Love Lifted Up: The Ascension

 Readings 051426-Thursday & Readings 051426-Ascension

Today at the elementary school Mass, I spoke with the children about the Ascension.
And while the Church will celebrate the Solemnity this Sunday, today—forty days after Easter—is the true Feast of the Ascension, the day Jesus was lifted into glory.

When I speak to children, I always try to leave them with one message that never changes:
no matter what happens,
no matter how they feel about themselves,
no matter what anyone else says or thinks—
Jesus loves them.
Steady.
Constant.
Unshakable.

But that message isn’t only for children.
It is for us—grown hearts, tired hearts, hopeful hearts—just as much.

And the Ascension is yet another proof of that love.

Jesus rises—
not to leave us,
but to lift us with Him.
He ascends so that heaven is no longer far away,
but open,
near,
and waiting.

In His rising, Jesus gives us a truth that anchors every season of life:
the One who loves you has not gone anywhere.
The Christ who carried a cross now carries you.
The Lord who walked dusty roads now walks the roads of your heart.
The Savior who returned to the Father has not stepped back—
He has stepped ahead,
preparing a place,
interceding for you,
sending His Spirit to fill the spaces where fear once lived.

The Ascension is not absence.
It is presence multiplied.
It is Jesus saying,
“I am with you always—
in your work,
your wounds,
your waiting,
your becoming.”

So today, we place ourselves on that hillside with the disciples—
eyes lifted,
hearts unsure,
as everything changes in a single moment of glory.

And we let this truth settle deep:
Who loves you?
Jesus loves you—
from the throne of heaven
and from the quiet center of your soul.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
lift my heart as You were lifted into glory.
Let Your nearness steady my steps today.
Walk the roads of my life with quiet mercy.
Fill the empty places with Your Spirit’s peace.
Hold me close in every rise and every fall.
Keep me rooted in the truth that You love me.
Amen.

Is It Spirit Inspired?

 Readings 051326

Some days,
as I scroll through all the Christian content online,
I feel two very different winds blowing.

Some voices are grace‑filled—
humble, prayerful, rooted in Christ.
Others feel unsettling—
as if God has been reshaped
by someone’s fear,
or someone’s anger,
or someone’s personal filter.

And that’s the heart of the problem:
not everything labeled “Christian”
is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus promises,
“When the Spirit of truth comes,
He will guide you to all truth.”
The Spirit always points to Jesus—
never away from Him,
never toward a self‑made gospel,
never toward a God of our own invention.

Jesus also tells us,
“He will glorify me,
because He will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.”

From the beginning,
God made us a people who seek Him—
a God who is not far
from any one of us.

Not far.
Not hidden.
For “in Him we live and move
and have our being.”

But in our ego and pride,
we sometimes look to ourselves first
as god.
We chase “your truth,”
or “my truth,”
or the algorithm’s truth—
anything but the truth
that flows from Christ
and leads us back to Him.

So today,
as a thousand voices claim to speak for God,
remember this simple measure:

If the message is truly Christian,
it will glorify Christ.
It will echo His words.
It will carry the Spirit’s peace.
And it will draw you closer
to the God who is not far from you at all.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
keep my heart steady
when the voices around me grow loud.
Let Your Spirit of truth
guide my thoughts,
my scrolling,
my conversations,
and my witness.
Draw me close to the God
who is not unknown,
but lovingly revealed
in Your face.
Amen.