Archives
May 5, 2010
The Mysteries of Glory
The Resurrection
The Ascension of our Lord
The Descent of the Holy Spirit
The Assumption of our Lady into Heaven
The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
Our Lady will give us a deeper understanding of the second coming of Christ through the five Mysteries of Glory.
”I pray not for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.”
John 17:20
FOR many people, belief in the end of the world is a fairy-tale, or an escape mechanism born of chaotic world conditions. For a Christian, it is neither a myth nor a sedative. The world’s collapse, and Christ’s second coming, are as much a part of His faith as the world’s creation and Christ’s first coming at Nazareth. The glorified Savior who made the earth tremble at His Resurrection, will shake the heavens on the last day. He was born at Bethlehem humble and meek; in the last times He will appear as the God of power and love who fulfills the world.
I may not live to see the last day; still, Jesus will be my Lord. Am I ready for Christ’s coming?
II. THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD
”Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted; my flesh, too, will dwell in hope.”
Acts 2:26
FOR the Apostles, Ascension day was one of subdued joy. Joy, because Jesus was going to the Father; subdued, because He was leaving them. There was about Olivet an air of quiet peacefulness. The Apostles were silent as Jesus blessed them, silent as He rose out of sight. They remained there in silence until two angels sent them off. “Jesus will come again, just as He ascended,” in glory, in the clouds of heaven, surrounded by angelic armies. And what God has begun with the creation of the world, He will finish with the fullness of the coming of the Kingdom of God.
By the promise of Christ’s second coming, I am assured of the triumph of God over evil.
III. THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
”The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:5
IN God’s Providence, “It’s always darkest just before dawn.” When the world was morally corrupt, the Christ Child came to save it. When the letter of the law had stifled the spirit of Jewish piety, Jesus came “that they might have life.” While the Apostles huddled together in an upper room, all their hopes in Jesus dashed by His death, the risen Lord appeared in the midst of them. And in the last days of the world, when “charity will grow cold” Jesus will restore all things to God.
“When it was dark, Jesus came unto them.” When my soul is in darkness, God is at hand.
IV. THE ASSUMPTION OF OUR LADY INTO HEAVEN
”After speaking of the Church, her origin, mission and destiny, we can find no better way to conclude than by looking to Mary.”
Catechism No. 972
THE first book of the Old Testament tells of a woman who will crush Satan’s head. In the last book of the New, St. John describes the great battle between a woman and Satan. The woman of Genesis is Mary; the sun-robed woman of the Apocalypse is the Catholic Church. Because Mary is the model of the Church one might understand the Church with a child in her womb is Mary at the Annunciation; the Church in travail is Mary on Calvary; the Church with twelve stars about her head is Mary at Pentecost, surrounded by the Apostles. And the Church with the moon at her feet is Mary assumed to heaven.
Mary is the Church’s mother. I should ask her every day to protect the Mystical Body of her Son.
V. THE CORONATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
”There ‘in glory of the most Holy and Undivided Trinity,’ ‘in the communion of all the saints,’ the Church is awaited by the one she venerates as the Mother of her Lord and as her own mother.”
Catechism No. 972
“AND so from the Mount of Olives, they went back to the upper room and with one heart all joined constantly in prayer.” And so the Acts of the Apostles tells us how you spent the last days of your life … praying constantly.
You, the Mother of God, having watched Him ascend to the Father spent the rest of your life in prayer. You knew Jesus so well … it is the way He spent His life, in prayer. Of course, you would do the same.
All of life, but especially the last days, are a good time to pray. A good time to be with God. A good time to spend with Mary and the Rosary.