Homily by Richard Leonard © LiturgyHelp

When I was a boy, Sir Edmund Hillary came to speak at my school. I can remember the fuss surrounding the visit of the first person to scale Mt Everest. And though there is now a school of thought that holds that he was beaten to the summit by Tenzing Norgay, his Tibetan colleague, there was an aura around this New Zealander who had been to the top of the world.

Some of my usually dour teachers were in awe of Sir Edmund. There was more than a little hero worship going on that day. Rather surprisingly in his address Sir Edmund did not say very much about his adventure to the peak. He was much more interested in what we do to each other on the plains than what he did on the mountain top. He spoke about justice, peace and the dignity of humanity. I can vividly remember him sending us out at the end of his speech to create a better world for all people everywhere. When questions came, there were several about whether he felt closer to God at the top of Mt Everest, and although he said he did, he mentioned there were life and death moments on the way up and down, where God's presence and companionship were much more real to him.

Hillary's visit to my school is not far from what happened to the disciples in today's Gospel. Matthew tells us that the eleven men who worshipped Jesus were commissioned by him to go out to the world and they were promised that he would stay with them until the end of time.

Worship is a word Catholics don't use all that often. While other denominations describe their liturgy as ‘worship’, we tend to use it only in a more secular way like in

‘hero worship’ or ‘not an altar at which I worship’. The concept behind this word,

however, is an important one. To worship God is to admit that we are not God. We are creatures and our worship is directed toward our Creator, Saviour and Sustainer.

Whether we realise it or not we are commissioned to go out to the world at the end of every liturgy, ‘Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.’ This changes our worship.

We are not here just for ourselves. Mass, which comes from a word meaning ‘to be

sent’, indicates that our liturgy is about celebrating what God has done in the world

in and through us, and is a preparation for what God still wants to accomplish.

Finally, we continue to experience the abiding presence of Christ in our daily lives or else we wouldn't be here. God, as revealed in Jesus Christ, is not distant to our lives or impervious to our needs; we believe in a Companion-God who seeks our company as much as we need his.

In this Mass, then, let's thank God for the mountain top of Christ's Ascension that lifts us up out of our everyday life to celebrate that we are creatures, not the Creator. Let us hear again Christ's call to each of us to move away from the complacency of a spiritual cafeteria to a church moving out to change the world. And let's rejoice in Christ's presence which abides before us, behind us, over and in us, within and without, now and forever. Amen.

Gospel Reflection by Greg Sunter © LiturgyHelp

The short gospel passage for today is taken from the final words of the gospel of Matthew. It is known as ‘The Great Commission’ as Jesus is portrayed commissioning

his disciples to go out to the world and spread the good news. They are charged to ‘Go,

therefore, make disciples of all the nations.’ This is the basis of much of the missionary

work of the Church that has gone on ever since then.

However, the focus of today’s feast is much more on the first reading than the gospel.

The opening verses of the Book of Acts, from the author of Luke-Acts, describe the final instructions of Jesus to his disciples and then his ‘lifting up’. The Luke-Acts writer is the

only gospel writer to actually describe the Ascension. The fact that the other gospels don’t discuss the Ascension in any detail at all is a good indication that this description

should not be taken literally.

However, the message of the Ascension is a powerful one. It reminds us that Jesus, the human incarnation of God on earth, was limited to a specific time and place in history. Despite the physical limitations of his life on earth, Jesus ensured that his message and ministry would continue through those he had taught. Knowing that the disciples would need time to grieve and come to terms with all that had occurred in a relatively short space of time, Jesus promised that the Spirit would come upon them in the days to come. That visiting of the Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost was the motivation to set about doing what Jesus had charged them to do. Without the Ascension, there is no Pentecost.

Historical Context – To the ends of the earth

In both the gospel passage from Matthew and the passage from the Book of Acts, Jesus commissioned his disciples to go out to the whole world. In Matthew, it is to ‘all

the nations’ and in Acts it is ‘to the ends of the earth’. Both writers make it abundantly

clear that the message of Jesus is not exclusively for the people of Israel but for all people everywhere. Within only a very few years, early Christian communities had sprung up all around the Mediterranean. Once Christianity became the religion of Rome it spread to all the corners of the Roman Empire.

Scriptural context – Not the only Ascension

The description of Jesus being taken up into heaven is a close parallel to the description of the great prophet Elijah also being taken up to heaven. Chapter 2 of 2 Kings describes Elijah speaking to his disciple Elisha in similar words to those used by Jesus to his disciples. The Jewish tradition had no belief in an individual resurrection and so the idea of Ascension was to recognise the greatness of the prophet. He was to be united with God in Heaven rather than having to wait for the great resurrection of all people at the end of time.

Living the Gospel – You will be my witnesses

A witness in a court of law is called to give evidence about a matter; to ‘testify’ to the

truth of what they have seen or what they know to be true. Some people are very good at being a ‘witness’ to their faith by testifying to others about what they believe. Many

others provide witness to their faith by simply living what they believe. Living a life based on Christian principles, including regular prayer and worship in your life, working for justice in the world and taking time to celebrate the beauty of everyday life is a powerful witness to others.

Pope Francis’

Prayer for Liberation from the Epidemic

to Our Lady of Divine Love

Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love

11 March 2020

O Mary, You shine continuously on our journey

as a sign of salvation and hope. We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,

who, at the Cross, united with Jesus’ pain, keeping your faith firm.

You, Salvation of the Roman people, know what we need,

and we trust that you will provide for those needs so that, as at Cana of Galilee,

joy and celebration may return after this moment of trial.

Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform ourselves to the will of the Father

and to do what Jesus tells us. He who took our suffering upon Himself, and burdened Himself with our sorrows

to bring us, through the Cross, to the joy of Resurrection. Amen.

We seek refuge under your protection, O Holy Mother of God. Do not despise our pleas — we who are put to the test —

and deliver us from every danger. O glorious and blessed Virgin.

VIEW MASS ONLINE

There are several options to tune into Mass at home, here are a few:

❖ Diocese of Lismore Youtube Channel: 8am Sunday Mass from Lismore

❖ Macleay Valley Catholic Parish: 9.30am Sunday Mass livestreamed and available for

viewing anytime from www.facebook.com/macleayvalleycatholicparish

❖ St Francis Xavier, Lavender Bay Mass on Demand comes to you every day from the

Jesuit church of St Francis Xavier via the CathNews YouTube channel, view via this

link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qei01-PBHwU

❖ Daily Mass Archdiocese of Melbourne: https://melbournecatholic.org.au/Mass

❖ The 1.00pm Mass is streamed live daily (Mon - Fri) from St Patrick’s Cathedral in

Melbourne and is then available as a recording on demand until one hour prior to the

next 1.00pm Mass. On Sundays, the 11.00am Mass is streamed and it is also

available as a recording on demand.

❖ Daily Mass Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn:

https://www.catholicvoice.org.au/mass/

FREEVIEW TV:

Tune in to channel 10 on Sunday mornings at 6:00am for ‘Mass for You at Home’.

SOME OPTIONS FOR DAILY PRAYER

We encourage you to read the Sunday readings, perhaps with your family and friends. Take

some time to reflect on them and share your reflections with each other.If you don’t have

access to a missal you can find the readings online here: https://www.dow.org.au/media-

resources/daily-mass-readings/

The Diocese of Lismore has a Youtube channel. This includes hours of video reflections

from Bishop Greg on a range of topics. Sunday Mass is also livestreamed Sundays at 8am.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference now have a dedicated portal of resources

specifically for those homebound during the pandemic. These are listed in four categories:

Masses Online;

Sunday Readings and Liturgical Resources; Holy Week Resources; Prayers and Scripture.

https://www.catholic.org.au/prayathome

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication has published a free little book to help us to

know how to discern and experience God’s closeness and tenderness in the pain, suffering,

solitude and fear of the pandemic. It is titled, “Strong in the Face of Tribulation; The Church

in Communion: A Sure Support in Time of Trial”. The book will be updated regularly and is

available at https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/lev/forti-nella-

tribolazione/pdf/eng/strong-in-tribulation.-20042020.pdf.

LiturgyHelp is a wonderful resource, which many dioceses, parishes and other church

agencies subscribe to. It is currently offering free access to a range of prayer resources for

personal and family prayer, with resources for all age groups. In particular, they hope that

Catholics in social isolation around the world can gain a sense of prayerful solidarity with

their local faith community and the whole Body of Christ. Head to their web page and sign

up for free. https://liturgyhelp.com/aus/pray

Bishop Robert Barron’s Word On Fire has many prayers, videos, reflections and other

resources, including Daily Mass.

The Irish Jesuits have a wonderful website of reflections and prayers based on the Daily

Mass Readings: https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/

The Catholic Online website has a whole range of prayers,

https://www.catholic.org/prayers/

These include the Rosary, Stations of the Cross, The Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Information

about the Saints of the Day.

Living Word – Daily Gospel reflections. Subscription available at

https://cgcatholic.org.au/LivingWord/ or view daily at www.catholicvoice.org.au.

MAKE A SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

An ancient practice of the Church for those who cannot be present at Mass is to make a

spiritual communion. We have a simple prayer you can pray with longing in your heart to be

united to Jesus:

My Jesus,

I believe that You

are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.

I love You above all things,

and I desire to receive You into my soul.

Since I cannot at this moment

receive You sacramentally,

come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite

myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.

Amen.