• Home
  • Mary Immaculate
    • Novena of the Immaculate Conception
  • Oblates
  • Blog
fatherdaniel
dd text

Ascension of the Lord

5/13/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Homily

The Mount of Olives where according to the ancient tradition the Ascension of the Lord happened has been a Moslem holy site for centuries now. They built a Mosque there. There is no hope that this place can return to Christians. That’s why only once a year, on the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord the believers of Jesus are permitted to gather there to celebrate the Holy Mass.
Dear Friends of Jesus!
    On this Day of the Ascension of Christ we are reminded that the site which witnessed what we heard of in the readings of this Mass doesn’t belong to us. We don’t have the ownership to the place where the feet of the Risen Lord touched the Earth for the last time before he took his seat at the right hand of his Almighty Father. We don’t have the ownership to the piece of land on the Mount of Olives but this Day which concludes the period when Christ the Lord was being seen alive by his disciples after his Death and Resurrection proclaims a great joy to us who acknowledge Him the Lord and Savior. The joy of this day comes to us as we are assured that we can claim our ownership to more than just a few square meters of land, we can claim our ownership to heaven itself. Jesus who wasn’t ashamed to acknowledge us as his sisters and brothers by making us adopted children of God, fills our souls with assurance of being welcomed into the Halls of Paradise. Heaven isn’t earned by what we do during our life but it is our inheritance because of our faith in the Son of God. Let’s remember the parable about the Merciful Father and the Prodigal Son. The boy was given great riches not because he deserved them but because he was a son of the One who owned the riches. You may ask what the riches are all about. Well, let me approach the topic from another perspective, let me ask you who is the poorest person on this planet? The poorest person is the one who doesn’t know Jesus Christ. What we know, what we believe as followers of the Lord is our richness. It is what draws us to him. Jesus before his Passion said: “When I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Very often we associate this sentence with his death on the cross but the mystery of today’s feast shows us Christ exalted above heaven and earth not to be distanced from us but to draw us to himself. The Holy Spirit promised that day by the Lord is the invisible force directing us to Christ. How many people of different races and languages have allowed themselves being attracted to the One whose majesty and interior richness captivate the choirs of angels? This Sunday Pope Francis will canonize 800 martyrs beheaded by the Ottoman Turks in Otranto, Italy — the martyrs whose bones line the walls of the famous Otranto Cathedral. On August 14, 1480, Ottoman invaders marched some 800 men, almost all tradesmen and laborers, over the age of 15 up the Hill of Minerva (since renamed the Hill of the Martyrs) and slaughtered them when they refused to convert to Islam. We know the name of only one, Antonio Primaldo, who told the soldiers, “We will all die for Jesus Christ; we willingly die so as to not renounce his holy faith.” According to four eyewitnesses whose testimony was written down in 1539, his decapitated body stayed upright until it fell with the last of the other martyrs.
    “When I am lifted up I will draw all to myself” says Jesus and as we mediate on the mystery of his Ascension we glorify him for the countless numbers of people who have discovered true riches hidden in Christ.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013

    Fr Daniel OMI

    An Oblate Priest

    Categories

    All
    Holy Land
    Homilies
    St Eugene De Mazenod

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.