He Is Close to Each of Us

Sixth Sunday of Easter

                                             

Is-Sitt Hadd ta’ l-Ghid

Messalin C  217

Reading 1                             Acts 15:1-2, 22-29

Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.” Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them,  it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. The apostles and elders, in agreement with the whole church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers. This is the letter delivered by them:   “The apostles and the elders, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings. Since we have heard that some of our number who went out without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, we have with one accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are sending Judas and Silas who will also convey this same message by word of mouth: ‘It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right. Farewell.’” .”  This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Ewwel Qari   -    mill-Ktieb ta'l-Atti ta' l-Appostli 15, 1-2, 22-29

F'dak iż-żmien, niżlu xi wħud mill-Lhudija u bdew jgħallmu  lill-aħwa:  "Jekk ma toqogħdux għaċ-ċirkonċiżjoni skont  id-drawwa li ġejja minn Mose', ma tistgħux issalvaw." Pawlu u Barnaba qamu kontra tagħhom u ħaduha magħhom  bis-sħiħ;  għalhekk qatgħuha li Pawlu u Barnaba u xi wħud  oħra minnhom jitilgħu Ġerusalemm ikellmu lill-appostli u  l-presbiteri fuq din il-kwistjoni. Imbagħad l-appostli u l-presbiteri, flimkien mal-Knijsa  kollha, dehrilhom jagħżlu lil xi wħud minnhom u  jibagħtuhom Antjokja ma' Pawlu u Barnaba.dawn kienu  Ġuda, jgħidulu Barnaba, u Sila, li kienu minn ta' quddiem  fost l-aħwa. U bagħtu magħhom din l-ittra:  "L-appostli u l-presbiteri,  ħutkom, lill-aħwa ta' Antjokja, tas-Sirja u taċ-Ċiliċja,  li  ġew mill-ġnus:   is-sliem għalikom!  Aħna smajna li xi  wħud min-nies tagħna, mingħajr ebda ordni tagħna, ġew  ħawdulkom u qallbulkom moħħkom bi kliemhom.     Għalhekk aħna qbilna lkoll bejnietna u dehrilna li  kellna nagħżlu lil xi wħud u nibagħtuhom għandkom  flimkien mal-għeżież tagħna Barnaba u Pawlu, nies li  ddedikaw ħajjithom għall-isem ta' Sidna Ġesu' Kristu. Għalhekk bgħatnielkom lil Ġuda u 'l Sila, biex jgħidulkom bi kliemhom l-istess ħaġa.   Għax lill-Ispirtu s-Santu u lilna dehrilna li aħna ma għandna  ngħabbukom b'ebdapiż ieħor aktar minn dak li hu meħtieġ,  jiġifieri, li titbiegħdu mill-ikel issiagirifikat lill-idoli, mid-demm, mill-laħam tal-annimali fgati u miż-żwieġ ħażin. Tagħmlu tajjeb jekk tħarsu rwieħkom minn dawn. Saħħa!"  IKelma tal-Mulej.

Responsorial Psalm                      PSALM 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8

R. (4) O God, let all the nations praise you!   or:  R. Alleluia.

May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.                                           R/

May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.                                        R/

May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!                        R/

Salm Responsorjali                    Salm 66 (67)

R/   Fost il-ġnus Alla wera s-salvazzjoni tiegħu.

Iħenn għalina Alla, u jberikna;

idawwar għal fuqna d-dija ta' wiċċu!

Biex jingħarfu fuq l-art triqatek,

fost il-ġnus kollha s-salvazzjoni tiegħek.              R/

                

Jithennew il-ġnus u jgħannu bil-ferħ,

għax trieġi  l-popli bis-sewwa,

u l-ġnus fuq l-art inti tmexxihom.                            R/

Ifaħħruk il-popli, o Alla,

ifaħħruk il-popli kollha.

Iberikna Alla, u tibża' minnu

l-art kollha minn  tarf għall-ieħor.                            R/
 

Reading 2                             Revelations 21:10-14, 22-23

The angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain  and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal. It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed and on which names were inscribed, the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites. There were three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west. The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones  as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.  I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb. The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb.  .”  This is the Word of The Lord.

It-Tieni Qari      mill-Ktieb tal-Apokalissi 21, 10-14, 22-23

L-anġlu ħadni fl-ispirtu fuq muntanja kbira u għolja,  u wrieni l-Belt il-Qaddisa, Ġerusalemm,nieżla mis-sema  mingħand Alla, bil-glorja ta' Alla fiha, tiddi bħal ħaġra mill-aktar prezzjuża, bħal ġaspru jleqq daqs il-kristall. Għandha ħajt kbir u għoli, bi tnax-il bieb fih, u tnax-il anġlu fil-bibien li fuqhom hemm miktuba ismijiet. l-ismijiet tat-tnax-il tribu' ta' wlied Iżrael.  Tlieta minn  dawn il-bibien jagħtu għan-naħa tal-Lvant, tlienta  ħan- naħa tat-Tramuntana, tlieta għan-nofs tan-Nofsinhar,  u  tlieta għan-naħa tal-Punent. U l-ħajt tal-Belt għandu tnax-il pedament, li fuqhom hemm it-tnax-il isem tat-tnax-il appostlu tal-Ħaruf.  Ebda tempju ma rajt fiha, għax il-Mulej hu t-Tempju tagħha, Alla li jista' kollox, u l-Ħaruf. U l-Belt  ma teħtieġ la xemx u lanqas qamar biex idawluha, għax biex iddawwalha għandha l-glorja ta' Alla, u l-musbieħ tagħha l-Ħaruf. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel                                   John 14:23-29

Jesus said to his disciples:  “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.  “I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father  will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.  Peace I leave  with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world  gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be  troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going  away and I will come back to you.’  If you loved me,  you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.”  This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Evanġelju    -   Qari mill-Evanġelju skont San Ġwann 14, 23-29

F'dak iż-żmien, Ġesu' qal lid-dixxipli tiegħu:  "Jekk xi ħadd iħobbni,  iħares kelmti, u l-Missier jħobbu, u aħna niġu u ngħammru għandu.   Min ma jħobbnix ma  jħarisx kliemi.  U l-kelma li qegħdin tisimgħu mhijiex tiegħi, imma tal-Missier li bagħatni.  Għedilkom dan meta għadni magħkom.  Imma d-Difensur, l-Ispirtu s-Santu, li l-Missier jibgħat f'ismi, jgħallimkom  kollox u jfakkarkom dak kollu li għedtilkom.   Jien  nħallilkom  is-sliem; nagħtikom is-sliem tiegħi; ma nagħtihulkomx kif tagħtih id-dinja. Tħallux qalbkom titħawwad u anqas titbeżża'.  Smajtu x'għedtilkom:  "Jiena sejjer uu nerġa niġi għandkom." Kieku kontu tħobbuni, kontu tifirħu li sejjer għand il-Missier, għax il-Missier hu akbar minni.  U għedtilkom dan minn issa qabel ma jseħħ, biex meta jseħħ temmnu." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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COMMENTARY by Mgr Francesco Follo, permanent observer of the Holy See to UNESCO, Paris.

He Is Close to Each of Us, Forever

Jesus has ascended and he is not departed and now, thanks to the fact that He is with the Father, he is close to each one of us, forever (Benedict XVI, May 7, 2005).

Ecce Homo   -   The feast of the Ascension of Christ makes us celebrate the joyful and glorious manifestation of that true aspect of the Ecce Homo that was hidden by the passion in a dramatic way. A little more than 40 days before this event of heaven, Pilate had shown Christ, the suffering and bleeding Servant, to the people reunited to condemn him, stressing in this way the offended and humiliated face of the man.

“Look at the man,” said the Roman Procurator. The people did not take pity on him and condemned him to death. Even today television, news, web and movies continuously present, sometimes with compassion, more often with cynicism, and many times with the masochistic pleasure of self-destruction, the humiliated and defeated man in all forms of horror: this is how man is, they keep telling us. Science with the theory of evolutionism takes us to the past, shows us the results of its research, the clay from which man came, and “ensures” us that this is what man is.

The event of the Saviour’s ascension tells to the old and new disciples that Pilate’s statement upon showing the flogged Christ is only half true. Jesus is not only a man with his head crowned with thorns and his body exhausted by scourging; He is the Lord and his kingdom, with the “violence” of a sacrificial love, gives back to man and to the entire world the original beauty. In ascending to heaven Christ demonstrated to have lifted up the image of Adam. We are not made only of dirt and pain, we are in Christ up to the heart of God.

“The Ascension of Christ is the rehabilitation of man. It is not being hit that lowers and humiliates but to hit; it is not being subject to spitting that lowers and humiliates, but to spit on someone; it is not the one who is offended but the one who offends that is dishonored; it is not haughtiness that ennobles man but humility; it is not self-glorification that makes him great, but the communion with God” (Benedict XVI, Images of Hope, 2005)

To believe and to celebrate the Ascension

What is the meaning of believing that Jesus “is ascended into heaven”? We can find the answer in the Creed: “He is ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father”. The fact that Christ is ascended into heaven means that He has entered also with his human nature in the world of God that had been made Lord of everything (as St Paul writes in the second reading of today’s liturgy). For us “to go to heaven” or “go into Paradise” means to go and be with Christ(Phil 1, 23). Our true sky is the resurrected Christ with whom we will reunite after the resurrection of the body.

“The Ascension does not point to Jesus’ absence, but tells us that he is alive in our midst in a new way. He is no longer in a specific place in the world as he was before the Ascension. He is now in the lordship of God, present in every space and time, close to each one of us” (Pope Francis, General Audience, April 17th, 2013). With the feast of the Ascension we celebrate the fact that the Paradise opens its doors to humanity with the solemn and joyful entrance of Christ into heaven to the right hand of the Father.

In his farewell Jesus leaves his truth and his power to the Apostles because the Ascension was not a departure but a way to intensify his presence everywhere in the universe. It was not a farewell (in the current meaning farewell means that we will see each other again only in heaven) but the promise and the certainty of a continuous presence to the limits of time and space: “I will be with you always until the end of the age “(Mt 28:20) In fact “farewell” comes from the Latin “ad Deum”, towards God. When we greet each other in this way we commit ourselves to a journey that means a return to the house of God. Our entire life is towards an event, the one of the encounter with God-Love.

Waiting to make this final encounter through the passage with the body on the last day, Christians are called to make it happen every day with the heart. This passage of the heart towards what is eternal doesn’t divert the Christian man and woman from the historical duties that They have in this world. The question that the two angels in white robes asked to the Apostles, “Why do you look up in the sky?”, is valid for us too.

“To go from this world” and “not to go with this world” (Saint Augustine) we must work on us so that every day the heart can go towards what is eternal. We must look at the true sky, not to the atmospheric one, but to the one of God for which our heart longs for. “My soul thirsts for the living God”. Saint Paul writes: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Phil 3:20) The sky of the Christian life is ultimately a person: it is the risen Christ to whom we are incorporated and with whom we are called to be “one body”.

“To go to heaven” or “to go into Paradise” means to go and to be “with Christ” (Phil 1:23) “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.”( Jn 14:2-3) Therefore to celebrate and to live the Ascension is to feed this holy desire of God and of a full life now and for eternity.

To announce the Gospel is to carry Christ’s benediction.

Toward the end of Sunday’s Gospel we read that Jesus: “As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.”  Every time we go to Mass, every time we experience the benediction, we can exit from the Church and go into the world as blessed individuals and not as poor abandoned human beings.

“Personally I will never forget the devotion and the interior dedication my father and my mother showed when they signed us children with blessed water, making the sign of the cross on our forehead, on our mouth and on our chest every time we had to leave. This benediction was a sign of company by which we felt guided. It was a visible sign of our parents’ prayer that followed us with the certainty that this prayer was backed by the Redeemer’s benediction. I think that this act of blessing, as a full and benevolent expression of the universal priesthood of all baptized, should come back regularly into our daily life and should be energized with the love that comes from the Lord; to bless is a priestly act: in the sign of the cross we perceived our parents’ priesthood, its dignity and its strength” (cf Joseph Ratzinger “Introduction to Spirit of Liturgy”). 

Hands that bless are hands that offer and pray. The consecrated Virgins are called in a particular way to fulfill this deed. In offering themselves entirely to Christ they unite their hands to those of Christ and become like the roof on our heads. With the benediction of the Bishop, the consecrated life of the Virgins is rewarded with the gifts of salvation and life, is offered in prayer and thanksgiving for the received gifts and is an offering of intercession for the Church and the entire World (Cf Ritual of consecration of the Virgins, prayer of consecration recited by the Bishop N°24). 

/////////////////////////////////////////  A short explanation of some of the Gospel’s words

“Taken up” comes from the verb anapherein (= to go up, to be carried up in the new translation of the Bible) which suggests a progressive action, is in the passive form (this is the only time it is used in this way in the New Testament) and explains God’s action with a connection to the description of takings in the Bible( Gen5;24; Sir 44:16;49:14;1 King 2:9;Sir 48:9.24). The idea that the Evangelist wants to transmit is a different one.  He indicates the exaltation of the resurrected at the right hand of God as it is confirmed by the Apostles’ preaching (Phil 2; 9; 1Tim3:16; 1 Pt3:22, Acts2:33; 5:31)

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