Lifeissues is mainly concerned with publishing thoughtful articles directly related to issues raised in Evangelium Vitae. However, from the very beginning, we have also published a few related homilies, notably by Fr. Al Cariño, O.M.I., Fr. Tony Pueyo, and others.
Please use the pulldowns below to select a homily by Liturgical Calendar date.
Generally speaking many people, when asked, would say that at their death they would hope and pray to go to heaven and many, perhaps some here, may not really know what that entails. A reward for living a good life however one see it? If that is true then there are these concerns we should have about Jesus' instructions. "No one has ever ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven" to which Jesus added, "the Son of Man, who is in heaven."(John 3, 13). I am tempted to stop here and let you figure that out.
Jesus taught the disciples that the kingdom of God was at hand, and they all had a part to play in it. The kingdom continues to this day, and we all have a part to play.
At Christmas, God the Son descends and joins his divinity to our humanity. But today, on this solemn feast of the Ascension, God the Son takes that humanity and ascends to the right hand of the Father. At Christmas, divinity is humanized; today, that divinized humanity is raised and glorified.
In an echo from Psalm 47:5 (the psalter for Ascension Day), "God has gone up." This exaltation is more than a spectacle or a suggestion of the worldly power of God's people. Rather, it affirms that God rules over all things in self-giving love.