Acts 1.1-11 | Ephesians 1.17-23 | Luke 24.46-53

On this first day of the month of June, we celebrate with Mother Church the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. This is the second glorious mystery of the Holy Rosary. We begin the last week of Easter Season, which will end with the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, next Sunday.

Today the evangelist Luke speaks to us about the mission of the Church in the world, the promise of the sending of the Holy Spirit, the ascension of Jesus to Heaven and the presence of the disciples in the Temple.

After demonstrating that He was alive and shortly before He was taken to Heaven, the risen Jesus said that the disciples should proclaim in His Name the conversion and forgiveness of sins to all nations, beginning with Jerusalem.

This is the mission of the Church, received directly from the risen Jesus. The Church exists to call humanity to conversion so that it may receive the forgiveness of sins in the Name of Jesus. It is a mission that began among the Jews and extended to non-Jews.

Jesus said that He would send the disciples the promised one of the Father, the Holy Spirit, and that they should remain in Jerusalem to be clothed with power from on high.

Human abilities, although necessary, are not enough to fulfill the mission given by the risen Jesus. The Church needs divine help, in the person of the Holy Spirit. And, to receive Him, community perseverance in the adoration of the risen Jesus and in the joyful praise of God in the Temple is indispensable. The evangelist Luke confirmed that the disciples were doing all this in Jerusalem.

Then the risen Jesus is taken to Heaven, after having raised His hands and blessed the disciples.

The mission that the Father had given to the Son had already been perfectly fulfilled. Now it was time to return to the Father, to Heaven, and to resume His glory as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, taking with Him our humanity that He assumed when, in the mystery of the incarnation, God the Son became Man through the action of the Holy Spirit in the virginal womb of Mary.

Let us worship our Lord Jesus Christ. He is in Heaven and mysteriously He is also in the Church, His mystical Body, through which He continues to act in the world and save humanity.

Today, the evangelist Luke tells us at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles about Jesus' ascension to Heaven forty days after the resurrection, relating it to the coming of the Holy Spirit with power. Luke spoke of two men dressed in white who questioned the apostles because they stood still, looking up to Heaven, while Jesus ascended.

The white color of their clothes indicates that those men had a heavenly origin, especially because they explained to the apostles that Jesus would come from Heaven, indicating the return of Christ at the end of time clothed in power and glory to judge the living and the dead.

The Church must actively wait for the return of Christ; it must not stand still, looking up to Heaven. The coming of Christ is hastened by the practice of charity and justice motivated by a profound spirituality.

Today, in his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul speaks to us about the mystery of the glory of risen Jesus in Heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father, reigning with power, while at the same time continuing to act in the world as Head through the Church, His mystical body, saving repentant humanity through the forgiveness of sins.

Let us ask the Father for a spirit of wisdom to truly know our Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit open our hearts to His light so that we may know the glory that awaits us in our inheritance with the saints. Everything is under the feet of Christ, the sovereign of all the earth.

Today is World Communications Day. Let us pray for all communicators, asking God that they may carry out their profession with ethical commitment in favor of good and justice.

And in this last week of Easter, let us dedicate ourselves to common prayer, in the joyful hope of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, next Sunday. Let us pray for Christians of all denominations, that they may be open to the gift of unity in diversity.

Local: Praia Grande - SP, Brasil

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