Day 7: Ascension, elevation in joy and hope

Ps 46,6

God has gone up with a shout; the Lord, amid trumpet blasts.

Meditation

Magnificent Ascension which opens to us the space of a hope: it is a space-time without limit, irreducible, but which forbids to believe that the Son of the man can be here or there. His parousia (his return to glory), and his presence are now played in our daily lives! He is in heaven, with His Father ... He is in each of us, in each of our actions, in the midst of everyday life. He is possessed by no one; He is there in hope. This raises our attention to what comes and what happens. There is no day or hour known for his return, because Jesus is with us until the end. Vigilance is to be every day and every hour; an attentiveness in the life of each and every one, a way of approaching each other as our neighbor. 

Let us contemplate the picture above (seen yesterday).  Known as the Conques Tympanum, it represents the story of our redemption... Look how Jesus Chris, from where He is, pours out graces received from the Father ... until it reaches us ...

Elijah leaving on his chariot of fire left his spirit to Elisha (2 Kings 2,9-12). Jesus leaves his Spirit to his disciples who see him rise to Heaven. Thus, striving to live the life of the Spirit as he has lived, the Church will be His body so that in the long run, in its weakness, its fragility and also a constant conversion, it announces,  by its ways of living: what she has seen, heard, and how she is touched by the Word of life (1 John 1,1). Hence, she will show the sacramental signs of His presence even in the lowest conditions of human existence.


Let us prepare ourselves for the Ascension of our Lord as a joyful event. With His Ascension, 33 years of his earthly life come to an end. But, as Luke (Luke 24,52) mentions, the Apostles return to Jerusalem "filled with joy" rather than sad as one would have expected.

Lord, I ask you today for the grace and the desire to be with you one day in Paradise!

Cardinal Godfried Daneels' Prayer on the morning of the Ascension 

 Lord Jesus, when you ascended into heaven, the angels said to the eleven: “Do not stay there looking at the heavens!” 

But forty days earlier, by the tomb, did not the same angels say to the women: “Do not look downwards! He is not here. He is risen.”?

Would it not have been fickle of the angels to change their minds so quickly? 

What are we to do Lord Jesus: look downwards towards the earth or upwards towards the heavens?

Toward both, You tell us: “I am in heaven, so look upwards to me and pray. But I am also on earth in the poor, the weak, the ill and sinners. You still have so much to do down there, for them and for me, at least for the time being.

Lord Jesus, make us look to the heavens, without forgetting the earth, and vice versa. For every time that we do something on earth to serve one of our brothers whom you created, it is indeed You whom we are serving.

Community prayer

Prayer in preparation to Ascension (Father Jean-Louis Barre)

You ascended into heaven, risen Lord, but without leaving us, for your life has triumphed over all our dead, your victory has triumphed over all our defeats. Oh my Lord, sitting at the right hand of the Father, you are also near each one of us, being one with us, to accompany us in this fight to lead for the reign of the Kingdom of Our Father in heaven. Jesus now present in all the tabernacles of the world, as the Apostle of the Father, you lead us in your adoration in spirit and in truth. And you carry us higher and higher in your ascent to the Father, drawing us from our hells that you have trapped by burying yourself in there. Jesus of the ascension you have reserved for yourself the descent into the pit of our impasses that enclose us to open a path to freedom by your return to the Father who can see us only in you. And in this mercy, you draw us upward, ever higher in the splendors of heaven. O blessed are you Lord of my darkness where you have buried yourself like a leaven of light that burst the old skins filled with a new wine for the sake of a new heaven and a new earth. Through your Spirit, give me to descend into this hollow of faults where the Adversary seeks to hold me, so that I can cry out to you: "My Lord and my God, always give me absolution and preserve me from mortal sin. With Mother Mary, I allow myself to be drawn into the paths of conversion and love that hasten your return to Glory, because you can no longer resist the calls of the members of your body, for whom you have given your life forever. Yes, Risen Lord, your ascension makes us wait and hope in the Immaculate Heart of Mary your ultimate coming from above as a descent into our humanity which reaches by this last coming, its fulfillment where all is attracted, joined, united, because God will always be all in all. Amen Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!

Thank you! 35 people prayed

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. Col 4:6

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Novena honouring of the Ascension

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