7th Sunday of Easter

Acts 1:1-11
Eph. 1:17-23
Mt. 28:16-20

Cycle ABC
28 May 2017
INTRODUCTION:
The day of the Lord's Ascension,
Jesus
commissioned all
of his disciples:
"Go, therefore, make
disciples This
of allinstruction
nations!" (Mt.
from the Lord
28: 19)
beckons every baptized to be
communicators of the Good News.
1
Access to the media
-- thanks to
technological progress

-- makes it possible for

people to share news
instantly and spread it
widely. That news can
be good or bad, true or
false.
1
Let us engage in constructive
communication that breaks
the vicious circle of anxiety or
sows a spiral of fear resulting
from a constant focus on "bad
news" as if evil has no limits.
1
In a communications industry
that thinks good news do not
sell and where the tragedy of
human suffering and the
mystery of evil easily turns into
entertainment, it is always a
temptation that our consciences
are dulled or slip into
pessimism.
1
Pope Francis wants to
contribute his share to the
search for an open and creative
style of communication that
never seeks to glamorize evil
but instead to concentrate on
solutions and to inspire a
positive and responsible
approach on the part of its
recipients.
1

Offer the people

storylines that are at
best "good news".
2
Life is not simply a
bare succession of
events but a story
waiting to be told
through the choice
of interpretative
lens.
2
In and of itself,
reality has no one
clear meaning.
Everything
depends on the
way we look at
things,
on the lens we
use to view them.
2
If we change that lens, reality
itself becomes different.

How do we
"read" reality
through the
right lens?
2

For us Christians, that lens can

only be "the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God" (Mk. 1:1)
2
With these words, Mark
opens his Gospel not by
telling some "good news"
about Jesus but rather the
good news that is Jesus
himself.
2
Its content is the
very person of
Jesus!
This good news -- Jesus himself -- is not
good because it has nothing to do with
suffering but rather because suffering
itself becomes a part of a bigger picture.
2
It is seen as an
integral part of
Jesus' love for the
Father and for all
mankind.
2
In Christ God has shown his
solidarity with every human
situation.
"I am with you" (Is. 43:5) means that we
are not alone because God is immersed in
the history of his people, including our
weakness, even to dying our death.
2

Seen in this light every

tragedy can also become a
setting for good news.
3

This right lens gives

hope and confidence in
the Kingdom of God,
already present in our
midst, like a seed that is
easily overlooked, yet
silently takes root.
3
Those to
whom the
Holy Spirit
grants keen
vision can see
it blossoming.
3
They do not let
themselves be robbed
of the joy of the
Kingdom by the
weeds that grow up all
around.
CONCLUSION:

This hope based on the good news which is

Jesus himself makes us lift up our eyes to
contemplate the Lord in this
Feast of the Ascension. +AR
CONCLUSION:

Even though the Lord may now appear more

distant, the horizons of hope expands all the
more.
+AR
CONCLUSION:

In Christ who brings our human nature into

heaven, every man and woman can now freely
"enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus."
(Heb. 10: 19-20) +AR
CONCLUSION:

By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be

witnesses and "communicators" of a new and
redeemed humanity "even to the ends of the
earth." (Acts 1: 7-8)
+AR
CONCLUSION:

It is, therefore, possible to highlight

the good news present in every
story and in the face of each person. +AR