May 16, 2021Ascension of the Lord
2021년 5월 16일 주님 승천 대축일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
<예수님께서는 사도들이 보는 앞에서 하늘로 오르셨다.>
사도행전. 1,1-11
1 테오필로스 님,
첫 번째 책에서 저는 예수님의 행적과 가르침을 처음부터 다 다루었습니다.
2 예수님께서 당신이 뽑으신 사도들에게 성령을 통하여 분부를 내리시고 나서
승천하신 날까지의 일을 다 다루었습니다.
3 그분께서는 수난을 받으신 뒤,
당신이 살아 계신 분이심을 여러 가지 증거로 사도들에게 드러내셨습니다.
그러면서 사십 일 동안 그들에게 여러 번 나타나시어,
하느님 나라에 관한 말씀을 해 주셨습니다.
4 예수님께서는 사도들과 함께 계실 때에 그들에게 명령하셨습니다.
“예루살렘을 떠나지 말고,
나에게서 들은 대로 아버지께서 약속하신 분을 기다려라.
5 요한은 물로 세례를 주었지만 너희는 며칠 뒤에 성령으로 세례를 받을 것이다.”
6 사도들이 함께 모여 있을 때에 예수님께 물었다.
“주님, 지금이 주님께서 이스라엘에 다시 나라를 일으키실 때입니까?”
7 그러자 예수님께서 그들에게 이르셨다.
“그 때와 시기는 아버지께서 당신의 권한으로 정하셨으니 너희가 알 바 아니다.
8 그러나 성령께서 너희에게 내리시면 너희는 힘을 받아,
예루살렘과 온 유다와 사마리아,
그리고 땅끝에 이르기까지 나의 증인이 될 것이다.”
9 예수님께서는 이렇게 이르신 다음 그들이 보는 앞에서 하늘로 오르셨는데,
구름에 감싸여 그들의 시야에서 사라지셨다.
10 예수님께서 올라가시는 동안 그들이 하늘을 유심히 바라보는데,
갑자기 흰옷을 입은 두 사람이 그들 곁에 서서, 11 이렇게 말하였다.
“갈릴래아 사람들아, 왜 하늘을 쳐다보며 서 있느냐?
너희를 떠나 승천하신 저 예수님께서는,
너희가 보는 앞에서 하늘로 올라가신 모습 그대로 다시 오실 것이다.”
제2독서
<하느님께서는 그리스도를 하늘에 올리시어 당신 오른쪽에 앉히셨습니다.>
에페소서. 1,17-23 <또는 4,1-13 또는 4,1-7.11-13>
형제 여러분, 17 우리 주 예수 그리스도의 하느님, 영광의 아버지께서
여러분에게 지혜와 계시의 영을 주시어 여러분이 그분을 알게 되고,
18 여러분 마음의 눈을 밝혀 주시어,
그분의 부르심으로 여러분이 지니게 된 희망이 어떠한 것인지,
성도들 사이에서 받게 될 그분 상속의 영광이 얼마나 풍성한지
여러분이 알게 되기를 빕니다.
19 또 우리 믿는 이들을 위한 그분의 힘이 얼마나 엄청나게 큰지를
그분의 강한 능력의 활동으로 알게 되기를 빕니다.
20 하느님께서는 그리스도 안에서 그 능력을 펼치시어,
그분을 죽은 이들 가운데에서 일으키시고
하늘에 올리시어 당신 오른쪽에 앉히셨습니다.
21 모든 권세와 권력과 권능과 주권 위에,
그리고 현세만이 아니라 내세에서도 불릴 모든 이름 위에
뛰어나게 하신 것입니다.
22 또한 만물을 그리스도의 발아래 굴복시키시고,
만물 위에 계신 그분을 교회에 머리로 주셨습니다.
23 교회는 그리스도의 몸으로서,
모든 면에서 만물을 충만케 하시는 그리스도로 충만해 있습니다.
<또는>
<우리는 그리스도의 충만한 경지에 다다르게 됩니다.>
에페소서 4,1-13
형제 여러분, 1 주님 안에서 수인이 된 내가 여러분에게 권고합니다.
여러분이 받은 부르심에 합당하게 살아가십시오.
2 겸손과 온유를 다하고, 인내심을 가지고 사랑으로 서로 참아 주며,
3 성령께서 평화의 끈으로 이루어 주신 일치를 보존하도록 애쓰십시오.
4 하느님께서 여러분을 부르실 때에 하나의 희망을 주신 것처럼,
그리스도의 몸도 하나이고 성령도 한 분이십니다.
5 주님도 한 분이시고 믿음도 하나이며 세례도 하나이고,
6 만물의 아버지이신 하느님도 한 분이십니다.
그분은 만물 위에, 만물을 통하여, 만물 안에 계십니다.
7 그러나 그리스도께서 나누어 주시는 은혜의 양에 따라,
우리는 저마다 은총을 받았습니다.
8 그래서 성경도 이렇게 말합니다.
“그분께서는 높은 데로 오르시어
포로들을 사로잡으시고 사람들에게 선물을 주셨다.”
9 “그분께서 올라가셨다.”는 것은 그분께서
아주 낮은 곳 곧 땅으로 내려와 계셨다는 말이 아니고 무엇이겠습니까?
10 내려오셨던 그분이 바로 만물을 충만케 하시려고
가장 높은 하늘로 올라가신 분이십니다.
11 그분께서 어떤 이들은 사도로, 어떤 이들은 예언자로,
어떤 이들은 복음 선포자로, 어떤 이들은 목자나 교사로 세워 주셨습니다.
12 성도들이 직무를 수행하고 그리스도의 몸을 성장시키는 일을 하도록,
그들을 준비시키시려는 것이었습니다.
13 그리하여 우리가 모두 하느님의 아드님에 대한
믿음과 지식에서 일치를 이루고
성숙한 사람이 되며 그리스도의 충만한 경지에 다다르게 됩니다.
복음
<예수님께서는 승천하시어 하느님 오른쪽에 앉으셨다.>
마르코. 16,15-20
그때에 예수님께서 열한 제자에게 나타나시어 15 그들에게 이르셨다.
“너희는 온 세상에 가서 모든 피조물에게 복음을 선포하여라.
16 믿고 세례를 받는 이는 구원을 받고 믿지 않는 자는 단죄를 받을 것이다.
17 믿는 이들에게는 이러한 표징들이 따를 것이다.
곧 내 이름으로 마귀들을 쫓아내고 새로운 언어들을 말하며,
18 손으로 뱀을 집어 들고 독을 마셔도 아무런 해도 입지 않으며,
또 병자들에게 손을 얹으면 병이 나을 것이다.”
19 주 예수님께서는 제자들에게 말씀하신 다음 승천하시어
하느님 오른쪽에 앉으셨다.
20 제자들은 떠나가서 곳곳에 복음을 선포하였다.
주님께서는 그들과 함께 일하시면서 표징들이 뒤따르게 하시어,
그들이 전하는 말씀을 확증해 주셨다.
May 16, 2021
Ascension of the Lord
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
Acts 1:1-11
In the first book, Theophilus,
I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught
until the day he was taken up,
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit
to the apostles whom he had chosen.
He presented himself alive to them
by many proofs after he had suffered,
appearing to them during forty days
and speaking about the <st1:placetype w:st="on">kingdom</st1:placetype> of God.
While meeting with the them,
he enjoined them not to depart from <st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city>,
but to wait for "the promise of the Father
about which you have heard me speak;
for John baptized with water,
but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
When they had gathered together they asked him,
"Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
He answered them, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons
that the Father has established by his own authority.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in <st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city>,
throughout Judea and <st1:city w:st="on">Samaria</st1:city>,
and to the ends of the earth."
When he had said this, as they were looking on,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,
suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
They said, "Men of Galilee,
why are you standing there looking at the sky?
This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven
will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven."
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
R. (6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading II
Eph 1:17-23 or Eph 4:1-13 or 4:1-7, 11-13
Brothers and sisters:
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation
resulting in knowledge of him.
May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
for us who believe,
in accord with the exercise of his great might,
which he worked in Christ,
raising him from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,
far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,
and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And he put all things beneath his feet
and gave him as head over all things to the church,
which is his body,
the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
or
Eph 4:1-13
Brothers and sisters,
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the calling
you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
But grace was given to each of us
according to the measure of Christ's gift.
And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets,
others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of faith
and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature to manhood,
to the extent of the full stature of Christ.
Gospel
Mk 16:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Go into the whole world
and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
My favorite depiction of the Ascension is Salvador Dali’s The Ascension: Pietá, 1958. This has been a fruitful image for visio divina for me, so I invite you to spend some time just looking at it and noticing what is there.
You might notice aspects of Christ’s body. He is positioned as though crucified, but he lacks any wounds. All of Dali’s crucifixion paintings show Jesus without wounds; they are all from the perspective of the Ascension, as well. Jesus’ lack of wounds in this painting doesn’t mean he is shown without suffering, though: his hands are contorted as though on the cross, with extreme pain. There are some red clouds or explosions near his hands, perhaps representing the evil he is fighting in the world. For Dali it might have been nuclear destruction, which appeared as a theme in many of his paintings.
You might notice that Jesus’ feet are dirty. He has been walking around with us. His feet would have been the apostles’ last view of him as he was “lifted up and a cloud took him from their sight.” As Paul says to the Ephesians in one option for the second reading today, “What does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth?” Christ scooped us up with him into heaven, even the dust of the earth from which God created humankind in Genesis.
You might notice the woman at the top of the painting. This is the Blessed Virgin Mary, weeping at the suffering of the world. She is modeled on Dali’s wife. The first time I saw this painting, I thought the woman might be another representation of the Holy Spirit, like the dove at her chin, welcoming Christ in heaven even as she is going out to meet the world.
Perhaps the most interesting symbols, though, are the interlocking spheres at the center of the painting. The white one, with the dove, is pretty obviously heaven. The gold one could be a representation of an atom, a nucleus, or a sun with a sunflower. The two circles overlap almost completely where Christ is. This speaks clearly of what today’s feast is all about: Christ has brought all of creation into heaven, from the cosmic down to the smallest particles. Christ divinized creation in the Ascension and we are already living as the Body of Christ. We have already been swept up into salvation. This, the divine Body of Christ, is what we experience in the Eucharist. You could also see the circles in the painting as the Blessed Sacrament, and the water at the bottom as the water of baptism.
This very exciting truth – our membership in the Body of Christ – is the “hope that belongs to his call,” the unifying expression of “one body and one truth.” If we deeply realize this, as perhaps the apostles did in that moment as they watched Jesus, how can we keep from going “into the whole world to proclaim the Gospel to every creature?” As the angels said to the apostles, “Why are you standing there looking up at the sky?” Don’t you know who you are?! There is still much to be done, much suffering in the world, many people who desperately need good news. Get to work!
“Go Out, Go Out” by Curtis Stephen
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
NOT FINISHED YET
“He was lifted up before their eyes in a cloud which took Him from their sight.” —Acts 1:9
When Jesus ascended into heaven, He mounted “His throne amid shouts of joy; the Lord, amid trumpet blasts” (Ps 47:6). All the angels and saints were giving Jesus a “prostrate ovation” in recognition that He, the Lord of lords and the King of kings (see Rv 19:16), had accomplished the plan of salvation.
The apostles shared in this worship of the glorified and enthroned Christ, but they “had entertained doubts” (Mt 28:17). On the cross, when Jesus said: “It is finished,” His disciples may have assumed that He was saying His life was over rather than that God’s plan was fulfilled. When Jesus ascended, no one had a new nature, no one was a child of God, no one had the Trinity dwelling in him, and no one had the power to make disciples of all nations (see Mt 28:19). Why would the ascending Jesus be acclaimed in heaven when He left so much unfinished business?
Because God the Father through Jesus sent within a few days the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ Ascension was right on time. In the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ disciples were baptized, received a share in the divine nature (2 Pt 1:4), were dwelling in the Trinity and the Trinity in them, and were made holy, royal, priestly, chosen, and powerful to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth (1 Pt 2:9).
Pentecost makes Jesus’ Ascension glorious rather than bewildering. Let us devote ourselves “to constant prayer” for the coming of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:14).
Prayer: Father, in the Spirit may I do my part in Your plan.
Promise: “May [God] grant you a spirit of wisdom and insight to know [Jesus] clearly.” ––Eph 1:17
Praise: “He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit; seen by the angels; preached among the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up into glory” (1 Tm 3:16).
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
Why did Jesus leave his disciples forty days after his resurrection? Forty is a significant number in the scriptures. Moses went to the mountain to seek the face of God for forty days in prayer and fasting. The people of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years in preparation for their entry into the promised land. Elijah fasted for forty days as he journeyed in the wilderness to the mountain of God. For forty days after his resurrection Jesus appeared numerous times to his disciples to assure them that he had risen indeed and to prepare them for the task of carrying on the work which he began during his earthy ministry.
The Risen Lord Jesus is with us always to the end of time
Jesus' departure and ascension was both an end and a beginning for his disciples. While it was the end of Jesus' physical presence with his beloved disciples, it marked the beginning of Jesus' presence with them in a new way. Jesus promised that he would be with them always to the end of time (Matthew 28:20). Now as the glorified and risen Lord and Savior, ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven, Jesus promised to send them the Holy Spirit who would anoint them with power on the Feast of Pentecost, just as Jesus was anointed for his ministry at the River Jordan. When the Lord Jesus departed physically from the apostles, they were not left in sorrow or grief. Instead, they were filled with joy and with great anticipation for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
The Risen Lord empowers us to carry on his work
Jesus' last words to his apostles point to his saving mission and to their mission to be witnesses of his saving death and his glorious resurrection and to proclaim the good news of salvation to all the world. Their task is to proclaim the Gospel - the good news of salvation - not only to the people of Israel, but to all the nations as well. God's love and gift of salvation is not reserved for a few or for one nation alone, but it is for the whole world - for all who will accept it. The Gospel is the power of God, the power to release people from their burden of guilt, sin, and oppression, and the power to heal, restore, and make us whole. Do you believe in the power of the Gospel?
We are ambassadors for Jesus Christ
This is the great commission which the risen Christ gives to the whole church. All believers have been given a share in this task - to be heralds of the good news and ambassadors for Jesus Christ, the only savior of the world. We have not been left alone in this task, for the risen Lord works in and through us by the power of his Holy Spirit. Today we witness a new Pentecost as the Lord pours out his Holy Spirit upon his people to renew and strengthen the body of Christ and to equip it for effective ministry and mission world-wide. Do you witness to others the joy of the Gospel and the hope of the resurrection?
Lord Jesus, through the gift of your Holy Spirit, you fill us with an indomitable spirit of praise and joy which no earthly trial can subdue. Fill me with your resurrection joy and help me to live a life of praise and thanksgiving for your glory. May I witness to those around me the joy of the Gospel and the reality of your great victory over sin and death.
Psalm 47:1-9
1 Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
2 For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. [Selah]
5 God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
7 For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!
8 God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted!
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Jesus ascends to heaven in his body - divine and human nature, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"You heard what came to our ears just now from the Gospel: 'Lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And it happened, while he was blessing them he withdrew from them, and was carried up to heaven.' Who was carried up to heaven? The Lord Christ was. Who is the Lord Christ? He is the Lord Jesus. What is this? Are you going to separate the human from the divine and make one person of God, another of the man, so that there is no longer a trinity of three but a quaternary of four? Just as you, a human being, are soul and body, so the Lord Christ is Word, soul and body. The Word did not depart from the Father. He both came to us and did not forsake the Father. He both took flesh in the womb and continued to govern the universe. What was lifted up into heaven, if not what had been taken from earth? That is to say, the very flesh, the very body, about which he was speaking when he said to the disciples, 'Feel, and see that a spirit does not have bones and flesh, as you can see that I have' (Luke 24:39). Let us believe this, brothers and sisters, and if we have difficulty in meeting the arguments of the philosophers, let us hold on to what was demonstrated in the Lord's case without any difficulty of faith. Let them chatter, but let us believe." (excerpt from Sermon 242,6)
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