Sixth Sunday of Easter

Dear friends in Christ

We are approaching the day when Our Lord ascended to Heaven following His Resurrection. On Thursday the Church celebrates that moment when Jesus returns to his proper place with God the Father. During this forty-day period between Easter and the Ascension, the Church asks us to keep our eyes on heaven, our final dwelling place, to which Jesus is calling us. Our Lord has promised His disciples that in a little while He would leave them but be with them forever. Jesus has kept His promise, but His presence will not end when He goes back to His Father; He remains with us, especially sacramentally in the Blessed Eucharist, which is the promise and foretaste of the eternal life to come. The thought of Heaven should help us to live detached from the things of this world and help us overcome difficult situations. We please God, and increase our happiness, when we foster the virtue of hope for things eternal. There will be times when we need this hope very much. Thoughts of Heaven should spur us on to more generous living in our daily struggle. Words are altogether inadequate for describing the life to come that God has promised His children. What we now poorly discern by revelation, and can barely imagine in our present state, will one day become a joyful reality. As we prepare to celebrate the Ascension on Thursday, we should reflect that nothing in life is more important than attaining our goal to live with God forever, and encourage those we love also, to seek the things that are eternal. I remind you that Thursday is a Holyday of Obligation which for us Catholics means that we celebrate and witness to this mystery in the life of Our Lord by attending Holy Mass.

God bless you!

Msgr Kevin Hale