This week’s Gospel Message for Sunday, May 16th is from Mark 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.’ . . . 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.”
“Today we celebrate a special day in the history of the Church. On the day Jesus ascended to heaven to remain with his Father, he commanded his disciples to carry on his ministry, proclaiming the good news to the whole world. Now we are that whole world. Now we are those disciples.” SOURCE: Pastoral Patterns, Summer 2021
DAILY READINGS FOR THE WEEK
“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you…” Colossians 3:16
Monday Acts 19:1-8; John 16:29-33
Tuesday Acts 20:17-27; John 17:1-11a
Wednesday Acts 20:28-38; John 17:11b-19
Thursday Acts 22:30; 23:6-11; John 17:20-26
Friday Acts 25:13b-21; John 21:15-19
Saturday Acts 28:16-20, 30-31; John 21:20-25
“For every Christian, the proclamation and witnessing of the Gospel are never an isolated act.” —Pope Francis
“Present in Every Space and Time”
The Ascension does not point to Jesus’ absence, but tells us that he is alive in our midst in a new way. He is no longer in a specific place in the world as he was before the Ascension. He is now in the lordship of God, present in every space and time, close to each one of us. In our lives we are never alone: we have this Advocate who awaits us, who defends us. We are never alone: the Crucified and Risen Lord guides us. We have with us a multitude of brothers and sisters who, in silence and concealment, in their family life and at work, in their problems and hardships, in their joys and hopes, live faith daily and together with us bring the world the lordship of God’s love, in the Risen Jesus Christ, ascended into heaven, our own Advocate who pleads for us.”
SOURCE: Pope Francis Speaks to Our Hearts: Words of Challenge and Hope. Frederick: The Word Among Us Press, 2013. Print.