Peggy’s Notes – Feast of the Ascension
JOHN 17: 11b – 19…Feast of the Ascension..
The feast of the Ascension, traditionally celebrated on Thursday, has been moved this year to this Sunday. As Scott Hahn says, Ascension is “the preliminary feast that directs the churches attention forward to Pentecost. On that day, salvation will be complete; for salvation is not simply expiation for sins, but it is something even greater than that. Expiation is itself a necessary precondition of our adoption as God‘s children. To live that divine life, we must receive the Holy Spirit. To receive the Holy Spirit, we must be purified through baptism.
Para 2746… When “his hour” came, Jesus prayed to the Father. His prayer, the longest, transmitted by the Gospel, embraces the whole economy of creation and salvation, as well as his death and resurrection. The prayer of the Hour of Jesus always remains his own, just as his Passover, “once for all” remains ever present in the liturgy of the Church.
Para 2747… Christian tradition, rightly calls this prayer, the “priestly prayer” of Jesus. It is the prayer of our high priest, inseparable from his sacrifice, from his passing over (Passover) to the Father, to whom he is wholly consecrated.
Para 2749… Jesus, fulfilled the work of the Father completely; his prayer, like the sacrifice, extends until the end of time. The prayer of this hour fills the end times, and carries them toward their consummation. Jesus, the Son to whom the Father has given all things, has given himself wholly back to the Father, yet expresses himself with a sovereign freedom by virtue of the power, the Father has given him over all flesh. The Son who made himself servant is Lord, the Pantocrater. Our high priest, who prays for us, is also the one who praise in us and the God who hears our prayer.
2815…This petition embodies all the others. Like the six petitions that follow, it is filled by the prayer of Christ. Prayer to our Father to is our prayer, if it is prayed in the name of Jesus. In his priestly prayer, Jesus asks: Holy Father, “protect in your name, those whom you have given me.”
2849…Speaking of the battle we fight with temptation,
The Catechism says “such a battle and such a victory become possible only through prayer. It is by his prayer that Jesus vanquishes, the tempter, both at the outset of his public mission, and in the ultimate struggle of his agony. In this petition to our heavenly Father, Christ unites us to his battle and his agony. He urges us to vigilance of the heart in communion with his own. Vigilance is custody of the heart. And Jesus prayed for us to the Father: “Keep them in your name.” The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to awaken us to keep watch. Finally, this petition takes on all its dramatic meaning in relation to the last temptation of our earthly battle. It asks for final perseverance.” Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake.”
Para 2850… The last petition to Our Father is also included in Jesus’ prayer. “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.”….It touches each one of us personally, but it is always “we “who pray, in communion with the whole Church for the deliverance of the whole human family. Th Lord’s prayer continually opens us to the range of God’s economy salvation .
Para 858… Jesus is the Father‘s emissary. From the beginning of his ministry, he “called to him those whom he desired;… And he appointed 12, whom, also he named Apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach. From then on, they would also be his “emissaries.” Christ continues his own mission: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” The Apostles’ ministry is the continuation of his mission: Jesus said to the 12: “He who receives you, receives me.”
Para 2466… Jesus Christ, the whole of God‘s truth has been made manifest. “Full of grace and truth,” he came as “the light of the world”, he is the truth. “Whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” The disciple of Jesus continues in his word, so as to know “the truth that will make you free,” and that sanctifies. To follow Jesus is to live in the Spirit of Truth whom the Father sends in his name, and who leads into all the truth. To his disciples, Jesus teaches the unconditional love of truth. “Let what you say, be simply yes, or no.”
Para 2812… Finally, in Jesus, the name of the Holy God is revealed, and given to us, in the flesh, as Savior, revealed by what he is, by his word, and by his sacrifice. This is the heart of his priestly prayer: “Holy Father… For their sake, I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.” Because he “sanctifies” his own name, Jesus reveals to us the name of the Father. At the end of Christ’s Passover, the Father gives him the name that is above all names, “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father.”
