Like the First Followers in today's gospel, we are chosen, called by Jesus to fulfill his mission: "Go out to all the world and proclaim the gospel." Like the first followers, we are graced in Jesus' name with the same spiritual life and strength to speak and understand new and evolving language of the heart, to help drive away one another's demons, or to heal one another of any "dis-easees", and to live from the inside out.

The feast of the Ascension celebrates our Baptismal commission to proclaim the gospel to every creature. Optimism and hope grace and anoint us to look upward and forward like the disciples. In grace, optimism, and hope, we move from our mountain top experiences to the mission at hand. The Grace of Immediacy urges us to the Now, to be passionate and compassionate in the mission and ministry entrusted to us. Christ works with us from the inside out, confirming the Word we live. We have already fallen in Love. Today we celebrate rising in Love.

--Janis McQuade, S.S.J.

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