Miscellaneous
Pope Francis in the Year of Faith: "At the end of his Gospel, St Luke narrates the event of the Ascension in a very synthetic way. Jesus led the disciples “out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. Now as he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. They prostrated themselves before him and then went back to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God” (Lk 24, 50-53); thus states St Luke. I would like to remark on two elements of the story. First, during the Ascension Jesus accomplishes the priestly gesture of blessing and the disciples certainly expressed their faith by prostration, they knelt down with bowed heads. This is a first important point: Jesus is the unique and eternal Priest who with his passion has traversed death and the sepulchre and has risen and ascended into Heaven; He is beside God the Father, where he intercedes for ever in our favour (cf Heb 9, 24). As St John affirms in his First Letter, He is our advocate: how beautiful it is to hear this! When someone is summoned by a judge or goes into a case, the first thing he does is to seek an advocate to defend him. We have one who always defends us, who defends us from the snares of the devil, who defends us from ourselves, from our sins! Dearest brothers and sisters, we have this Advocate: let us not be afraid to go to Him to ask forgiveness, to ask for blessing, to ask for mercy! He always forgives us, he is our advocate: he always defends us! Do not forget this! Jesus's Ascension into heaven makes us know this very consoling reality for our pathway: in Christ, true God and true man, our humanity has been brought to God; He has opened the passage for us; He is like a roped leader when one climbs a mountain, who has reached the summit and attracts us up to Him in leading us to God. If we entrust our life to Him, if we let ourselves be guided by Him, we are certain to be in safe hands, in the hands of our saviour, our advocate." (General Audience, 17 April 2013) Music by Ooberfuse: Credo. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by our Holy Fathers Blessed John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Papa Francesco.