The Better Part

Matthew 28.16-20 Listen to the Gospel and Reflection We know that after Jesus dies and rises to new life, never to die again, he spends forty days appearing to his disciples. They talk with him, eat with him, and spend time rejoicing with him that his Risen life will never end. After forty days, Jesus returns to his Father in heaven. We call this the Ascension into heaven. "Ascend" means to rise from a lower level to a higher level. Jesus has already risen from ordinary life

Matthew 28.16-20 Listen to the Gospel and Reflection On Ascension Sunday, or the Feast of the Ascension, we celebrate the moment in Jesus' Risen life—forty days after the Resurrection to the full life of God—when he returns to his Father in heaven. "Ascend" means to rise from a lower level to a higher level. It can also mean to take the throne. We often call Jesus the King—the King of kings—and we celebrate the day that he takes his place on the heavenly throne. Once, when a

Matthew 28.16-20 Listen to the Gospel and Reflection On Ascension Sunday, or the Feast of the Ascension, we celebrate the moment in Jesus' Risen life that we speak of in the Creed: "He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty." Forty days after the Resurrection to the full life of God, Jesus returns to his Father in heaven. Frankly, this does not seem like the best of feasts. Imagine the disciples standing there on the mountain as Jesus

John 14.15-21 Listen to the Gospel and Reflection Last Sunday we listened to Jesus remind the disciples that the Good Shepherd goes ahead of his sheep. Jesus tells them that he will go ahead to prepare a place in his Father's house so that they can be together. He says these things because the disciples are upset. They do not want him to leave them. Jesus knows this, and he knows that they are still worried. In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus continues to reassure them--to

John 14.15-21 Listen to the Gospel and Reflection This Sunday's Gospel continues the discussion from last week that Jesus has with his disciples at the Last Supper. Before he dies and rises to new life, Jesus needs the disciples to understand that there is going to be a new way for them to be together. Jesus says, "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever." An advocate is someone who stands up for someone else, who speaks in their p

John 14.15-21 Listen to the Gospel and Reflection The Gospel for this Sunday picks up where we left off last Sunday in the long conversation that Jesus has with his disciples at the Last Supper before he dies and rises to eternal life. Jesus reassures them that he will not leave them orphaned but will send the Holy Spirit to live in them so that they can make Jesus known to the world. Through them, the world can see Jesus, and the world can then receive the Spirit. Throughout

John 14:1-12 (read verses 1-4 for the 3-6 year old) Listen to the Gospel and Reflection The reading for this Sunday goes back to the moment of the Last Supper that Jesus eats with his friends before he dies and rises to new life. At the supper, his disciples begin to realize that Jesus will die soon and this upsets them. They do not want him to die; they want him to stay with them. They do not understand—yet—that he will rise to new life, never to die again. Jesus tells them,

John 14:1-12 (read verses 1-7 for the 6-9 year old) Listen to the Gospel and Reflection The reading for this Sunday takes place at the Last Supper, before Jesus dies and rises to the full life of God. St. John tells us that before his death, Jesus reminds the disciples of what they know and gets them to think about who he is. Jesus says, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not

John 14:1-12 Listen to the Gospel and Reflection Unlike the other Gospels, St. John's Gospel records a great long conversation Jesus has with his disciples at the Last Supper. It seems that before he dies and rises to new life, Jesus wants his disciples to think deeply both about who he is, and about who they are because of him. Jesus tells his disciples that he goes to prepare a place for them in his Father's house. They are not to be troubled, because they will join him the