Ascension Of The Lord - Year B - Ascension Sunday & ‘Mother Mary’

Here are three joyful reflections to meditate on as we contemplate the Ascension, this beautiful mystery of our faith.

1) Jesus Became Our Eternal Advocate.

In 2013, Pope Francis spoke about how the Ascension is the culmination of Jesus’ earthly life and focused on Luke 24:50-53, which recounts Jesus’ departure from his disciples and Blessed Mother by stating “While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.” “We have One who always defends us, who defends us from the snares of the devil, who defends us from ourselves and from our sins,” said Pope Francis. He added “Christ opened the path to us. He is like a roped guide climbing a mountain who, on reaching the summit, pulls us up to him and leads us to God. If we entrust our life to him, if we let ourselves be guided by him, we are certain to be in safe hands, in the hands of our Saviour, of our Advocate.”

2) We Find Strength to Live Our Faith.

In the same address, Pope Francis spoke about the strength we receive from Jesus’ Ascension. “Then two men in white robes appeared and asked them not to stand there looking up to heaven but to nourish their lives and their witness with the certainty that Jesus will come again in the same way in which they saw him ascending into heaven (cf. Acts 1:10-11). The Ascension does not point to Jesus’ absence, but tells us that he is alive in our midst in a new way. He is no longer in a specific place in the world as he was before the Ascension. He is now in the lordship of God, present in every space and time, close to each one of us. In our life we are never alone: we have this Advocate who awaits us, who defends us. We are never alone: the Crucified and Risen Lord guides us.”

3) We are United with God.

Pope Benedict XVI also talked about the joy of the Ascension. During a 2009 pastoral visit to Cassino , he told the crowd: “Heaven: this word does not indicate a place above the stars but something far more daring and sublime: it indicates Christ himself, the divine Person who welcomes humanity fully and forever, the One in whom God and man are inseparably united forever. Man's being in God, this is Heaven. And we draw close to Heaven, indeed, we enter Heaven to the extent that we draw close to Jesus and enter into communion with him. For this reason, (the) Solemnity of the Ascension invites us to be in profound communion with the dead and Risen Jesus, invisibly present in the life of each one of us.”

Along with Mary, during the month of May dedicated to her, let us ponder the Ascension so that, like her, we may experience the fruits of this special day in our lives.

In honor of Mother’s Day weekend being celebrated in many places around the world, we would like to share our latest video, "Mother Mary", a collection of over 1 hour of Mary Songs / Marian Hymns that span the entire musical spectrum, from traditional to contemporary, from chant to gospel, and from Annunciation to Assumption.

Video can be watched by clicking here or on the picture below: