Ascension, Cycle A
General Intercessions
Celebrant:
All things have been placed under Christ's feet. Through him, the Lord of
the universe, we present our needs to the Father.
Deacon/Lector:
That God may strengthen
all who are ordained to preach, baptize, and make disciples of all the
nations, until the Lord returns again, we pray to the Lord...
That through the
Ascension, public servants and all people may have a deeper understanding of
the dignity of each and every human person, we pray to the Lord...
For all who have never
heard of the saving Gospel of Christ, that through the missionary efforts of
the Church, they may hear and believe, we pray to the Lord...
That the Holy Spirit may
fill and console all who suffer from poverty, war, neglect, unfair
treatment, or illness, we pray to the Lord...
That all who have died
may have eternal rest, and all who mourn may look forward in hope to the
return of the Lord, we pray to the Lord...
Celebrant:
Father,
your Son ascended into heaven,
giving us new hope of sharing your divine life.
Hear our prayers,
and keep us faithful until he comes again.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bulletin Insert
Human
Life Exalted
Jesus prayed on the night before he died, "Father, give me the glory I had
with you before the world began." How is the glory he has in the Ascension
different from the glory he had "before the world began?" It differs only in
that now, he has it in a human nature. Our humanity has been taken to the
heights of heaven, fulfilling the destiny God intended for human life from
the beginning. Revelation 3:21 declares, "To the one who gains the victory,
I will give the right to sit with me on my throne." God’s plan for us is not
just that we will gather around the throne or fall down before the throne,
but that we will sit with him on the throne! This hope extended to the human
family by the Gospel is directly contradicted when the same human beings
destined for the heights of heaven are attacked by violence, degraded in
their dignity, or put to death by things like abortion. The human nature
Jesus brings to glory in the Ascension is the same human nature you and I
share, and the same human nature that the babies in the womb share.
Celebrating the Ascension in daily life means treating each human life as
one destined to sit with Christ on his throne.
Homily Suggestions
Ascension:
Acts 1:1-11
Eph 1:17-23
Mt 28:16-20
The Ascension is a
powerful feast on which to preach the sanctity of human life, because at its
core, this feast is about our human nature being exalted to the heights of
heaven.
The “Bulletin Insert”
above contains a synopsis of what direction the homily of this Sunday can take,
whether it is the Feast of the Ascension, or the Seventh Sunday of Easter (on
which the Gospel reading for this year contains the quote from John 17 about the
glory Jesus had before the world began).
The faithful can be
encouraged to use this Sunday as a launching point to pray each day this week to
the Holy Spirit, as we approach Pentecost. The Spirit, who is the Advocate,
makes us advocates when he fills our hearts – advocates for the weakest and most
vulnerable among us, including the unborn. Priests for Life has prepared a
special pro-life “Pentecost Novena” prayer that people can download from
www.PrayerCampaign.org.
Liturgical
Resources
