THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD
The Ascension of Our Lord to the right side of His Father in heaven, is the climax of His earthly existence. After His resurrection He said to Mary Magdalene, ‘I have not yet ascended to My Father.’ Now the time has come for the glory that is His right as Lord of all creation, and conqueror of sin and death, to be given to Him. Of course, Our Lord has never ceased to be God, but throughout His earthly life His divinity has been hidden beneath His visible human nature. Now that human nature, too, is taken up into heaven to share in divine glory for all eternity. Hence the prayer of the Collect, that ‘where the glory of the Head has gone before, the hope of the Body (that is, the Church) may be called to join Him.’ We also take to mind the words of the angels in today’s Introit, that He will return one day to the earth even as the Apostles have watched Him go, that is, “in glory, to judge the living and the dead”, as we say in the Creed.
WHY PRAY FOR KING CHARLES III?
The prayer intention we had at Mass a few weeks ago was sent to us from the diocese and though it was a little long and wordy, it was essentially lifted from the Roman Missal, that contains all the prayers we use at the altar, in its current translation. The older missal had one too. Catholics have long prayed for heads of state, because they need it for their role and for their service which we all hope will be good and worthy in itself as well as in the fruit it will bear, we pray, within our societies. Just as in death we pray for all souls, rich and poor alike, so we do so in their life, how-ever brief it may be. We pray for the new King, Charles III, asking God to guide him, bless him, and give him the gumption to resist the “spirit of the age” of these days of all-pervading “wokery”. Ultimately the criteria by which the success of this new reign will be judged will be the extent to which it conforms to and extends the reign of our divine Sovereign, Christ the King. With that in mind, let us entrust our earthly King to the care and the constant intercession of our heavenly Mother Who has been crowned Queen of the Angels and Saints. ~ Fr. Paul Dobson
