O Christ God, You have ascended in Glory,

Granting joy to Your disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit.

If you have risen with Christ,

Set your hearts seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

Acts 1:1-11

In the first part of my work, Theo­philus,

I wrote of all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he ascended to heaven. But first he had instructed through the Holy Spirit the apostles he had chosen.

After his passion, he presented himself to them, giving many signs that he was alive; over a period of forty days he appeared to them and taught them concerning the kingdom of God. 

Once when he had been eating with them, he told them, “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the fulfillment of the Father’s promise about which I have spoken to you: John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit within a few days.”

 When they had come together, they asked him, “Is it now that you will restore the Kingdom of Israel?” And he answered, “It is not for you to know the time and the steps that the Father has fixed 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, even to the ends of the earth.”

 After Jesus said this, he was taken up before their eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight. While they were still looking up to heaven where he went, suddenly, two men dressed in white stood beside them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up at the sky?

This Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will return in the same way as you have seen him go there.”

 

Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9

God mounts his throne to shouts of joy; a blare of trumpets for the Lord.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

Ephesians 4:1-13 (or Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13)

Therefore I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you to live the vocation you have received.   Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace.

  Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same Spirit to all.   One Lord, one faith, one baptism.   One God, the Father of all, who is above all and works through all and is in all.

 But to each of us divine grace is given ac­cording to the measure of Christ’s gift.   Therefore it is said: When he ascended to the heights, he brought captives and gave his gifts to people.

 He ascended, what does it mean but that he had also descended to the lower parts of the world?   He himself who went down, then ascended far above all the heavens to fill all things.  As for his gifts, to some he gave to be apostles, to others prophets, or even evangelists, or pastors and teachers.   

So he prepared those who belong to him for the ministry, in order to build up the Body of Christ, until we are all united in the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Thus we shall become the perfect Man, upon reaching maturity and sharing the fullness of Christ.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊   

Mark 16:15-20

Then he told them, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; the one who refuses to believe will be condemned. 

Signs like these will accompany those who have believed: in my Name they will cast out demons and speak new langu­ages; they will pick up snakes and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed. They will lay their hands on the sick and they will be healed.”

So then, after speaking to them, the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and took his place at the right hand of God. The Eleven went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

  

Gospel Reflection：

Read: Jesus commissions His disciples to go out and proclaim his message. Those who will believe will be baptized. Signs and wonders will accompany the believers. Then Jesus ascended to heaven in front of the Eleven. They in turn went out to proclaim the good news with marvelous signs and wonders. 

Reflect: The need to go out and baptize the whole nation is a later reflection of the believing community. It is a product of a deep understanding of the words Jesus left them before going back to the Father.

From a small Palestine bound movement, it spread to all corners of the known world. From being tied to its Jewish roots, the movement inserted itself into the cultures it encountered and transformed those cultures in a new way.

This makes the religious movement inaugurated by Jesus truly global. That is why it is called catholic. For everybody without exception is welcome.

Respond:The task of evangelization is the task of all. We too can contribute to the mission by our witness of life and preaching. Let us therefore model our life according to God's will so that our witness and example would seduce others to follow the God that we worship.