OUR TRUE HEAVEN

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Solennita' tat-Tlugħ il-Mulej fis-Sema

Messalin  B  305

Reading 1  -  Acts 1:1-11

In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”  This is the Word of the Lord.

L-Ewwel Qari -  Qari mill-Atti ta' l-Appostli 1, 1-11

Fl-ewwel  rakkont tiegħi, Teofilu, tkellimt fuq dak kollu li  Ġesu' kien għamel u għallem minn mindu beda sal-jum li  fih kien meħud fis-sema, wara li, permezz tal-Ispirtu s-Santu,  ta l-ordnijiet  tiegħu lill-appostli li hu kien għażel. Wara l-passjoni tiegħu dehrilhom u tahom ħafna provi li hu  ħaj;  erbgħin jum rawh kemm-il darba u kellimhom fuq il-ħwejjeġ  tas-Saltna ta' Alla.   Meta  kien għadu magħhom, ordnalhom biex  ma jitilqux minn Ġerusalemm, imma joqogħdu jistennew  sa ma  sseħħ il-wegħda tal-Missier,"li fuqha – qalilhom  -  smajtu x'kont  għedtilkom:  Ġwanni għammed bl-ilma. imma intom, fi ftit  jiem oħra  titgħammdu bl-Ispirtu s-Santu." Kif  kienu flimkien, staqsewh:  "Mulej, hu dan iż-żmien li fih  int se terġa' twaqqaf  is-saltana ta' Israel?"    Hu weġibhom:   "Mhijiex biċċa tagħkom li tkunu tafu l-waqt u ż-żmien li  l-Missier għażel bis-setgħa tiegħu.  Imma meta jiġi fuqkom  l-Ispirtu s-Santu, intom tirċievu l-qawwa, u tkunu xiehda tiegħi  f'Ġerusalemm, fil-Lhudija kollha u s-Samarija,u sa truf l-art". Wara li qal dan, huma u jħarsu lejh, kien meħud  'il fuq, u sħaba  ħadithulhom minn quddiem għajnejhom.  Waqt li kienu b'għajnejhom   fis-sema jħarsu lejh sejjer, f'daqqa waħda  dehrulhom ħdejhom żewġt  irġiel libssin l-abjad,  u qalulhom:   "Irġiel tal-Galilija, x'intom tħarsu  lejn is-sema?  Dan Ġesu', li kien meħud minn magħkom lejn is-sema,   għad jerġa' jiġi kif rajtuħ sejjer." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm             PSALM 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9 

R. (6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:      R. Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.                                         R/

God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.                                        R/

For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.                                                  R/

Salm Responsorjali                                                  SALM 46 (47 )

 R/  Tela' l-Mulej b'agħjat ta' ferħ.  Jew     Hallelujah,  Hallelujah.

Popli kollha, ċapċpu idejkom,

għajtu b'leħenta' ferħ lil Alla!

Għax il-Mulej, l-Għoli, hu tal-biża',

sultan kbir fuq l-art kollha.                                          R/

Tela' Alla b'agħjat ta' ferħ,

il-Mulej bid-daqq tat-trombi.

Għannu lil Alla, għannu,

għannu lis-sultan tagħna, għannu!                          R/

Għax Alla s-sultan tal-ark kollha;

Għannulu  bis-sengħa għanja sabiħa.

Isaltan Alla fuq il-ġnus kollha,

joqgħod Alla  fuq it-tron imqaddes tiegħu.         R/

Reading 2                                         EPHesians 4:1-13

Brothers and sisters, I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  Therefore, it says: He ascended on high and took prisoners captive; he gave gifts to men. What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth? The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature to manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ.  This is the Word of the Lord.

It-Tieni Qari   --Qari mill-Ittra ta' San Pawl lill-Efesin  4, 1-13

Ħuti, inħeġġiġkom jien, il-priġunieri tal-Mulej, biex timxu  sewwa skont is-sejħa li biha kontu msejħin;  billi bl-umilta'  kollha, bil-ħlewwa u bis-sabar, taħmlu u tħobbu 'l xulxin.   Ħabirkuuu biex iżżommu spirtu wieħed bir-rabta tas-sliem;  ġisem wieħed u ruħ waħda, l-istess kif kont msejħa għal  tama waħda;  Mulej wieħed, fidi waħda, magħmudija waħda;   Alla wieħed u Missier ta' kulħadd, li hu fuq kulħadd,  b'kulħadd u f'kulħadd. Lil kull wieħed minna Alla tana l-grazzja skont il-qjies  tad-don ta' Kristu.   Hu għallhekk li tgħid l-Iskrittura:  "Tela'":  xi jfisser daar  għajr li hu niżel ukoll  fl-inħawi  l-aktar t'isfel tal-art?   Dak li niżel huwa dak li tela' fuq is-smewwiet kollha, biex jimla kollox. U huwa dak li ta lil xi wħud li jkunu appostli, li xi wħud  profeti,  lil xi wħud evanġelisti, li xi wħud rgħajja u  mgħallmin:  Hekk jitrawmu l-qaddisin għax-xogħol  tal-ħidma tagħhom għall-bini tal- Ġisem ta' Kristu,  sakemm aħna lkoll naslu biex insiru ħaġa waħda fil- fidi u fl-għarfien tal-Iben ta'  Alla; insuru raġel magħmul,  fl-aħjar ta' żmienu. U hekk isseħh il-milja ta' Kristu.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel                                                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. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 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.   This is the Word of the Lord.

L-Evanġelju  -  skond San Mark16, 15-20

F'dak iż-żmien,  Ġesu' wera ruħu lill-Ħdax u qalilhom: "Morru fid-dinja kollha, xandru l-Evanġelju lill-ħolqien  kollu.    Min jemmen u jitgħammed, isalva; iżda min ma  jemminx,  ikun ikkundannat.  U dawn huma s-sinjali li  jsieħbu lil dawk  li  jemmnu: f'Ismi jkeċċu x-xjaten, jitkellmu b'ilsna ġodda,  jaqbdu s-sriep b'idejhom, u  jekk jixorbu x-xorb li iġib  il-mewt ma jagħmlilhomx ħsara;  iqegħdu idejhom fuq  il-morda u dawn ifiqu." U hekk il-Mulej Ġesu', wara li kellimhom, kien  imtella'  fis-sema u qagħad in-naħa tal-lemin ta' Alla. Huma mbagħad marru jippridkaw kullimkien; il-Mulej  kien jaħdem magħhom u jwettaq  il-kelma bil-mirakli  li kienu jsiru magħha.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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Father Raniero Cantalamessa on Our True Heaven:

The Lord's Ascension

The solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus "to heaven" is an occasion to clarify once and for all our ideas on what we understand by "heaven." Among almost all peoples, heaven is identified with the dwelling of the divinity. The Bible also uses this spatial language. "Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to men."

With the advent of the scientific age, this religious meaning of the word "heaven" entered into crisis. For modern man, heaven is the space in which our planet moves and the whole solar system, and no more. We know the quip attributed to a Soviet astronaut, on his return from his trip through the cosmos: "I have traveled much through space and I haven't found God anywhere!"

So it is important that we try to clarify what we, Christians, understand when we say "Our Father, who art in heaven," or when we say that someone has "gone to heaven." On such things, the Bible adapts itself to popular speech: But it well knows and teaches that God "is in heaven, on earth and everywhere," that it is he who "has created the heavens," and if he has created them, he cannot be "closed" in them.

That God is "in the heavens" means that he "dwells in inaccessible light": that he is as far from us "as heaven rises over earth." In other words, that he is infinitely different from us. Heaven, in the religious sense, is more a state than a place. God is outside of space and time and so is his paradise.

In the light of what we have said, what does it mean to proclaim that Jesus "went up to heaven"? We find the answer in the Creed. "He went up to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father." That Christ went up to heaven means that "he is seated at the right hand of the Father, that is, that also as man he has entered God's world, who has been constituted, as St. Paul says in the second reading, Lord and head of everything. Jesus went up to heaven, but without leaving the earth. He has only gone out of our visual world. He himself assures us: "Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matthew 28:16-20).

The words of the angel -- "Galileans, why are your looking up to heaven?" -- therefore contain a warning, if not a veiled reproach. We must not stay looking up to heaven to discover where Christ is, but rather live awaiting his return, continuing his mission, taking his Gospel to the ends of the earth, improving the quality of life on earth.

As for us, "to go to heaven" or "to paradise" means to be "with Christ" (Philippians 1:20). "I am going to prepare a place for you ... so that where I am you may be also" (John 14:2-3).

"Heaven," understood as a place of rest, of eternal recompense of the good, was formed the moment Christ resurrected and went up to heaven. Our true heaven is the Risen Christ, whom we will go to meet and with him, be one "body" after our resurrection, and in a provisional and imperfect way immediately after death. Therefore, Jesus did not ascend to an already existing heaven that awaited him, but he went to form and inaugurate heaven for us.

There are those who ask: But what will we do "in heaven" with Christ for all eternity? Won't we be bored? I answer: Is it boring to be well and with excellent health? Ask those who are in love if they are bored being together. When one experiences a moment of very intense and pure joy, does not the desire arise that it last forever, that it never end? Down here such states do not last forever, because there is no object that can satisfy indefinitely.

It is different with God. Our minds will find the Truth in him and the Beauty that we will never cease to contemplate; and our hearts will find the Good that we will never tire to enjoy.
[Translation by ZENIT]    © Innovative Media Inc.