Look up

A Rosary Meditation: The Second Glorious Mystery, The Ascension.

“And he was taken up into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God.” Mark 16:19.

Can you imagine what it must have been like for the people there, on that day when Jesus left, as he ascended into Heaven? I’m very sure it was a once in a lifetime experience. Beyond that statement, well, honestly its a little difficult to know just what to say given that there’s so much that could be said. So we’ll stand back for a moment and just take a look at the crowd.

One thing is obvious. They all have their eyes on Christ. Now that’s a good example. Keeping their eyes on him they couldn’t go wrong, could they? Keeping their eyes on him insured they wouldn’t miss anything of importance, didn’t it? But what if …

What if, and I’ll use me now so I’ll not be accused of picking on anyone 😉 (most of the time I pick on me just for the fun of it anyway, saving my doctors the trouble … long, and funny, story, covering six and one half years, so just trust me here), I’d been there and I’d had my eyes on, oh, lets say the Apostle James? What would I have seen? I’d have seen James, a follower of Jesus and a good example. Now that’s a good thing isn’t it? Sure it is. Now, by watching James what would I have missed? Nothing if I was really watching James, or a lot if I’m not careful. I could have missed witnessing the ascension of Jesus if I was focused on James in the wrong way. I could have missed watching Jesus, I could have missed the main event wouldn’t I?

We all want to go to Heaven. Our dying in the Grace of God and making Heaven is a kind of personal spiritual ascension, isn’t it? And God gives us good personal examples, like James, to help us get to Heaven. So its OK to watch James so long as I have the right mind set and know WHY I’m watching James. But lets look at me standing there again, with my eyes on James but not paying the right kind of attention. I’m human so for a while I’m so caught up in watching James that I forget WHY I’m watching James. (I should be watching James because he is a good example of JESUS.) I’m missing the Ascension but I am watching a godly example. I’m watching a saint. But am I really? Because if I’m really watching St. James I’d see where it was he was looking and I’d look there too, wouldn’t I? And then I wouldn’t miss anything, would I?

We can watch the people around us. Depending on our intent and their actions watching them is a good thing or its not. Maybe we’re getting a good example out of the deal. We’ll hope so. We’re getting a good example if they’re looking up because we’ll be prompted to look up as well.

“Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these things … ” Isaiah 40:26a, Douay-Rheims.

Just a thought … What ever else we do our primary focus needs to be looking up, looking up to Jesus.

P.S. … I may or may not miss a few days soon. I don’t think I will, but I might. I’m kinda in a rather intense study mode right now and I loose myself and all track of time as well. Short version: I forget everything, eating, sleeping, etc. except study. So if I come up missing for a day or two you can put it down to … A, Extreme focus (being the kind view) ~ or ~ B, Senility (being what’s probably the more correct view) … Once again saving my doctors the trouble of kidding me. (Amongst other things I had at some point, although I don’t remember it, a brain scan. My doctor tells me the results didn’t show any thing. 😉 )

Carrying your Tree of Life … Tuesday, July 23

“Tree of Life.” “In the midst of the street thereof, and on both sides of the river, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruits every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” … Revelation 22:2.

A Rosary Meditation … The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery, the Carrying of the Cross. “And bearing the cross for Himself, He went forth to the place called the Skull.” John 19:17. ” … the place called the Skull.” Carrying crosses never leads in what looks like a good direction, does it? There always seems to be death and despair at the end of such a journey, thoughts that make us cringe the closer we get. Dread. Sometimes its just as bad as we think its going to be, mostly it’s not. But here and now isn’t the point. It’s the “then and there” that we tend to focus on. Because not knowing just makes a cross heavier, more burdensome. The hardest thing in the world can be to look past the place called the Skull, our own personal Calvary, as we carry our own personal cross. But that’s what we have to do. Our focus can’t be on the dreaded “then and there”, the place of the Skull. It has to go beyond that, to another “then and there”. Because the place of the Skull is NOT the end of the road. Calvary, ours or Jesus’, was just one more phase of a journey that led, not to a dreaded ending, but to a life filled beginning. Calvary takes us to an empty tomb. His empty tomb and, if we carry our cross faithfully, our empty tomb. When we remember these things crosses, rather than being dreadfully burdensome, become the Tree of Life.

Today …

St. Anne

St. Anne was a Hermitess, also called Susanna. Born in Constantinople in 840 to aristocrats, she fled the city to avoid marriage to Agarenus whose marriage proposal was supported by Emperor Basil the Macedonian. Anne went to Leucadia, Epirus, about 896. She lived as a hermitess there until her death. Anne may be the “Maura” listed in the Roman Martyrology as suffering martyrdom in Constantinople.She fled, she lived a life of solitude with all its blessings AND torments, and, possibly, she died a martyr. Crosses? She had plenty. And the end of her journey she arrived where? At the place of the Skull or someplace beyond that?

Remember … Proverbs !3:12 promises … “Hope that is deferred afflicteth the soul: desire when it cometh is a tree of life.”

Catholic Haydock Commentary – veritasbible.com

Catholic Haydock Commentary – veritasbible.com.

The Douay-Rheims Holy Bible with Fr. Haydock’s commentary. A wondeful resource and I decided to share it here.