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Good News #214 Ascension Sunday: From Awe to Action · Catholic Spirit Radio

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  Welcome to Good News on Catholic Spirit Radio, a program for teens and almost
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  teens to better understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ is relevant in their lives.
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  And it's a place where your questions about faith and religion can be answered.
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  And now, here's your host, Deacon Al.
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  Good evening, and welcome to Good News on Catholic Spirit Radio.
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  I am Deacon Al Lundy, a permanent deacon of the Peoria Diocese,
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  serving a couple of parishes in Bloomington,
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  but have the honor of getting to speak to all of you in all the different dioceses
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  that we reach through Catholic Spirit Radio to talk about good news,
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  the good news of Jesus Christ our Lord through the Gospels, the readings of the Mass.
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  This weekend, we're looking at, in this, most of the diocese around Illinois,
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  I think all of the diocese in Illinois, this is Ascension Sunday,
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  which is normally Ascension Thursday.
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  It was traditionally, I remember as a kid, it was Thursday. It was a holy day of obligation.
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  But times have changed.
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  There's still a couple of dioceses. I'm not sure how many. There's still a few
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  really big archdiocese, like Boston, I know, for one, where they still celebrate,
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  commemorate Ascension on Thursday, as it should be.
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  But times have changed, and part of the problem is it used to be,
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  like I say, when I was a kid, it was a holy day. Businesses were closed.
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  You went to church on Ascension Thursday.
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  Why? Well, it's important. It's that important that we be stopped and we gave
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  our due to God for everything He's done for us.
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  And so, Ascension Thursday was very important.
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  But, like I say, times change and now most businesses are open on Sundays,
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  they're open on holy days.
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  It makes it hard for family members to attend Mass.
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  And so, in most dioceses in the United States, they have moved Ascension from
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  Thursday to the next Sunday, which is the seventh Sunday of Easter.
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  And so what we'll have in all of our churches, the readings will be from Thursday,
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  Ascension Thursday, will be read on Sunday.
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  And in the diocese where they did celebrate Ascension Thursday,
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  then the readings for Sunday will be from the seventh Sunday of Easter.
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  So, we will today, we'll go ahead and use the Thursday readings,
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  since that's what you'll be hearing this weekend throughout the diocese that
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  we reach through Catholic Spirit Radio.
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  Beautiful readings. You have the Acts of the Apostles, you've got a letter from St.
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  Paul to the Ephesians, and then you have a very short Gospel from Matthew.
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  Something I want to talk about, and it's going to kind of tie in to Ascension,
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  And that is, I think as clergy,
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  one of the most difficult parts of our calling is that we serve so many families
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  and we care about all of them.
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  But there's so much work to be done that you don't always have time to get to
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  know all of your families until it's crisis time.
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  You know, a severe illness, an accident, a death, seems to be the time when
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  we get to spend the most time with a family and really get to know them, which is unfortunate.
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  Because when that happens, you think, gosh, I wish I had had the time to get
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  to know this person better than I did to really become friends with them, and now they've passed.
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  And they're going through their own form of ascension, resurrection.
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  And it's hard. It's really hard. We care about all of the families that we serve,
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  and we want what's best for them, what's best for them, we believe,
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  is a knowledge and a relationship with Christ. And yet...
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  We're so busy trying to get to everyone that it's hard to personalize that ministry
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  for each family until it's too late.
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  And then it's kind of a catch-22. It really is.
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  You do the best you can, and then you can't help but feel, I wish I was there
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  for them more often in a more compassionate way, maybe a more personal way.
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  And yet we try to do the best we can.
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  So I don't know, I'm reminiscing on this only because a friend has passed a few days ago.
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  I had a chance to minister to him when he was in the hospital.
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  I knew him somewhat from scouting. I knew him from being a member of the parish.
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  I knew his son who was an altar server while I was going through formation.
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  And shortly after I was ordained, his wife was very active in the parish.
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  It's a lovely family, a very faithful family.
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  But I learned more about him and got closer to him in the one-hour visit in
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  the hospital than I did in the years that I knew the family.
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  And now this weekend we've had his funeral, and I've met more family members
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  and had a chance to personally reflect on this man's life. and you just always wish you'd done more.
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  You always wish there was more time.
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  And I'm sure at the time of ascension, the disciples were feeling that same way.
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  The apostles were feeling that same way. If we just had a little more time.
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  He's prepared us every day of our lives pretty much for three years.
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  He's told us everything we need to know. He sent us the Holy Spirit to strengthen
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  us and enrich us and give us the knowledge that we need. And yet,
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  if we could only have a little more time, if we could only have a few more days.
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  So we'll go into that as we get into our readings.
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  Other than that, things going on in my life, you know, one thing is I've been losing weight.
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  So over the last couple months, I've been losing weight.
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  And you wonder how I did it, because I've lost over 20 pounds.
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  Well, I owe it all to John Hall, our director here, our founder,
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  our everything at the station,
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  because he gave me some advice, and that was that I've done over 200 shows,
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  but I haven't listened to them.
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  I do them, and they go into the internet.
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  They go out there. They're on the website. Anybody can go and listen to the
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  past programs. I have never listened
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  to my past programs, and John suggested that I do that, and I did.
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  So after morning prayer, I listened to an hour or two of my past programs,
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  and by doing so, I have completely lost my appetite.
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  That's really all it took. I just had to listen to me for a couple hours,
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  and I have no interest in going on. And that's that bad.
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  That has stopped me cold from eating.
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  So thank you, John. Great advice. Anytime.
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  All right. We're going to pause for a few minutes.
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  We're going to listen to some of our friends. When we come back,
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  we'll have the readings from The Ascension of Our Lord.
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  Stay tuned. Good news will be right back on Catholic Spirit Radio.
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  As you've heard, Catholic Spirit Radio is hosting their 15th anniversary pilgrimage to Wisconsin.
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  Seats filled up so quickly that we've added another bus. Now more seats are available.
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  This three-day trip includes exclusive tours of shrines and basilicas,
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  plus luxury bus transportation, meals, and hotel.
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  What a great gift idea! Departure is August 10th from Normal and Rockford.
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  Make your reservation at catholicspiritradio.com or Kathy at 309-828-6554.
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  Welcome back to Good News on Catholic Spirit Radio. I'm Deacon Al Lundy.
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  Just before we get into our readings, a quick reminder that coming up Monday is Memorial Day.
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  So enjoy that. Take the time off to spend some time in prayer, please.
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  The whole point of Memorial Day, this is not about taking advantage of big sales
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  or going shopping, or it's not just the picnic in the park.
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  This is about remembering the men and women who have sacrificed their lives
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  for us in various wars and skirmishes
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  that have taken place over the years in the life of our country.
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  And as we still have men and women dying overseas with our current conflicts,
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  this would be a good time to spend a little time in prayer.
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  Pray for the safety of those who are living, but pray especially for the souls
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  of those who have passed.
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  Korean War, World War I and II, the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, the Vietnam War,
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  all the various conflicts in the Middle East, thousands upon thousands have
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  given their lives so that we can enjoy our lives today.
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  It would be a fitting tribute to take some time this weekend,
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  especially Monday, in silent prayer and remembrance of those lives.
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  Our readings this weekend are from the Ascension of our Lord.
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  They are from the Acts of the Apostles, from the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles.
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  First chapter, first verse, actually, is where it all starts in our first reading.
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  And then we will hear from St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians,
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  and then a short part of the Gospel of Matthew, all directed towards the ascension.
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  So, from the very beginning of the Acts of the Apostles.
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  Luke writes, In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did
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  and taught until the day He was taken up, after giving instructions through
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  the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen.
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  He presented Himself alive to them by many proofs after He had suffered,
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  appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
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  While meeting with them, He enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem,
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  but to wait for the promise of the Father, about which you have heard me speak.
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  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
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  When they had gathered together, they asked him, Lord, are you at this time
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  going to restore the kingdom of Israel?
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  He answered them, It's not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father
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  has established by His own authority.
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  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
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  and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria,
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  and to the ends of the earth.
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  When He had said this, as they were looking on, He was lifted up,
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  and a cloud took Him from their sight.
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  While they were looking intently at the sky, as He was going,
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  suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
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  They said, Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?
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  This Jesus who had been taken from you into heaven will return in the same way
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  as you have seen him going into heaven.
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  The word of the Lord. I love this line at the end, this, why are you standing
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  there looking at the sky?
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  It's kind of, you know, imagine what they've just witnessed.
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  I mean, they've never seen anything like this before.
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  They've seen Jesus sort of almost turning into a mist, a cloud,
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  and disappearing before them as he heads to his eternal home in heaven. And they're just in awe.
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  And they don't even notice these two other men appear next to them.
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  And their response is, what are you doing?
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  You know, you've got work to do. Why are you just standing there looking at the sky?
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  It's not like he's going to come back now, but he is going to come back.
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  And when he does, he'll come back in very much the same manner that you saw him leave.
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  And I think that's why so many of the apostles thought that the return of Jesus
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  was going to be in their lifetime. it was imminent because of what these two said.
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  When he comes back, it sounds like you're going to see this happen. But they don't say that.
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  They just say when he returns, he'll return in much of the same fashion.
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  They don't say when he's going to return. And Jesus made it quite clear,
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  he's not saying, and neither is the Father.
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  Because the work of the disciples is just beginning.
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  He doesn't want it to stop. I mean, if he said, you know, I'll be back in a
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  month, what do you suppose they're going to do for the month, right?
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  It's, I'll be back someday.
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  But you have a job to do, and that is to carry this witness to the ends of the earth.
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  That's not something that's going to be done just within their lifetime.
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  It's going to take several lifetimes for that to happen.
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  And so Jesus is challenging them to get to work. I'm showing you this just to
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  keep you in awe, but you have stuff to do.
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  So he sent these two angels to stand there and say, okay, looking time is over.
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  It's time to get down to business. You've been trained for a task,
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  for a mission, and it's time to get to that mission.
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  So what happens next?
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  Well, we're going to find out actually in the next reading, if you read ahead
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  towards the readings from the seventh Sunday,
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  you'll find out that they go back to Jerusalem, they go to the upper room,
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  and they've now been filled with the Holy Spirit, and they're,
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  empowered to go out and become the active disciples, the apostles to establish
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  Christ's church on earth that Jesus had prepared them to become.
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  And they do an amazing job of it, as we all know today.
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  So, in our second reading is Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians,
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  and Paul writes, Brothers and sisters, may the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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  the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation,
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  resulting in knowledge of Him.
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  May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope
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  that belongs to His call, what are the riches of glory in His inheritance among
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  the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power for us who believe.
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  In accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ,
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  raising him from the dead, and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,
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  far above every principality,
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  authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named,
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  not only in this age, but also in the one to come.
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  And he put all things beneath his feet, and gave him his head over all things
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  to the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things
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  in every way, the word of the Lord.
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  So Paul is inciting the church, the early church, to not only have faith in Christ, but,
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  how to explain this, to have this energy, this spirit about everything that Christ has taught,
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  everything being shared with them through Paul and through the apostles,
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  and to put this to work in their lives.
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  And this is still the same message that Jesus is sharing with us today through
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  the priests of the church, through the apostles, the bishops.
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  Through your neighbors, through your Christian neighbors.
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  This is what this faith is all about.
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  It's just not being nice to each other, but it's having an understanding that
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  all this comes from Christ, who is above all authorities on earth.
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  Don't worry about what anyone else says is the right or wrong thing to do in
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  life, focus on the teachings of Christ, because He is the one and only authority over our lives.
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  And it's taken centuries for us to fully understand this, and still some people don't.
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  And yet, it's not something we can fully control.
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  We have to surrender to the Spirit in order to understand who Christ is and
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  what Christ brings to us.
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  We can't really understand Christ through our own logic, through our own personal
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  theology, our own personal education.
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  It takes God acting within us, and then we cooperate with that for us to fully understand.
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  Even the disciples at the moment of the ascension didn't fully understand who
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  Jesus was or what he wanted of them.
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  It wasn't until that Jesus sent them the paraclete, the advocate,
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  the Holy Spirit, for them to fully understand what Jesus had been trying to teach them for years.
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  We hear in the gospel from Matthew, the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the
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  mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
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  When they saw him, they worshipped, but they doubted.
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  Then Jesus approached them and said to them, All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
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  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
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  the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
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  that I have commanded you.
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  And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age.
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  So what is that end of age? What age? Well, I think the disciples at that moment
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  were thinking the end of their lifetime, the end of their era.
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  And really what Christ is speaking of is he's with us until the end of all time.
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  At some point, this earth that we know of is going to pass away,
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  and we will all be taken either to our reward or our eternal punishment, hopefully our reward.
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  That's what we all want. We're a people of hope, and that's the hope,
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  that we spend all of eternity in heaven with Christ our Lord.
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  But even at this point, after everything they've seen, and they've seen the
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  resurrection, they've seen the risen Christ, they saw Him die,
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  they saw Him resurrected, and yet they doubt it.
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  They still, you have to remember, this is all so new.
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  No one's ever seen anything like this before or anything since.
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  Can you imagine what's going through the minds and the hearts of these men who've
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  seen their best friend, a man they love, tortured and murdered for nothing, for no crime.
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  And then three days later, he's back again, and now he's leaving again,
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  and he's leaving everything.
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  All his work is being left to them. They must be beside themselves with wonder.
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  And so they're still not sure what is to happen.
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  But Christ assures them that, don't worry, I've got this under control.
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  This is all now handed over to me, and I'm going to be with you forever.
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  And so, this will all work out, and so far, so good.
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  I mean, 2,000 years later, starting off with 12 followers and now over a billion.
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  Look at so much of human history shaped by the presence of Christ,
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  by the life of Christ, has changed everything forever.
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  That's enough for us to consider this Ascension Sunday.
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  That should be enough to keep us in absolute wonder and in deep prayer this weekend.
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  We are so fortunate to be Christians. We really are.
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  We've been blessed to have this knowledge, to have this grace,
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  to have this opportunity to be in a relationship with a God who created us and
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  loves us more than anything else He created in the universe.
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  What a wonderful thing. Take some time to think about that.
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  And may Almighty God bless you, protect you from all evil, and bring you to everlasting life.
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  We'll see you next week on Good News.
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  You've been listening to Good News on Catholic Spirit Radio,
• 22:45
  a program for teens and almost teens to better understand that the gospel of
• 22:49
  Jesus Christ is relevant in your life.
• 22:51
  Submit your questions to Deacon Al at goodnews at catholicspiritradio.com.
• 22:56
  That's goodnews at catholicspiritradio.com.
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  Deacon will answer your questions about faith and religion.
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  Thank you for listening to Good News on Catholic Spirit Radio.