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Christ Our Ransom

Ascension of Our Lord - Meditation and Prayers

The Ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven

Ascension

Meditation

On the fortieth day after His Resurrection, after having trained His Apostles for their high calling to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, Jesus prepared to ascend on high to where the glories of heaven awaited Him.  He blessed His loving Mother and His Apostles and disciples and bade them farewell.  A cloud received Him out of their sight.

The countless blessed spirits whom He had released from limbo accompanied Him as the first fruits of the redemption.  All the hosts of heaven’s Angels came out to meet Him, the Savior of the world.

As He took His place beside His heavenly Father, the whole court of heaven gave forth a glorious song of praise.  It was the song heard by John in his visions:  “Worthy is the Lamb That was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and praise!”  (Rv 5:12)

Jesus ascended into heaven to enter into possession of His glory.  While on earth He had always enjoyed the vision of God, but the glory of His Sacred Humanity had shone forth only at His Transfiguration.  On His Ascension into heaven He took His place as Man beside His heavenly Father and was exalted above all other human creatures.

The night before He died Jesus prayed to His Father: “I have given You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do.   Do You now, Father, give Me glory at Your side, glory I had with You before the world began” (Jn 17:4-5)

Since His Humanity is united to the Divine Word, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, It enjoys the right of eternal glory.  It shares with the Father the infinite bliss and mighty power of God.  This is the reward for all He has done and merited on earth.  In heaven He is raised above all because on earth He has lowered Himself below all.

When the struggle of this life is over Jesus will give us the grace to share His joy and triumph in heaven for all eternity.

Jesus ascended into heaven to be our Mediator with His Father.  There He is pleading for us.  He ascended into heaven to give an account to His heavenly Father of the great work He had done on earth.  The Church was born, grace springs up in abundance from His Cross of Calvary and is distributed through the Sacraments, God’s justice is satisfied, hell and death are conquered, heaven is opened and man saved.  Jesus had a right to the glorious homecoming.

Christ’s Ascension is also the assurance of our own ascension into heaven after the Last Judgment.  He entered into His Kingdom to prepare a place for us, for He promised to come again to take us to Himself. 

Let us ascend into heaven with Jesus in spirit, there to dwell by faith, hope and charity.  Let us seek only the joys that are true!

The Word of God

“After speaking to them, the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and took His seat at God’s right hand.” Mk 16:19

“When He ascended on high, He took a host of captives and gave gifts to men.”  Eph 4:8

“Since you have been raised up to company with Christ, set your hearts on what pertains to high realms where Christ is seated at God’s right hands.  Be intent on things above rather on things on earth.”  Col 3:1-2

Christ's Ascension into Heaven

Novena Prayers

Jesus, I honor You on the feast of Your Ascension into heaven.  

I rejoice with all my heart at the glory 

into which You entered to reign as King of heaven and earth.  

When the struggle of this life is over, 

give me the grace to share Your joy 

and triumph in heaven for all eternity.

I believe that You entered into Your glorious Kingdom 

to prepare a place for me, 

for You promised to come again 

to take me to Yourself. 

Grant that I may seek only the joys of Your friendship, 

so that I may deserve to be united with You in heaven.

In the hour of my homecoming, 

when I appear before Your Father 

to give an account of my life on earth, 

have mercy on me.

Jesus, in Your love for me 

You have brought me from evil to good 

and from misery to happiness.  

Give me the grace to rise 

above my human weakness.  

May Your Humanity 

give me courage in my weakness 

and free me from my sins.

Through Your grace 

give me the courage of perseverance 

for You have called and justified me by faith.  

May I hold fast to the life You have given me 

and come to the eternal gifts You promised.

You love me, dear Jesus.  

Help me to love You in return.  

I ask You to grant this special favor (Mention your request.)

By Your unceasing care, 

guide my steps toward the life of glory 

You have prepared for those who love You.  

Make me grow in holiness and thank You 

by a life of faithful service.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have Mercy on us!

Prayer of Praise to Jesus in Glory

I praise You, dearest Heart of Jesus, Fountain of all goodness.

I praise You, most kind Heart of Jesus, 

for the boundless graces that have flowed 

and shall continue to flow from You into the souls of the just.

I praise You, most gentle Heart of Jesus, 

for the tender love with which You have 

so often refreshed devout hearts through Divine consolations.

I praise You, most loving Heart of Jesus, 

for the fullness of Your grace, 

the splendor of Your virtues, 

the generosity of Your Heart, 

and the purity of Your love.

I praise You, royal Heart of Jesus, 

for Your victory over death and sin, 

Your power over souls, 

and Your triumph over the living and the dead.

I praise You, Heart so poor and yet so rich, 

for having despised all earthly riches 

and for having renounced all earthly honors.

I praise You, most obedient Heart of Jesus, 

that hungered after the fulfillment of the Divine Will 

and thirsted after the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls.

I praise You, most generous Heart of Jesus, 

that did not seek its own glory; 

most patient Heart, that willingly bore the greatest insults; 

most unselfish Heart, that longed for and lovingly embraced the Cross.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 

teach me to love You with my whole Heart, 

and grant that, according to the little strength I have, 

I may imitate Your wonderful virtues.  Amen.

Prayer

God Our Father, make us joyful in the Ascension of Your Son Jesus Christ.  

May we follow Him into the new creation, for His Ascension is our glory and our hope. 

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever.  

Amen.

Last Supper -- and the Passover Liturgy

The Eucharist

The Cup of Blessing 

Lenten Reflections from a Father who keeps His Promises   by Scott Hahn

Tuesday of Holy Week

“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?” – 1 Corinthians 10:16

As I studied the ancient Jewish Passover liturgy, I learned that the seder meal was divided into four parts, which correspond to the four different cups that were served.  The preliminary course consisted of a  solemn blessing pronounced over the first cup of wine, which was followed by a dish of bitter herbs.  Next the Passover narrative was recited, after which Psalm 113 was sung.  Drinking the second cup of wine immediately followed.

Third, the main meal was served, consisting of lamb and unleavened bread, which proceeded the drinking of the third cup of wine, known as the “cup of blessing”.  Finally the climax of the Passover came with the singing of Psalms 114—118 and drinking the fourth cup of wine, the “cup of consummation.”

The Last Supper

Many New Testament scholars see this pattern reflected in the Gospel narratives of the Last Supper.  In particular, the cup that Jesus blessed and distributed is identified as the third cup of the Passover meal. Paul identifies this “cup of blessing” with the cup of the Eucharist (see 1 Corinthians 10:16).

. . . . .

Wednesday of Holy Week 

“Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” – Mark 14:25

Instead of progressing immediately to the climax of the Passover by drinking the fourth cup, the disciples and Jesus went to the Mount of Olives (see Mark 14:26).

For students of the Passover, Jesus’ skipping the fourth cup is almost the practical equivalent of a priest’s omitting words of consecration at Mass or forgetting Communion! Why did Jesus choose not to drink the fourth cup?

There in Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39).  What cup was Jesus talking about?  Some scholars identify the cup as “the cup of God’s wrath” frequently mentioned by the Old Testament prophets (see Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15).  However, a more basic connection is the more immediate context of Passover, which Jesus had just been celebrating.

Agony in the Garden

I then turned to the Gospel of John.  For John, the hour of Jesus’ passion, crucifixion, and death is also the hour of this greatest glory.  His abject humiliations constitute his exaltation; his apparent defeat at the hands of his enemies is seen as his supreme triumph; his death is actually the event that brings life to the world.

So, the “it” that was finished was the Passover that Jesus had begun—but interrupted—in the Upper Room!  

Its completion was marked by Jesus drinking sour 

whine on Golgotha; the fourth cup.  

And Jesus calls us, as his disciples, to not only partake of the cup of blessing (the third cup) which we share in the Eucharist, but also of this fourth cup by dying for him (see Mark 10:38).  Only then is the paschal mystery truly fulfilled in us.

Excerpts from Lenten Reflections from a Father who keeps His Promises by Scott Hahn

I highly recommend this book! It has enlightened me to things that I have never understood... you can purchase this book at Amazon... it is available on Kindle.

St. Patrick a great man of faith

Saint Patrick, Great Evangelizer

St. Patrick

Lived 385 - 461

From the Confessions of Saint Patrick

Through me 

many peoples 

have been reborn 

in God

I give  unceasing  thanks to God, who kept me faithful in the day of my testing.  Today I can offer Him sacrifice and confidence, giving myself as a living victim to Christ, my Lord, who kept me safe through all my trails.   

St. Patrick proclaiming Christ to Ireland

I can say now: Who am I, Lord, and what is my calling, that you worked through me with such divine power?  You did all this so that today among the Gentiles I might constantly rejoice and glorify Your Name wherever I may be, both in prosperity and in adversity.  

You did it so that, whatever happened to me, I might accept good and evil equally, always giving thanks to God.  God showed me how to have faith in Him forever, as one who is never to be doubted.  He answered my prayer in such a way that in the last days, ignorant though I am I might be bold enough to take up so holy and so wonderful a task, and imitate in some degree those who the Lord has so long ago foretold as heralds of His Gospel, bearing witness to all nations.

How did I get this wisdom, that was not mine before?  I did not know the number of my days, or have knowledge of God.

How did so great and salutary a gift come to me, the gift of knowing and loving God, though at the cost of homeland and family?  

I came to the Irish peoples to preach the Gospel and endure the taunts of unbelievers, putting up with reproaches about my earthly pilgrimage, suffering many persecutions, even bondage, and losing my birthright of freedom for the benefit of others.

St. Patrick Apostle and Patron of Ireland

If I am worthy, I am ready  also to give up my life,  

without hesitation and most willingly, for His name.  

I want to spend myself in that country, 

even in death, 

if the Lord should grant me this favor.  

I am deeply in His debt, for He gave me this favor.  

I am deeply in His debt, for He gave me that great grace that through me many peoples should be reborn in God, and then made perfect by confirmation and everywhere among them clergy ordained for a people so recently coming to believe, one people gathered by the Lord from the ends of the earth.  

As God had prophesied of old through the prophets.  The nations shall come to you from the ends of the earth, and say: “How false are the idols made by our fathers: they are useless.”  In another prophesy he said, I have set you as a light among the nations, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

It is among that people 

that I want to wait for the promise 

made by Him, 

who assuredly never tells a lie.  

He makes this promise in the Gospel: They shall come from the east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  This is our faith: believers are to come from the world.

The Confessions of St. Patrick … I Patrick …. http://www.confessio.ie/etexts/confessio_english#01

St. Peter, the Rock given Authority

St. Peter receiving the Keys to the Kingdom of God

From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope

The Church of Christ rises on the firm foundation of Peter’s Faith

Out of the whole world one man, Peter, is chosen to preside at the calling of all nations, and to be set over the apostles and all the fathers of the Church.  Though there are in God’s people many bishops and many shepherds, Peter is thus appointed to rule in his own person those whom Christ also rules as the original ruler.  Beloved, how great and wonderful is the sharing in his power that God in his goodness has given to this man.  Whatever Christ has willed to be shared in common by Peter and the other leaders of the Church, it is only through Peter that he has given to others what he has not refused to bestow on them.

The Lord now asks the apostles as a whole what men think of him.  As long as they are recounting the uncertainty born of human ignorance, their reply is always the same.

But when he presses the disciples to say what they think themselves, the first to confess his faith in the Lord is the one who is first in rank among the apostles.

Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood
 has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

Peter says: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus replies: Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. You are blessed, He means, because My Father has taught you.  You have not been deceived by earthly opinion, but have been enlightened by inspiration from heaven.

He continues: And I say to you. In other words, as my Father has revealed to you my godhead, so I in my turn make known to you your pre-eminence.  You are Peter: though I am the inviolable rock, the cornerstone that makes both one, the foundation apart from which no one can lay any other, yet you also are a rock, for you are given solidity by my strength, so that which is my very own because of my power is common between us through your participation.

And upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  On this strong foundation, he says I will build an everlasting temple.  The great height of my Church, which is to penetrate the heavens, shall rise on the firm foundation of this faith.

The gates of hell shall not silence this confession of faith; the chains of death shall not bind it.  Its’ words are the words of life.  As they lift up to heaven those who profess them, so they send down to hell those who contradict them.

Blessed Peter is therefore told: To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.  Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.

The authority vested in this power passed also to the other apostles, and the institution established by this decree has been continued in all the leaders of the Church.  But it is not without good reason that what is bestowed on all is entrusted to one.  For Peter received it separately in trust because he is the prototype set before all the rulers of the Church.

St. Ambrose - Let God's Word be Heard

Open Your Lips, and Let God’s Word Be Heard

From the Explanations of the Psalms by Saint Ambrose, bishop

We must always meditate on God’s wisdom, keeping it in our hearts and on our lips.  Your tongue must speak justice, the law of God must be in your heart.  Hence Scripture tells you: You shall speak of these commandments when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down, and when you get up. 

Let us then speak of the Lord Jesus, 

for He is wisdom, He is the Word, 

the Word indeed of God.

It is also written: Open your lips, and let God’s word be heard.  God’s word is uttered by those who repeat Christ’s teaching and meditate on His sayings.  Let us always speak this word.  

When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking of Christ.

  

When we speak about virtue, we are speaking of Christ.  

When we speak about justice, we are speaking of Christ.  

When we speak about peace, we are speaking of Christ.

  

When we speak about truth and life and redemption, 

we are speaking of Christ.

Open your lips, says Scripture and let God’s word be heard. It is for you to open, it is for Him to be heard.  So David said: I shall hear what the Lord says in me. The very Son of God says: Open your lips, and I fill them. Not all can attain to the perfection of wisdom as Solomon or Daniel did, but the spirit of wisdom is poured out on all according to their capacity, that is, on all the faithful.  

If you believe, you have the spirit of wisdom.

Meditate, then, at all times on the things of God, and speak the things of God, when you sit in your house. By house we can understand the Church, or the secret place within us, so that we are to speak within ourselves.  Speak with prudence, so as to avoid falling into sin, as by excess of talking.  

When you sit in your house, speak, so as never to be idle. You speak along the way if you speak in Christ, for Christ is the Way.  When you walk along the way, speak to yourself, speak to Christ.  

Hear him say to you: I desire that in every place men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. When you lie down, speak so that the sleep of death may not steal upon you.  

Listen and learn how you are to speak as you lie down; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

When you get up or rise again, speak of Christ, so as to fulfill what you are commanded.

Listen and learn how Christ is to awaken you from sleep.  Your soul says: I hear my brother knocking at the door. 

Then Christ says to you: Open the door to me, my sister, my spouse. Listen and learn how you are to awaken Christ.  Your soul says: I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, awaken or reawaken the love of my heart. Christ is love.

Triumph of the Cross

Triumph of the Cross

Feast Day September 14th

Exaltation of the Cross

From a discourse by Saint Andrew of Crete, bishop

The Cross is Christ’s 

Glory and Triumph

We are celebrating the feast of the cross which drove away the darkness and brought in the light.  As we keep this feast, we are lifted up with the crucified Christ, leaving behind us earth and sin so that we may gain the things above.  So great and outstanding a possession is the cross that he who wins it has won a treasure.  Rightly could I call this treasure the fairest of all fair things and the costliest, in fact as well as in name, for on it and through it and for its sake the riches of salvation that had been lost were restored to us.

Had there been no cross, 

Christ could not 

have been crucified.  

Had there been no cross, 

life itself could not have been nailed to the tree.  

And if life and had not been nailed to it, 

there would be no streams 

of immortality pouring from Christ’s side, 

blood and water for 

the world’s cleansing.  

The legal bond of our sin would not be canceled, we should not have obtained our freedom, we should not have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life and the gates of paradise would not stand open.  Had there been no cross, death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled.

Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and honorable.  It is great because through the cross the many noble acts of Christ found their consummation—very many indeed, for both his miracles and his sufferings were fully rewarded with victory.  

Christ on the Cross Salvation of Mankind

The cross is honorable 

because it is both 

the sign of Gods suffering 

and the trophy of his victory.  

It stands for his suffering 

because on it 

he freely suffered unto death.  

But is also his trophy 

because it was the means 

by which the devil was 

wounded and death conquered, 

the barred gates of hell 

were smashed, 

and the cross became 

the one common salvation

 of the whole world.

The cross is called Christ’s glory; it is saluted as his triumph.  We recognized it as the cup he longed to drink and the climax of the sufferings he endured for our sake.  

As to the cross being Christ’s glory, listen to his words: 

Christ Crucified

Now is the 

Son of Man glorified, 

and in him 

God is glorified, 

and God will glorify 

him at once.  

And once more: 

Father, 

glorify your name.  

Then a voice came from heaven: 

I have glorified it and will glorify it again. 

Here he speaks of the glory that would accrue to him through the cross is Christ’s triumph, hear what he himself also said: When I am lifted up then I will draw all men to myself.  Now you can see that the cross is Christ’s glory and triumph.

St.Andrew of Crete

Christ the King

Prayer to Christ the King

O Christ Jesus, I acknowledge Thee King of the Universe.  

All that has been made has been created for Thee.  

Make full use of Thy rights over me.  

I renew the promises I made in Baptism, when I renounced Satan and all his pomps and works, and I promise to live a good Christian life: and especially I undertake to help, to the extent of my means, to secure the triumph of the rights of God and of Thy Church.

Divine Heart of Jesus, I offer Thee my efforts to obtain that all hearts may acknowledge Thy Sacred Royalty, and that so the Kingdom of Thy peace may be established throughout the entire universe.  

Amen.

Jesus, King and Center of all hearts, through the advent of Thy Kingdom, grant us peace.

From the book - Holy Hour of Reparation, copyright 1945

St. Barnabas on the New Law of the Lord

Christ teaching the Apostles

The New Law of the Lord

A Letter attributed to St. Barnabas

God has abolished the sacrifices of the old law so that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ imposes no yoke of coercion and its sacrifice is not one made by man. In another place he says to them, Did I command your fathers when they came out of the land of Egypt to offer me burnt offerings and sacrifices? No, but I commanded them this: “Let none of you cherish any evil in his heart against his neighbour, and let none of you be fond of breaking vows.” 

If we have any sense then we will understand the loving intention of our Father. He wants us not to err as these people did but to seek how we may make our offering to him. And he tells us: the sacrifice for the Lord is a contrite heart, a heart that glorifies its Maker is a sweet savour to the Lord.

My brethren, we must look closely

into the matter of our salvation

so that the Evil One does not slyly

enter our hearts and drag us away

from the life that lies before us.

God also says to them, Why are you keeping a fast for me and filling this day with your whinings? I have not decreed this fast, says the Lord, nor this humiliation of man’s soul.  Turning to us, he says Here is the fast I decree: relax your iniquitous restrictions, loosen the shackles of your oppressive contracts, let your ruined debtors go free and teat up your unjust agreements. Break your bread and give it to the hungry, if you see a man without clothing, give him clothes of your own. If you see one who is homeless, bring him into your own house.

Let us flee from all vanity, let us hold in aversion the Way of Wickedness and its works.

Do not withdraw into solitude as if you were already considered righteous,

but come together and seek out the common good.

For Scripture says: Woe betide those who are wise in their own eyes and knowledgeable in their own sight. Let us be men of the Spirit, let us be a temple consecrated to God. As far as we can, let us devote ourselves to living in the fear of God, and let us strive to keep his commandments so that his ordinances become our delight.

When the Lord judges the world he will have no favourites:

each will receive according to his deeds.

If he is good then his righteousness will lead him forward; if he is evil then the reward of iniquity will be in front of him.

Let us never complacently think of ourselves as ‘called’, let us never doze in our sinfulness, or the Prince of Evil may gain power over us and thrust us out from the Kingdom of the Lord. And consider this also, my brethren, you see what great signs and wonders were wrought in Israel and yet in the end they were finally abandoned –

let us be very careful not to be among those of whom it was written

that many are called but few are chosen.

About Saint Barnabas 

St. Barnabas

Barnabas, a Jew of Cyprus, comes as close as anyone outside the Twelve to being a full-fledged apostle. He was closely associated with St. Paul (he introduced Paul to Peter and the other apostles) and served as a kind of mediator between the former persecutor and the still suspicious Jewish Christians.

When a Christian community developed at Antioch, Barnabas was sent as the official representative of the Church of Jerusalem to incorporate them into the fold. He and Paul instructed in Antioch for a year, after which they took relief contributions to Jerusalem.

Later, Paul and Barnabas, now clearly seen as charismatic leaders, were sent by Antioch officials to preach to the Gentiles. Enormous success crowned their efforts. After a miracle at Lystra, the people wanted to offer sacrifice to them as gods—Barnabas being Zeus, and Paul, Hermes—but the two said, “We are of the same nature as you, human beings. We proclaim to you good news that you should turn from these idols to the living God” (see Acts 14:8-18).

But all was not peaceful. They were expelled from one town, they had to go to Jerusalem to clear up the ever-recurring controversy about circumcision and even the best of friends can have differences. When Paul wanted to revisit the places they had evangelized, Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark, his cousin, author of the Gospel (April 25), but Paul insisted that, since Mark had deserted them once, he was not fit to take along now. The disagreement that followed was so sharp that Barnabas and Paul separated, Barnabas taking Mark to Cyprus, Paul taking Silas to Syria. Later, they were reconciled—Paul, Barnabas and Mark.

When Paul stood up to Peter for not eating with Gentiles for fear of his Jewish friends, we learn that “even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy” (see Galatians 2:1-13).

Story:

Barnabas is mentioned by name as one of the generous members of the idyllic and extremely poor Church in Jerusalem: "The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. . . . There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.

"Thus Joseph, also named by the apostles Barnabas (which is translated 'son of encouragement.), a Levite, a Cypriot by birth, sold a pieace of property that he owned, then broguht the moeny and put it at the feet of the apostles" (Acts 4:32, 34-37).

Comment:

Barnabas is spoken of simply as one who dedicated his life to the Lord. He was a man "filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. Thereby large numbers were added to the Lord." Even when he and Paul were expelled from Antioch in Pisidia (modern-day Turkey), they were "filled with joy and the Holy Spirit."

http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1411