Good morning Digital Neighbors!  Happy 40 Days of Joy!   Normally the Solemn Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord, but many of the bishops transferred this feast to the upcoming Sunday. I think they did it for a two-fold reason, to make it more accessible to the faithful who often seemed to forget the feast, even the ones who faithfully attend Sundays as well free them from the burden of mortal sin.   As I mentioned yesterday, I think the main thrust of mortal sin is never to be indignant in the face of mortal sin.  If you are among those brazen souls who say: “Is God gonna send me to Hell for this?”  ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY!!!    Not the sin itself, but your arrogance in the face of sin. None of us know how much pride we possess until it is poked, and on Judgment Day it will be exposed, we will be naked before the Lord and we will either fall down in contrition, adoration and gratitude or arrogantly prefer our own will to the One that saves us.

I hope no one is that arrogant, but if angels can be so arrogant as to oppose God, then we must acknowledge that human beings are capable of the same conceit and hardness of heart.  All of our life the Holy Spirit is whispering into our heart to seek Jesus, all of our life Jesus is knocking on the door of our soul to enter and sup with us. They want to bring us to the Father, to the fearsome One of Siani, and behold a loving Father who has labored to bring His children to spiritual maturity and fruitfulness in His holy will. Love can never be forced; it must be freely offered. Love can never be imposed; it must be freely accepted. The Love at the center of reality, the Holy Triune love of total communion is offered to us in these days of joy. The loving arms of the Father are His Son and Their Holy Spirit. The Apostles knew this and understood it after Pentecost.  The Blessed Mother knew it from the moment of the Annunciation and in the contemplation of her pregnancy and the infancy of Our Lord, beheld divine humility like no one else.

The enemy never expects humility, cannot comprehend humility, sees it as something weak and ineffective. The Fallen always want to break our souls by means of the body; by ensnaring us sin or breaking us with pain. Their only consolation is to try and hurt the Divine through His creation, corrupting it, distorting it, enslaving it. But the enemy and his minions lost the battle.  They can still do immense damage in the time that God gives them and us in this time of waiting for the Return of the Lord. It is a joyful time that ought to compel us to share the Good News, to proclaim the Gospel and its promise and freedom.  Happy Easter my friends!

I always think of this song on Ascension, I hope God has a good sense of humor.

Good morning Digital Neighbors!!  Happy Wednesday! (NOW THURSDAY!) 😁

Some pearls of wisdom from the 4^th century and some commentary afterwards to boot!

From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope
The days between the resurrection and ascension of our Lord

Beloved, the days which passed between the Lord’s resurrection and his ascension were by no means uneventful; during them great sacramental mysteries were confirmed, great truths revealed. In those days the fear of death with all its horrors were taken away, and the immortality of both body and soul affirmed. It was then that the Lord breathed on all his apostles and filled them with the Holy Spirit; and after giving the keys of the kingdom to blessed Peter, whom he had chosen and set above all the others, he entrusted him with the care of his flock.

During these days the Lord joined two of his disciples as their companion on the road, and by chiding them for their timidity and hesitant fears he swept away all the clouds of our uncertainty. Their lukewarm hearts were fired by the light of faith and began to burn within them as the Lord opened up the Scriptures. And as they shared their meal with him, their eyes were opened in the breaking of bread, opened far more happily to the sight of their own glorified humanity than were the eyes of our first parents to the shame of their sin.

Throughout the whole period between the resurrection and ascension, God’s providence was at work to instill this one lesson into the hearts of the disciples, to set this one truth before their eyes, that our Lord Jesus Christ, who was truly born, truly suffered and truly died, should be recognized as truly risen from the dead. The blessed apostles together with all the others had been intimidated by the catastrophe of the cross, and their faith in the resurrection had been uncertain; but now they were so strengthened by the evident truth that when their Lord ascended into heaven, far from feeling any sadness, they were filled with great joy.

Indeed that blessed company had a great and inexpressible cause for joy when it was man’s nature rising above the dignity of the whole heavenly creation, above the ranks of angels, above the exalted status of archangels. Nor would there be any limit to its upward course until humanity was admitted to a seat at the right hand of the eternal Father, to be enthroned at last in the glory of him to whose nature it was wedded in the person of the Son.

Good morning Digital Neighbors!!  Happy Tuesday!  Some quotes and perspectives from a few other souls.  To all your curious and slightly mad souls among us. Enjoy!

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives. —Henry David Thoreau

Expect the best; convert problems into opportunities; be dissatisfied with the status quo; focus on where you want to go, instead of where you’re coming from; and most importantly, decide to be happy, knowing it’s an attitude, a habit gained from daily practice, and not a result or payoff. —Denis Waitley

The race will go to the curious, the slightly mad, and those with an unsatiated passion for learning and daredevilry —Tom Peters