A WORD FOR TODAY 13 MAY 2021

A WORD FOR TODAY 13 MAY 2021


 

*A WORD FOR TODAY*

*JESUS FINISHED HIS MISSION IN GLORY

_"So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen."(Mark 16:19-20)_

_*Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus into heaven. It happened forty days after the resurrection that Jesus ascended into heaven where He came from and sat at the right hand of the Father.*_

_The Ascension of the Lord marked the end of His mission here on earth. The mission that started with his birth, progressed through his proclamation of the gospel message, came to its climax at his suffering, death and resurrection and when He was done, He retrurned back to the Father and resumed His seat at His right hand, where He will continue to speak on our behalf._

_*The readings of today give us a solid evidence that the Ascension was not just a figment of our imagination, but a reality and something that truly happened and it happened to strengthen our faith that as Jesus returned back to the Father, so shall we return back to Him when our earthly journey is ended.*_

_His Ascension was necessary, because Jesus will tell his disciples in John 16:7, that it is necessary for Him to go back to the Father, for if He does not go, the comforter, the Holy Spirit will not come._

_*Jesus came from the Father into the world to do His will, which is to redeem humanity that has fallen into sin. It was mission accomplished for Him when He suffered, died, was buried and rose from the dead. He finished with glory and He returned back to Heaven with glory. The heavens that rejoiced when He came were also rejoicing at His return. He never deviated from the mission He was given. He stayed focused until the end and He received the greatest of reward from the Father.*_

_Jesus Ascended into heaven so that we may continue the work of proclaiming the gospel which He has given us the mandate to do by the power of the Holy Spirit. We must now go out into the whole world as we see in the gospel reading and witness for Him so as to win souls into His kingdom and when we are done we shall also return to Him in heaven to live with Him._

_*Jesus did not leave us as orphans, He bestowed on us the power and authority that will help us to carry out our task and do so much good in His name. Greater signs will follow us if we believe in His name and we shall do exploits. We must now focus on our mission here on earth and do it well so that we shall also return in glory and be with Him when our earthly existence comes to an end.*_

_The central message of today's celebration is that Jesus triumphantly and gloriously ascended into heaven after He has completed His mission and He is now in God's right hand where He continues to help us to fulfill our own mandate and mission. We must now learn from Jesus to stay focused and do our work well so that when the time comes to depart, we shall also do it gloriously and triumphantly._

_*Now we must return to the upper room like the apostles and wait in prayer for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and when the Spirit comes, He will lead us into all the truth and help us to achieve greater good in this life in His name. We shall bring joy and peace to others, we shall be the channel of healing and encouragement to others. In all things we must continue to do what Jesus has instructed us to do until He returns to take us to Himself.*_

_Good morning dearest one. Smile😊as you do your work and do have a magnificent day. May Jesus who ascended into heaven give you the grace to stay focused on your mission of witnessing for Him until the end. Amen. *And may the Almighty God bless you: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.*_

*Meditation:* Acts 1:1-11/Psalm 47:2-3,6-9/Ephesians 1:17-23/Mark 16:15-20

*Watch-Word:* God goes up with shouts of joy. The Lord goes up with trumpet blast.

*Where Jesus has gone to stay, we shall also go to if we live our lives well for Him here on earth. Strive to finish your mission on a glorious note.*

(Thursday of the sixth week of Easter. Solemnity of Ascension of the Lord.)