Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign Today is June 1st, the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, one of the Five Feasts and Solemnities of the Easter season. Today we commemorate Jesus ascension into heaven in the presence of his disciples.
[00:00:32] When Jesus ate and drank with the disciples and taught them about the kingdom for 40 days after the resurrection, his glory remained hidden under the appearance of ordinary humanity.
[00:00:44] Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 659.
[00:00:49] Jesus Final Apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory, symbolized by the cloud and by heaven, where he is seated from that time forward at God's right hand.
[00:01:05] But before Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, Jesus commissioned his disciples and us to make disciples of all nations.
[00:01:14] With this commission, Jesus told the disciples to baptize people in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teach them to observe all he taught them.
[00:01:26] Behold, I am with you always until the end of the age.
[00:01:32] Matthew 28:20. St. Augustine once said of this feast day, today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven. Let our hearts ascend with him.
[00:01:45] Traditionally, the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord is celebrated on Ascension Thursday.
[00:01:52] However, most U.S. diocese celebrate the feast on the following Sunday.
[00:01:57] The observance of this feast day dates back to the early church and according to St. Augustine, its apostolic in origin. It also is mentioned in many early writings, including those of St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory of Nessa.
[00:02:15] Representations of this mystery also appear on frescoes dating back to the 5th century.
[00:02:29] The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
[00:02:34] Let's listen now to the Sunday reflection.
[00:02:38] In John's Gospel. There is a long scene that is not found in any of the other gospels. It goes on chapter after chapter. It's Jesus seated at the supper table, hours away from death, talking to his disciples. It's the last Supper.
[00:02:57] Today we hear the last words that Jesus will say at that supper table. The very next thing that happens is his arrest. And very soon he will be killed.
[00:03:07] It's late at night already. He will be killed by 3 o'clock the next day.
[00:03:20] So this is when the curtain comes down. His last words. And we are going to be in them.
[00:03:27] His last words will be a prayer. He will talk to God the Father and he will pray for, among others, you and me.
[00:03:36] Looking toward his disciples, he says to his Father, I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they all may be one. As you, Father, are in me, and I in you.
[00:03:53] I have given them the glory that you gave me. So that they might be one as we are one.
[00:04:00] I in them, you in me. That they may be brought to perfection as one.
[00:04:06] Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am, they also may be with me.
[00:04:13] Father, the world does not know you. And they know that you sent me.
[00:04:18] I made known to them your name, and I will make it known that the love with which you love me may be in them, and I in them.
[00:04:32] Jesus is the master bridge builder. Jesus came to bridge heaven and earth. And Jesus came to build bridges among all people.
[00:04:41] And here he is, the master bridge builder, praying that his disciples might be one. And that future disciples might be one.
[00:04:52] Jesus is the master bridge builder. And he has called us and sent us to go out and build a thousand bridges.
