R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Go and teach all nations, says the Lord;
I am with you always, until the end of the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you;
but stay in the city
until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Then he led them out as far as Bethany,
raised his hands, and blessed them.
As he blessed them he parted from them
and was taken up to heaven.
They did him homage
and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
and they were continually in the temple praising God.

• A very moving story I share with you about the Italian opera composer, Giacomo Puccini … writer of La Boheme, Tosca, and Madame Butterfly, all familiar to many audiences around the world.
  • Puccini was writing his final opera, Turandot, while he was also battling with terminal cancer.
    • He worked day and night.
    • As his sickness worsened, Puccini said to his students – his disciples – “If I don’t finish Turandot, I want you to finish it.”
    • Puccini died in 1924 with the opera still unfinished. His students then gathered and proceeded to write what remained of his final opera.
  • Two years later at La Scala opera house in Milan, his student Arthur Toscanini, conducted the now-famous opera. Turandot went beautifully until Toscanini came to the end of the part written by Puccini. Toscanini stopped the music, put his baton down, turned to the audience, and said, “Thus far, the Master wrote, but then he died!”
    • There was a long pause. No one moved …
    • But then Toscanini picked up the baton once again, turned back to the audience, and with tears in his eyes, let his disciples – his students – finish the work together.
  • The opera closed to thunderous applause and is today one of the greatest operas ever written.
• Though Turandot is an opera, it does demonstrate how we have an essential role as believers in the Risen Christ Who ascended into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father, establishing in our own universe a permanent place of hope for all Eternity. For He commissioned His own disciples – His followers – to finish through the Church His mission to save the entire world.
  • There you have it!
    • We are the disciples of the Risen Christ – His followers, His students.
    • We are charged to finish His great work of Salvation.
• That is where you come in … never lose hope, even in a troubled world. And finish the job of saving souls!
• Let us pray at this Mass that observes the Lord’s Ascension into Heaven after all He did on Earth – His words, His deeds, the Cross, the Resurrection, the Empty Tomb – that we may have the Divine Life with Him, now in this life and forever.
• This fits in very well with this Jubilee year and its theme. We are the Pilgrims of Hope … i Pellegrini della Speranza.

Monsignor Michael J. Cariglio, Jr., Pastor & Rector, Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel – Saint Anthony Parish

In the first book, Theophilus,
I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught
until the day he was taken up,
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit
to the apostles whom he had chosen.
He presented himself alive to them
by many proofs after he had suffered,
appearing to them during forty days
and speaking about the kingdom of God.
While meeting with them,
he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem,
but to wait for “the promise of the Father
about which you have heard me speak;
for John baptized with water,
but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

When they had gathered together they asked him,
“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons
that the Father has established by his own authority.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
throughout Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.”
When he had said this, as they were looking on,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,
suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
They said, “Men of Galilee,
why are you standing there looking at the sky?
This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven
will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

R (6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
R God mounts his throne to shouts of joy:  a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R Alleluia.
God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
R God mounts his throne to shouts of joy:  a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R Alleluia.
For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.
R God mounts his throne to shouts of joy:  a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R Alleluia.

Brothers and sisters:
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation
resulting in knowledge of him.
May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
for us who believe,
in accord with the exercise of his great might:
which he worked in Christ,
raising him from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,
far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,
and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And he put all things beneath his feet
and gave him as head over all things to the church,
which is his body,
the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

It has long been a Catholic understanding that when circumstances prevent one from receiving Holy Communion, it is possible to make an Act of Spiritual Communion, which is a source of grace. Spiritual Communion is an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament and lovingly embrace him at a time or in circumstances when one cannot receive Him in sacramental Communion. The most common reason for making an Act of Spiritual Communion is when a person cannot attend Mass. Acts of Spiritual Communion increase our desire to receive sacramental Communion and help us avoid the sins that would make us unable to receive Holy Communion worthily.

Spiritual Communion Prayer

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.

I love you above all things and I desire to receive you in my soul.

Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

I embrace you as if you were already there

And unite myself wholly to you.

Never permit me to be separated from you.

Amen.