Celebrant: We are called to be witnesses of the truth of Jesus’ Resurrection. Let us pray for the needs of the world to which we proclaim that truth.

Deacon/Lector:

That the Church may continue to bear joyful witness before the world that Jesus is Risen and that sin and death are conquered, we pray to the Lord...

That those who have never come to faith or who have lost their faith may be consecrated once again in the truth of God’s word, we pray to the Lord...

That those who work in the communications media may be committed to serving the truth and conveying the authentic meaning of love, we pray to the Lord...

That all mothers may experience the profound joy and gratitude of being vessels of life and of faith for their children, we pray to the Lord...

That the Holy Spirit, who gives Life, may breathe over our nation and create a new Culture of Life that welcomes the stranger, feeds the poor, and cherishes every child, born and unborn, we pray to the Lord...

That all who have died, especially those who gave their lives in service to our country, may be filled with the joy of eternal life, we pray to the Lord...

Celebrant:

God of power and might, we await the renewed presence of your Holy Spirit. By his power, may we witness before all the world to your goodness to us, as you meet our every need. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

The Glory of the Ascension

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.

Acts 1:15-17, 20a, 20c-26
1 Jn 4:11-16
Jn 17:11b-19

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We are witnesses. Just as in the first reading we see that the apostles were witnesses to the Resurrection, and just as we learn from the Gospel passage that we are consecrated in the truth of God’s word, so we must stand before the world and testify to Christ (2nd Reading).

What is this truth in which we are consecrated and to which we bear witness? It is the truth about the meaning of love. God’s love, and God himself, is revealed first of all in the love Christ showed on the cross, and furthermore in the concrete love we have toward one another. Love has a truth to it, a logic, that flows from the action of God in saving the world. As he gave himself for us, so we give ourselves away for one another.

Taking innocent human life is a contradiction of love; it is also a contradiction of truth. To treat the human person as disposable is to say something about that person that is contrary to the truth of that person’s dignity and inviolable rights. It is to say something false about God, who alone owns that person. It is not only the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” that is broken when we depart from the Culture of Life. It is also the commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” We are witnesses – to the love of God and to the dignity of every human life.