Opening Prayer Series: Collect for the Ascension of Our Lord.

The Collect for the Ascension of Our Lord reads as follows:

Let us pray,

Gladden us with holy joys Almighty God,

and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving,

for the Ascension of Christ Your Son is our exaltation,

and, where the Head has gone before in glory

the Body is called to follow in hope.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirt,

one God for ever and ever.

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

1. Why am I asking God to gladden me with holy joys?
2. Why should I rejoice with devout thanksgiving on this Solemnity?
3. What does the Solemnity of the feast of the Ascension mean to me?
4. How will this Solemnity affect this coming week in my life?
5. How will I  prepare my spiritual plan for the Year of Grace this coming week?
6. How might I live in the glory and hope of the ascension this week?  

The Ascension of Our Lord is essentially a feast of hope since we can look forward to eternal life.  We must however not sit on our hands and wait. Christ has given us His command and we need to live lives worthily, so that we can enter through the narrow gate.  

gives us a mission-a focus.
The four fold command of Christ to His disciples is a command to us and gives us a mission- a focus.

• 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?   We need to be ready with our answer should someone asks us for our reason for our belief.  Most of us can evangelize others by not even saying a word- it is by example of the lives we lead. 

Evangelization does not have to be difficult.  If we  are trying our best to live good Christian lives,  other people 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 need to have this hope in our hearts and try to live our lives now with this future glory in mind. Next week, on Pentecost Sunday, we start the Year of Grace ( more about that in my new series- the Year of Grace.  However, in the light of today's Solemnity, we can start to get ready this week with hope in our hearts and future glory in mind and examine our lives right now. We can then decide and prepare our own personal spiritual plan for the year of Grace.

What will we do with Christ's 4 fold command this coming week in our family, parish, workplace and neighbourhood?