Opening Prayer Series: Ascension of the Lord- A feast of hope.

The Opening Prayer for the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord Year A reads as follows:

Let us pray

(that the risen Christ will lead us to eternal life)

God our Father,

make us joyful in the ascension of Your Son, Jesus Christ .

May we follow Him into the new creation, 

for His ascension is our glory and our hope.

In making this prayer tangible, the following reflection questions emerged:

1. Why is the ascension a feast of hope for me?
2. How does this feast impact on my life this coming week?
3. What are my understandings from scripture about eternal life?
4. Why should I be joyful in the feast of the Ascension of the Lord?
5. What do I understand by the term 'new creation' and how does my understanding correlate to the term in scripture?
6. What is my attitude towards death-eg If I was to die today, would I be ready to greet the Risen Christ?
7. What changes will I make towards spiritual progress this week in the light of my attitude towards being ready for death?

 The ascension is a feast of hope since we can look forward to eternal life. Of course we need to live lives worthy and enter through the narrow gate.  However, Christ's four fold command gives us a mission-a focus.
The four fold command of Christ to His disciples is a command to us-

• Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations,
• baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
• Teach them to observe all the commands I gave you
• Know that I am with you until the end of time.

  So how can we make disciples of all the nations.  Most of us can evangelize others by not even saying a word- it is by example of the lives we lead.  However, we need to be ready with our answer should someone asks us for our reason for our belief.  

Evangelization  is not difficult if we live good Christian lives since others will be attracted to it. Then when a casual question or conversation occurs, it may be our time to speak.  More importantly is is a time to listen, since it is the question of the enquirer that is important.As the journey unfolds, then there will be a time for them to want to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit.  This will be God's timing, not ours since it is God who is leading the person to Himself.  Then as their journey continues, it is time for learning and teaching ( RCIA for example is part of the process), and as catholic pilgrims on the journey, we need to remember and encourage each other in our struggles knowing that Jesus is with us always.

So yes, the feast of the Ascension is a feast of hope of future glory. We must however not sit on our hands and wait. Christ has given us His command.  

What will we do with this command this coming week in our family, parish, workplace and neighbourhood?