What does it mean to ascend? To move upward; to rise through the air; to succeed to (as in ascending a throne). On the day of this posting, we are celebrating the Feast of the Ascension, when Christ ascended into Heaven. After the Resurrection, he was taken up from the sight of the disciples, he even rose through the air. And he ascended his heavenly throne. In celebrating this great Feast Day, I would also like to include two other definitions of the word: to rise up from a lower degree; to go back in time through your family’s genealogical succession. (Don’t worry, this won’t take long. Don’t trust me? Then here’s a quick preview: kindness and mothers.)
Fr. Finnigan shared a bit of a poem during his homily at Mass today – the priest, in his mid-to-late eighties, often reads to us wonderful quotes and clips from theologians, saints, and poets. This particular one he found in a book by Father Frederick William Faber, who lived in England during the 19th century. The writer of the poem itself is anonymous, but it fit beautifully with Fr. Faber’s work, in a book called, Kindness. The poem also fit with Fr. Finnigan’s homily on loving one another – for, isn’t that what kindness is? The words started my mind thinking about the power of love and how it is so powerful that it can be conveyed through the smallest things… Continue reading
It didn’t come like a bolt out of the blue or a disembodied voice, or like some televangelist with his palm on my forehead saying the words. I just knew. After Mass and some friendly conversations, somewhere between my mental genuflection before the Tabernacle and crossing the threshold out into the world, my worries and prayers concerning whether or not I have cancer had an answer – I am healed.
