Second Reading:  EPHESIANS 1:17-23      
Gospel: MATTHEW 28:16-20  

We have received from the Diocese the time frame for gradually resuming Public Masses. At St. Martin's, Fr. Rex is planning on having the first public mass on Saturday the 30th of May. The Vigil of Pentecost. This Mass will be for those considered most vulnerable by the Diocese: those with underlying medical issues, and those over 65. We will then have a 9 a.m. mass on Pentecost Sunday for those not attending the Saturday night mass. Preparations are now being made for these public masses, using the guidelines set forth by the Bishop. We are limited by the Diocese on how many should attend each Mass, so let us know if you are coming and which Mass you will attend. One of the most urgent steps is to have the Church Sanitized before we begin Public Masses. We are asking for Volunteers to clean and Sanitize. This means cleaning the church and wiping down the pews and other areas we may come in contact with.  Please prayerfully consider helping with the cleaning. 

This Sunday is the Solemnity of the Ascension and we will live stream the Mass of the Ascension on Saturday at 3 p.m.. on Fr. Rex's face book page. Confessions, Sacrament of Reconciliation will be offered this Saturday from 4:30-5:30 p.m.. 

Jesus ascended into heaven. Of course, we know heaven is not literally located up there, nor out there in space. Our accounts of the Ascension are symbolic. What the Ascension tells us is that Jesus Christ who rose from the dead is now exalted in glory as God. Ephesians says Jesus took his seat on God’s throne, “far above every principality, authority, power and dominion. God has put all things beneath his feet and gave him as Head over all things.” Our Opening Prayer says, “God Father, the Ascension of Christ your Son is our exaltation, and where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is called to follow in hope.” Jesus who ascended into heaven is still with us members of his Body, the Church. Jesus told his disciples to wait until they received the Power of the Spirit, who would continue his presence among them, so that they would be his witnesses. As Fr. Luke Johnson says, “The Ascension does not signal a removal of Jesus from the story but symbolizes his presence in a new mode. The period of the Church is a period not of Jesus’ absence, but of his presence in a new and more powerful way, through the Holy Spirit.”

We are all called to be witnesses. Christ’s mission is now ours. The question asked by the angels, “Why are you standing here looking up?” is meant for us too. Especially in this time of crisis, we should not just be looking up, but should be looking around at the needs of Christ’s brothers and sisters, and in the power of the Spirit, to truly be Christ’s witnesses here, and to the ends of the earth.