s will. During Holy Week in 1708 he contracted the illness that was to take him to the grave. On May 6, 1708, he died in the company of his priests, reciting the Rosary and the Litany of the Holy Family, which devotion he had propagated throughout Canada.

Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Love uCATHOLIC?
Get our inspiring content delivered to your inbox every morning – FREE!







The post Saint François de Laval appeared first on uCatholic.

Daily Reading

 

Daily Meditation

 

More...

The Word Among Us

Regnum Christi

One Bread, One Body

Evangeli

Living Faith

Click here for daily readings

Why is it that we are “commanded” to love? Wouldn’t it be better if we were invited to love others? Isn’t it true that no one can make us love another person? And if we love out of duty are we really loving at all?

There have been any number of people in my life that I personally have not liked to be around. Over the years, however, I have discovered that my life is about more than getting along, or obtaining what I want, or experiencing pleasant circumstances. 

As a Christian, my life is no longer my own. I have been given the grace to experience the absolute love of God poured out on me in the sacrament of baptism and the only response to that overwhelming and limitless gift of God’s love and grace is to return love for love in as complete a manner as possible. As I put on the Lord Jesus, and I put into action his utter selfless loving here and now, in whatever situation I find myself in, I keep the one command I have been given by Jesus at the Last Supper: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” No, it is not a suggestion, if I feel like it, if it works out, or if it is to my benefit. That is not the way that Jesus loved us and it is not the way he commands us to love one another.

I will love you, even as I wrestle within a relationship, but I may not agree with you.

I will love you, even though I don’t really prefer being around you.

I will love you, even though I will take steps to protect myself from your behaviors.

I will love you because Jesus has loved me and because Jesus loves you.

Love gives meaning to all the other commandments.

Love gives meaning to every suffering.

The power of love alone can give ultimate direction even to the hard realism of economics and politics and social strife and issues of social injustice and disparity. Love alone can break these open so they serve the world in charity.

Just before his death, Jesus talked about love, unity, friendship, glory, and joy, that the love the Father has for Jesus may be in us and that Jesus may be in us. If we focus on love, all else will follow. Love will lead us to unity and glory and joy, as Jesus is in us and we in him so that we may be brought to complete unity. 

This love is the bedrock of our Christian life. If we miss this we have missed everything. The “command” should make it really stand out to us so that we keep this front and center in our journey to becoming and loving like Christ.

Contact the author

Daily Reading

 

Saint of the Day

 

More...

The Word Among Us

Regnum Christi

One Bread, One Body

Evangeli

Living Faith

Saint Angelus of Jerusalem, who was one of the early members of the Carmelite Order, suffered martyrdom for the Faith at Leocata, Sicily. The story of his life, as it has come down, is not very reliable. It may be summarized as follows: His parents were Jews of Jerusalem who were converted to Christianity by a vision of our Lady. She told them that the Messiah they were awaiting had already come to pass and had redeemed His people, and she promised them two sons, who would grow up as flourishing olive trees on the heights of Carmel-the one as a patriarch and the other as a glorious martyr.

From childhood the twins displayed great mental and spiritual gifts when, at the age of eighteen, they entered the Carmelite Order, they already spoke Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. After Angelus was born in Jerusalem in 1185, his parents were converted Jews. Angelus was one of the first Carmelites to come to Sicily from Mt. Carmel. According to trustworthy sources, he was killed by unbelievers in Licata during the first half of the thirteenth century. He has been named patron of many places in Sicily.had been a hermit on Mount Carmel for five years, Our Lord appeared to him and bade him go to Sicily, where he would have the grace to offer the sacrifice of his life. The saint immediately obeyed the call. During his journey from the East as well as after his arrival in Sicily, he converted many sinners by his teaching, no less than by his miracles.

At Palermo over two hundred Jews sought Baptism as the result of his eloquence. Similar success attended his efforts in Leocata, but he aroused the fury of a man called Berengarius, whose shameless wickedness he had denounced. As he was preaching to a crowd, a band of ruffians headed by Berengarius broke through the throng and stabbed him. Mortally wounded. He has been named patron of many places in Sicily.fell on his knees, praying for the people, but especially for his murderer.

Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Love uCATHOLIC?
Get our inspiring content delivered to your inbox every morning – FREE!







The post Saint Angelus of Jerusalem appeared first on uCatholic.

Daily Reading

 

Daily Meditation

 

More...

The Word Among Us

Regnum Christi

One Bread, One Body

Evangeli

Living Faith

Click here for daily readings

I have always been a very sensitive person, afraid of what others might think if I say or do something that is incongruent with their perspectives. I get easily offended if someone says something bad about me, often carrying the negative encounters with me for days on end. In a world filled with pressures from social media and constant to-do lists, unrealistic expectations of ourselves easily accumulate. Loneliness and despair are real demons in our world today. So often we hear about battles with depression or anxiety. In the United States, suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people. It is so easy to be distracted by the problems in today’s world. Am I attractive enough, successful enough, or financially well-off? 

As our Lord Jesus humbled himself to become a little child, a servant for His Church, we must remember that no servant is greater than His master.  As Christians, we are called to be humble, which reminds us we are not entitled to comfort or success. We must consciously strive to find Jesus, and to place His love for us above all other loves. 

It is not enough to go to Church once a week and go through the motions. To be one with Christ takes an inner peace and active work. There will be many battles in this world, since we encounter trauma through the effects of sin and chaos, and the hardest times will usually come from direct encounters with one another. 

Other people’s love will always be flawed. But studying God’s Word and practicing faithful prayer can provide a protective armor for when difficult times inevitably arrive. Neither reading the Bible nor knowing how to pray comes easily; they require an invested effort. What ultimately works for one may not work for another, but it is vital to find a way to prioritize these practices in our lives. 

We are not of this world, nor of this time. Today’s life will pass quickly, but our relationship with Christ and His Salvation are Eternal.

Contact the author

Daily Reading

 

Saint of the Day

 

More...

The Word Among Us

Regnum Christi

One Bread, One Body

Evangeli

Living Faith