The Ascension of Our Lord
20th May 2007

Tuesday - St Rita of Cascia
Friday - St Bede the Venerable

Gospel Reflection
Gospel Reflection for the Ascension
Carrying The Baton

The trouble with the Ascension is that we're left with an image of Jesus leaving for some other place. We imagine Jesus going to some place high above the clouds, or to some far away place beyond death. That however, is not how the first disciples saw it and it was certainly not how they acted. Notice that the disciples didn't leave the scene of the Ascension in mourning; they returned with great joy and praised God in the temple day after day. It is clear that the disciples did not experience Jesus as absent. It is clear that in everything they did from then on that Jesus was real and present in their lives. It's true that Jesus is no longer with us physically, but he has not left us; he has simply handed over the reigns.

Like every good teacher who eventually trusts his students to stand on their own two feet, so Jesus finally trusts his disciples to carry the baton.

The focus of today's gospel reading is exaltation and mission. It's time for us to stop looking into the sky wondering where Jesus has gone, and focus on the important business of putting his teaching into action. It's time to dismiss any notion of mourning Jesus' physical absence and rejoice in his guiding presence in our daily lives.

World Communications Day
"Children and the Media"

"The relationship of children, media, and education can be considered from two perspectives: the formation of children by the media; and the formation of children to respond appropriately to the media. Proper use of the media is essential for the cultural, moral and spiritual development of children. Educating children to be discriminating in their use of the media is a responsibility of parents, Church, and school. The role of parents is of primary importance. They have a right and duty to ensure the prudent use of the media by training the conscience of their children to express sound and objective judgments which will then guide them in choosing or rejecting programmes available.

Media education should be positive. Children exposed to what is aesthetically and morally excellent are helped to develop appreciation, prudence and the skills of discernment."

Taken from Pope Benedict's Message for the 41st World Communications Day

'Jesus of Nazareth'
by Pope Benedict XVI

The English translation of Pope Benedict's first book is now available. This momentous work seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from recent 'popular' depictions and to restore Jesus' true identity as discovered in the Gospels. Pope Benedict hopes to share with us a rich, compelling, flesh and blood portrait of Jesus and invites us to encounter, face to face, the central figure of the Christian faith.

Released 15th May 2007

To bring you up to date on
HOLIDAYS OF OBLIGATION !

Last year the Bishops of England and Wales decided that in future, all Holydays which were 'Feasts of the Lord', would be transferred to the nearest Sunday. This is a change from recent practice whereby we used to transfer Holydays only when they fell on Saturdays or Mondays.

What is a Feast of the Lord?

Feast days that refer to events in the life of Jesus, such as the Ascension and the Epiphany. There are other Feasts of the Lord such as the Presentation (Candlemas 2nd February) but this is not a Holyday. Christmas Day is not part of this change.

The Holydays affected are:-
The Epiphany, The Ascension and Corpus Christi.

Holydays not affected are:-
Saints Peter and Paul, The Assumption and All Saints.

The positive aspect of this change is that there will be better opportunities to celebrate feasts, such as the Epiphany, in a much more worthy manner. It's difficult to have a leisurely celebration in mid-week when the priest is conscious of the time pressures on many people.