Dear friends in Christ
Forty days after the Resurrection comes the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. This Thursday marks the end of that time which the Apostles enjoyed with Jesus following Easter. It was a time of joy and reassurance. A time of fellowship and affection. A time when Jesus could go-over His teachings with them so that they had it clearly in their minds what He had done. Ascension Thursday is normally a Holyday of Obligation; although the obligation is still suspended (it will be restored in the near future) we still desire to celebrate this mystery of our Faith by participating at Holy Mass. The Ascension of Jesus is one of the mysteries of His life that is recalled and made present again at each offering of the Mass: ...as we celebrate the memorial of the blessed Passion, the Resurrection from the dead, and the glorious Ascension into Heaven of Christ, your Son, our Lord...
Jesus has returned to the Father so that he can intercede and prepare a place for us. From the Ascension onwards, we can keep our eyes fixed on Heaven. The Easter hymn reminds us: When the forty days were o’er, shall our hearts forget His promise: 'I am with you evermore?' and it continues on to remind us, that He within the veil has entered, robed in flesh, our great high priest; here on earth both priest and victim, in the Eucharistic feast. The sadness felt by the physical departure of Jesus is more-than compensated for by His presence with us at Mass—the Eucharistic Sacrifice—and his abiding presence in the Tabernacle.
Please keep in your prayers the children who are preparing for their First Holy Communion next month. Next weekend they will begin their immediate preparation for this Sacrament by making their first Confessions.
For the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, Pope Francis published the Apostolic Letter Patris Corde, with the aim ‘to increase our love for this great saint, to encourage us to implore his intercession and to imitate his virtues and his zeal’. To mark this special Year, the Pope has approved the inclusion of seven new titles to be used in the Litany of St Joseph. These new invocations are drawn from the interventions of the Popes who have reflected on aspects of the figure of the Patron of the Universal Church. The new invocations, originally in Latin, are as follows and could be translated as: Guardian of the Redeemer, Servant of Christ, Minister of salvation, Support in difficulties, Patron of exiles, Patron of the afflicted and Patron of the poor. I hope that for our part in this Year, we shall be able to make a more fitting shrine to St Joseph in our church which is also dedicated to his patronage. I will share more details of this when some designs emerge.
May the celebration of the glorious Ascension of Jesus into Heaven this week, fill our minds and hearts with an increased desire for Heaven and, as the restrictions on public worship are gradually lifted, bring us with full hearts and mind to celebrate afresh the Paschal Mysteries.
God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale