A Sunday in the Octave of the Ascension Thought to Start the Week Off Right
Today, Sunday, is the day some (most?) U.S. dioceses celebrate the Ascension. Of course, for centuries, the Ascension was celebrated on a Thursday - Ascension Thursday. Our diocese has kept that tradition.
Of course, having done that, I'm not sure what this Sunday would be called (Sunday after Ascension?) in the liturgical calendar followed in the Novus Ordo. I do know, however, that in the traditional calendar, it would be the Sunday in the Octave of the Ascension.
Note: There's no "Octave" in the new calendar, so even though our diocese continues the traditional observance of Ascension Thursday, we can't call today the Sunday in the Octave of the Ascension - hence my previous question.
If all this leaves you a bit confused, join the club. There's been a lot of confusion since Vatican II. But let's leave that aside for now and get down to this Sunday's thought. As we have throughout this year, we turn to The Inner Life of the Soul.
"The Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension is the Sunday of expectation, of waiting, of holy hope. Our Divine Lord has ascended into heaven, but He has promised His disciples that One shall come, Whose blessed advent shall actually make it 'expedient' for them that He should go away."
We don't know how Our Lord's disciples took this idea that it was "expedient" for Our Lord to go. They may have been puzzled, but, by this time, perhaps the time they had spent with Our Lord had strengthened this virtue of holy hope. After all, He had told them before His Passion that it would occur - and it did. He told them He would rise from the dead - and He did. So maybe they were able to accept this "expedient" comment, even in the face of a certain degree of puzzlement.
We do know, however, that they would certainly get it in only a few days hence, on Pentecost. As the Holy Spirit descended upon them, so much would be made clear to them. They would be both changed and energized. With their deeper understanding of just Who this Jesus was - and is - they would begin to evangelize the world, even in the face of danger and persecution.
What about us? Are we able to defer to holy hope? Or do we find ourselves puzzling over the words of Our Lord, of His Holy Bible, wondering how it could be God's will that certain difficulties and misfortunes hit us where it really hurts? Have we given in to despondency when things don't go our way, when it seems God doesn't hear our plea for help? If so, The Inner Life of the Soul offers us the example of the mother of St. Augustine, St. Monica. She may be the paradigm of holy hope Look how she prayed without ceasing first for her husband, then for her son:
"For seventeen years Augustine's mother, Monica, prayed for her husband's conversion, and seventeen more for her wayward and sinning son."
Her husband was a handful, but consider her son:
"She saw her son, once enrolled as a Christian catechumen, embrace heresy, teach it, use his wonderful influence over men's minds to pervert and enslave them; she beheld him an open and proud apostate; and she knew that he lived, moreover, in open and shameless sin."
We all know that, eventually, her prayers were answered. The artist Ary Scheffer has portrayed the result of he holy hope that kept St. Monica praying.
Join me today and pray for this holy hope. I have intentions that need persistent prayer, both for others and for myself. If you too have such intentions, these words from The Inner Life of the Soul may bring some comfort and encouragement.
"It may be that someone will read these lines, whose heart is heavy with the burden of sinning souls; some one who has prayed long and fervently, but whose prayers go unanswered, while the souls so dear sink deeper into sin. On this Sunday of holy expectancy, Monica and Augustine speak from heaven, bidding you in God's great name to persevere. 'Man!' says St. Bernard, 'if thou desire a noble and holy life, and unceasingly prayest to God for it, thou shalt find it, though it be the last hour and moment of thy existence; and if thou find it not then, thou shalt find it in eternity. Of this be assured.'"
Of course, having done that, I'm not sure what this Sunday would be called (Sunday after Ascension?) in the liturgical calendar followed in the Novus Ordo. I do know, however, that in the traditional calendar, it would be the Sunday in the Octave of the Ascension.
Note: There's no "Octave" in the new calendar, so even though our diocese continues the traditional observance of Ascension Thursday, we can't call today the Sunday in the Octave of the Ascension - hence my previous question.
If all this leaves you a bit confused, join the club. There's been a lot of confusion since Vatican II. But let's leave that aside for now and get down to this Sunday's thought. As we have throughout this year, we turn to The Inner Life of the Soul.
"The Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension is the Sunday of expectation, of waiting, of holy hope. Our Divine Lord has ascended into heaven, but He has promised His disciples that One shall come, Whose blessed advent shall actually make it 'expedient' for them that He should go away."
We don't know how Our Lord's disciples took this idea that it was "expedient" for Our Lord to go. They may have been puzzled, but, by this time, perhaps the time they had spent with Our Lord had strengthened this virtue of holy hope. After all, He had told them before His Passion that it would occur - and it did. He told them He would rise from the dead - and He did. So maybe they were able to accept this "expedient" comment, even in the face of a certain degree of puzzlement.
We do know, however, that they would certainly get it in only a few days hence, on Pentecost. As the Holy Spirit descended upon them, so much would be made clear to them. They would be both changed and energized. With their deeper understanding of just Who this Jesus was - and is - they would begin to evangelize the world, even in the face of danger and persecution.
What about us? Are we able to defer to holy hope? Or do we find ourselves puzzling over the words of Our Lord, of His Holy Bible, wondering how it could be God's will that certain difficulties and misfortunes hit us where it really hurts? Have we given in to despondency when things don't go our way, when it seems God doesn't hear our plea for help? If so, The Inner Life of the Soul offers us the example of the mother of St. Augustine, St. Monica. She may be the paradigm of holy hope Look how she prayed without ceasing first for her husband, then for her son:
"For seventeen years Augustine's mother, Monica, prayed for her husband's conversion, and seventeen more for her wayward and sinning son."
Her husband was a handful, but consider her son:
"She saw her son, once enrolled as a Christian catechumen, embrace heresy, teach it, use his wonderful influence over men's minds to pervert and enslave them; she beheld him an open and proud apostate; and she knew that he lived, moreover, in open and shameless sin."
We all know that, eventually, her prayers were answered. The artist Ary Scheffer has portrayed the result of he holy hope that kept St. Monica praying.
Join me today and pray for this holy hope. I have intentions that need persistent prayer, both for others and for myself. If you too have such intentions, these words from The Inner Life of the Soul may bring some comfort and encouragement.
"It may be that someone will read these lines, whose heart is heavy with the burden of sinning souls; some one who has prayed long and fervently, but whose prayers go unanswered, while the souls so dear sink deeper into sin. On this Sunday of holy expectancy, Monica and Augustine speak from heaven, bidding you in God's great name to persevere. 'Man!' says St. Bernard, 'if thou desire a noble and holy life, and unceasingly prayest to God for it, thou shalt find it, though it be the last hour and moment of thy existence; and if thou find it not then, thou shalt find it in eternity. Of this be assured.'"
Happy Sunday of Holy Expectancy!
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