Solemnity of the Ascension - Cycle B

Celebrant: Our hope is in our risen Lord. Confident that God will hear our prayers, we place our needs before the Lord.

Deacon/Lector:

That the Church may give witness to the Risen Lord and call all non-believers to conversion, we pray to the Lord.

That the pope, bishops, and all clergy may be effective witnesses of the Lord risen and ascended, we pray to the Lord.

That the nation's leaders will be mindful of the needs of the diverse people they are called to govern and serve, 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 Ascension may increase our awareness of the dignity of every human life, created to share life forever in the heights of heaven, we pray to the Lord.

That those who are in need of hope be inspired by the Ascension of our Lord and trust firmly that God offers them eternal happiness and the means to obtain it, we pray to the Lord.

That the members of our parish and families who have died may share in the joys of eternal life, we pray to the Lord. 

Celebrant:

God of glory, as we commemorate this day when your Son Jesus was exalted in great triumph, hear our petitions and send us your Spirit of truth. We ask this through 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 1:1-11
Eph 1:17-23 or 4:1-13 or 4:1-7, 11-13
Mk 16:15-20

View a video with homily hints

The Ascension is a powerful feast on which to preach the sanctity of human life, because at its core, this feast is about our human nature being exalted to the heights of heaven. 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 thrown in the garbage by 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.