The Ascension of Our Lord

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Hi, compassionate souls!

How are you doing today? I am doing fabulous, thank you for asking. Today’s Gospel in my Diocese is the Ascension of The Lord, which is celebrated on Sunday, which is the regular obligatory day for Catholics to attend Mass. If you are a part of the Diocese that celebrates it last Thursday, you should’ve gone to church because that was an obligatory day to go to Mass, to celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord. A Diocese, by the way, is a group of parishes in a geographical area.

I’m going to read the Gospel of the Ascension of Our Lord because that is what we’re going to cover this Sunday in my parish, it’s also one of the most amazing Gospels ever. So, let me read it to you real quick.

Mark, Chapter 16: 15-20

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

Wow. I don’t know if you know this, but after the Resurrection, when Jesus came back to life, He came to them in the upper room. They were all hiding because they were being sought out to be killed. So, they’re all in the upper room and Jesus comes through the wall and then He is complete man—flesh and bone. You can stick your fingers in His side, you can stick your fingers in His wounds. He’s eating and drinking. He is man. He is Resurrected, He’s alive!

And can you imagine … He comes through the wall and says, “Peace be with you…” and the disciples must have been like, “What….what do you mean ‘peace be with you’—you’re supposed to DEAD!… What are you doing?” And wait, let me touch you, let me feel you … is this really you? Can you imagine being there when this happens?

And then Jesus spends 40 days with the disciples teaching them how to establish the church, giving Peter the keys and they’re all appointed and chosen as presbyters to go spread the word across the world.

Now there’s one thing that’s really interesting to me.

How do you not believe in Jesus when you know that you’re going to go out into the world, you’re going to try and introduce a brand new religion … basically telling these people that what they’re practicing is wrong—putting your life on the line.

I would not put my life on the line for someone that I did not witness miracles from, who did not come back to life. And when Jesus was doing His ministry He was bringing people back to life, giving the blind their sight the deaf their hearing, you know, casting out demons, making the mame walk. It’s not like He didn’t do a lot of works when He was in His ministry before the Crucifixion. But then He dies and is resurrected and then spends 40 days with us, as disciples, and I’m really talking to all of us Christians teaching us how to spread the word and that HE is our salvation, meaning you’re going to live in eternity in heaven with Him if you believe in Him and you go spread the word.

That’s why I’m sitting in front of this camera today. I feel he directly looked at me, appointed me to go be his disciple and bear much fruit. I mean this is like the best thing since sliced bread, the smartphone and the internet. This is something that I didn’t even know I was missing and I could sit there and you know … hold it to myself and keep the big secret! I can’t. I can’t look at Him when I am there on judgment day and say, “Hey God, here I am.” And have Him say, “So Kendra, what did you do with the gift I gave you?” Then I say, ”What gift?” And He looks me square in the eyes and says, “YOU … what did you do with you?”

I can’t say, “Oh yeah, I just wanted to live for this world and … you know … not have to put myself in that uncomfortable position because this culture is so anti-God, blah, blah, blah.” Nope, I have to look at Him and say, “Yeah, God, I did it. I went out and I tried to bring as many souls as I possibly could to you. And I hope I did OK.”

He gave us all individual gifts. And the gift of faith is one that we must share. So let’s think about it this week. Imagine watching Jesus float up into the air and sit at the right hand of God. Imagine that—and then He brings the Holy Spirit down to take over and guide us and to show us the truth. That’s next week—Pentecost—that’s a little cliffhanger for you this week.

Let’s remember, Jesus is our savior and it’s our job as Christians and as Catholics to really spout about our faith and the lovely Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation/confession. I don’t know what I would do without them! They have fundamentally changed my life!

So, let’s get out there and not be shy and spout about it to everyone we can in our own unique way. Our own unique way—God gave us special gifts only we have…

So keep me in the loop on how things are going. Remember, as always, love one another as I love you from last Gospel and I really mean this—have a blessed and inspired week. Until then!