Ascension Sunday (Seventh Sunday of Easter)
May 21, 2023 •
So many people nowadays think they can just talk to God on their own and He's gong to listen? None of us - none of us - deserves to be heard by the Father. Yes, He hears everything because He's God. But do you think for a moment He's going to grant any favor that you've asked? What have you done for Him? How many times have you failed Him? And suddenly, because you're in need now, you want something. Why would He listen to you?
That's what today's feast is all about.
Because we have and Advocate Who sits before Him interceding on our behalf. Every day.
Not just the Advocate Who was sent, that's the Holy Spirit. But Christ Himself - our Mediator. He stands before his Father - in His human nature - pleading on our behalf. And the sacrifice, the sweet smelling oblation he offers, is his own Body. He's the unblemished Lamb that was slain. He is the High Priest of the New Covenant. Now forever before the throne of His Father, interceding.
If I pray on my own, my prayers are not heard. But if I pray with in and through the Body of Christ then they must be heard. Because: where is Jesus? He's at the right hand of the Father. I have no fear, no concern at all. I know my prayers are heard by the Father because Christ is praying on my behalf.
That's the beauty of the nature of Christ's Body. We know that the Church is His Body. We all, members of that same Body. . . . as long as I'm connected with that Body, when I pray, the Head prays. If the Head prays - the head is with the Father, and the Father hears the prayer. Not because of any merit of my own. The Father hears the prayers because the Head merited the grace for me. The Head was worthy. The rest of us body, well, we deserve what we get.
As long as I am praying with, in, and through the Body of Christ, I have no doubt, no fear, no concerns that my prayers are not heard and favorably answered.
Jesus says: Whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He will give you. Not on a whim, but in union with Me. Meaning if you have the mind and heart of Christ and you ask the Father for anything, He's going to grant it.
This is why our Lord had to ascend. He's never left us. He's still here in the Eucharist. But He's also at the right hand of the Father constantly interceding for us.
When we pray as a body, it is the prayer of Christ. When I offer this Holy Sacrifice, it is the sacrifice of Christ. The Father looks down on His Son's Body and He grants Her this grace, these blessings, this mercy that She asks for.
Acts 1:1-11; Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9; Eph 1:17-23; Mt 28:16-20
Homily begins at 25:41