Sunday Catholic Mass for the Ascension, May 16 2021 with Fr. Dave

[Music] in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit the lord be with you hello everybody thank you so much for saying i'm gonna choose to keep the commandments and to keep the lord's day the day that he rose for us holy and today we celebrate of course the feast of the ascension right so um who is called to live a higher life is it just miller life no you are called to do that right and what is is it bob dylan who gets high with the help of his friends was that bob dylan jess only listens to classical music so she doesn't know but right whoever it is well christians we're called to get high but not high like drugs but high is in our spiritual life and follow jesus and he ascends into heaven and tells us that's the place for humanity so the times that we haven't lived as people who are destined for heaven called to a heavenly way of living and loving let's ask him to forgive us lord jesus you are the son of god and son of mary lord have mercy christ jesus you are the center of the holy spirit christ have mercy lord jesus you are the way to the father lord have mercy may almighty god have mercy on us forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life [Music] glory to god in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will we praise you we bless you we adore you we glorify you we give you thanks for your great glory lord god heavenly king o god almighty father lord jesus christ only begotten son lord god lamb of god son of the father you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us you take away the sins of the world receive our prayer you are seated at the right hand of the father have mercy on us for you alone are the holy one you alone of the lord you alone are the most high jesus christ with the holy spirit in the glory of god the father amen let us pray gladden us with holy joys almighty god and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving for the ascension of christ your son is our exaltation and where the it has gone before in glory the body is called to follow in hope through our lord jesus christ your son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god forever and ever a reading from the acts of the apostles in the first book theophilus i dealt with all that jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up after giving instructions through the holy spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen he presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of god while meeting with them he enjoined them not to depart from jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the father about which you have heard me speak for john baptized with water but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy spirit when they had gathered together they asked him lord are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to israel he answered them it is not for you to know the times or seasons that the father has established by his own authority but you will receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in jerusalem throughout judea and samaria and to the ends of the earth when he had said this as they were looking on he was lifted up and a cloud took him from their sight while they were looking intently at the sky as he was going suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them they said men of galilee why are you standing there looking at the sky this jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven the word of the lord thanks be to god god mounts his throne to shouts of joy a blare of trumpets for the lord god mounts his throne to shouts of joy a blare of trumpets for the lord all you peoples clap your hands shout to god with cries of gladness for the lord the most high the awesome is the great king over all the earth god mounts his throne to shouts of joy a blare of trumpets for the lord god mounts his throne amid shouts of joy the lord amid trumpet blasts sing praise to god sing praise sing praise to our king sing praise god mounts his throne to shouts of joy a blare of trumpets for the lord for king of all the earth is god sing hymns of praise god reigns over the nations god sits upon his holy throne god mounts his throne to shouts of joy a blare of trumpets for the lord a reading from the letter of saint paul to the ephesians brothers and sisters i a prisoner for the lord urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another through love striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace one body and one spirit as you will also called to the one hope of your call one lord one faith one baptism one god and father of all who was over all and through all and in all but grace was given to each of us according to the measure of christ's gift therefore it says he ascended on high and took prisoners captive he gave gifts to men what does he ascended mean except that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth the one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things and he gave some as apostles others as prophets others as evangelists others as pastors and teachers to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry for building up the body of christ until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the son of god to mature manhood to the extent of the full stature of christ the word of the lord thanks be to god the lord be with you a reading from the holy gospel according to mark glory to you o lord jesus said to his disciples go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature whoever believes and is baptized will be saved whoever does not believe will be condemned these signs will accompany those who believe in my name they will drive out demons they will speak new languages they will pick up serpents with their hands and if they drink any deadly thing it will not harm them they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover so then the lord jesus after he spoke to them was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of god but they went forth and preached everywhere while the lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs the gospel of the lord praise to you lord jesus christ okay i'm gonna borrow a little bit from uh what i like to do when i have a wedding certain weddings especially we call them con validations uh where someone has been married civilly uh and then they're gonna get married in the church i like to use this this little teaching technique so we're going to use this today before we do that we got to focus correctly so many people know four kinds of aces right what are the what are the aces that people know right they know the ace of spades you have uh diamonds and hearts and clubs and which one is like the greatest depends on i guess what game you're playing because sometimes it's the lowest i used to play spades in college enjoy that game but in the 1990s there was another ace that was introduced to the world the ace of base ace of base some of you know ace of base some of you are like what are you talking about father dave but if you know you know right and they had a hit song ace of base was a was a band and they had a hit song um called i saw the sign i saw the sign and it does something when you see the sign it does something what does it do they'll tell you if someone in your house knows i saw the sign and it opened up my open up my eyes open i think it's open up my eyes or open up my mind it's one of those two someone will know tell me down below right i think it's opened up my eyes i saw the sign yeah right and so it's very simple um you see a sign and your eyes are like hey and you're maybe then your mind opens like there's another reality present right if you see a sign that says beware of dog what does that tell you there may be a dog here that you can't see but can smell you and it's coming for you and your pizza crusts right you see a sign you're maybe you have a long flight you're flying cross-country or something you're healthy and there's no covet and it's safe to fly and all that uh and you get off the airplane after a six-hour cross-country flight and what sign are you looking for luggage no you're looking for the bathroom right and you see the sign and you're like ah right restrooms this way right you see the sign and it tells you hey there's another reality there's a place that i can get some rest just put it like that right you see the sign that reality is present right you know pizza you know oh hey let's go get some pizza over there right there's these external manifestations of internal things right there's a restroom somewhere or a sign right for example uh you see a ring on on someone's finger right that external sign of a a wedding band tells you about their internal reality right that their soul is bound to someone right and if you see you see let's say let's say you see someone go to a bar maybe a group of girls uh go to a bar a bunch of guys go to the bar and you see them take off their rings what does that tell you uh that's a bad sign right it tells you bad stuff stuff all right so what are we gonna use this for here right so again let's take a look at this it's gonna help us at least i think it will right what do you have here it's a light bulb right and if you touch it how does it feel right it's cold and if you described it off right someone just said off it's dark right and but what do i have here this is like a very cheap battery that i got on amazon all right so if i take this and i do that what happens now if you describe it what happens oh it's on right it's it's bright if i touched it it would start to get warm right and why well what what is the change what happened right well the electrical energy stored in the battery the chemical energy the electrical energy stored in the battery is passing through it right now correct right when you see this lit up this is telling you when you see this it's telling you that there's another source of power moving through this thing right because left to itself it can't shine left to itself it has all the strength of copper wire and plastic and tin whatever it's made out of glass but that's it this can't give light or warmth to anything it's just what it is but when you see if i can plug it in here when you see that happening it's telling you that something else is up that there's another source of power given to it and this external manifestation is a sign of an internal reality does that tell you about the gospel does that tell you about you and me and jesus and the ascension because what happens when you see almighty god ascend into heaven what does that tell you it tells you he's going home well yeah sure it tells you he's going home but also what is he taking with him he's taking humanity with him right because god became one of us that's why christmas is so important god comes here he loves us he teaches us he's given us prophets and all that stuff and then suddenly he steps into the world to push back the darkness the light of the world comes into the world right as a human but what is he doing he's going to heaven and he's taking human nature with him when he sneezes he's taking human nature with him into heaven which what does that mean that means you and i are called to a higher life right that you and i are called to live in heaven like you know that in a football game if someone carries the ball and they get it to the end zone you're going to celebrate why because that means that that team you can score against that means that your team's ball is in the end zone they just scored that's good for you this is great for us that god goes to heaven this is not just about what happened to jesus although it is but the feast of the ascension means that you and i have a home in heaven we talk about going to heaven we talk about it like it's our home but that wouldn't be true unless he brought us there and that's what he's doing in the ascension and so when you see jesus ascending into heaven he's making a place for you and for me by bringing his humanity and our humanity our human nature with him into the father's house but then what happens then he tells us you know you're going to see what you're going to see the church you're going to see people going out and they're going to be teaching and doing miracles and healing the sick and drinking deadly things and picking up serpents and stuff like that and what is he saying is that well when you start to see miracles in the church which is what will happen right the apostles well let's talk about the apostles for a second write the apostles they all run from jesus and and deny him right and leave him on good friday when he's dying and everybody runs right they want nothing to do with him and then what happens right they're doing dark things they betrayed him and they're regretful and they're sad and then what happens boom something happens because these apostles who ran from jesus are now bravely going to the people who executed christ to the jews and the romans and they're talking about jesus and they all go forth and they die for him and they're saying the same thing resurrection resurrection resurrection and they're healing the sick right saint peter his shadow falls on someone and they get well they're lying up the sick so that he could just walk past them and heal them and all these great things start to happen as more people get who are sick start to get better and demons are cast out and these apostles are putting the light of christ in the world and when people see that and they see the miracles that the apostles are doing they're like wait a minute there's another source of power here inside of them right paul and barnabas will go to a town and they'll heal the second people are going to think that the gods have come to earth the like the greek and roman gods and we're like no we're not god at all we're not gods but jesus is working through us all right so when you see the sign of miracles in the life of christians that's telling you that there's another source of power that the god who came into the world is alive inside of them inside of you and me and in fact this is true in our life where we're supposed to see this right when you see like you know you can think of mother teresa right mother teresa and mother teresa pray for us and pray for your you know people over there in india right when you see her like reaching out and trying to care for people rotting in the street that's telling you her external actions of charity and kindness to the the people that the world wants to forget are ridden with disease and bugs and sick and all that that external action is telling you that there's another source of power inside of her right when you see like someone the way you had in the second reading god appoints people as preachers as pastors as teachers right when you see like maybe good young moms with their kids volunteering at the parish to teach religion teach ccd and it happens here what's happening that's telling you externally that the life of christ is alive inside of them as they're teaching not only their children but other people's children about jesus right when you see like maybe a good widow or something like that get involved in the parish to make people feel welcome or to help in ccd or or any making rosaries any other you know ministry that happens helping people grieve when you see those acts of kindness and charity it's like you know you may not know the song i saw the sign but you know the sign this little light of mine right it's the same reality i'm gonna let it shine this is how you know your kids are ready to receive holy communion right your kids when they're little right they have to go to confession and all that because kids once they reason they can start to sin you know they know right from wrong you can choose to do wrong but you know your kid is ready for holy communion why well you see them saying their prayers at home because you're a family that prays at home right yes father dave uh we're going to start today father dave you're praying on sunday maybe you pray the rosary on sunday that's great but your kids look forward they start saying their prayers they pray before meals they want to know about jesus and you start to see them fight less and argue less and help out around the home when that's happening that's telling you they're ready to receive holy communion right for our confirmation kids right whatever age they do confirmation in your parish right here if they're going into high school in their first couple years of high school right they have to volunteer all around the world right your kids have to volunteer and do service hours what is that about it's not like well you got to do these things to get in no if you're growing in the christ life if his life is growing in you well then there's going to be external signs of that and that's going to be it could be raking leaves for seniors it could be volunteering at the food pantry it could be cleaning up your church after you leave for mass it could be helping out at home right it could be well it's going to literally be forgiving your enemies saying your prayers telling people about the lord helping people through tough times celebrating good times right all those are external signs of an internal reality right this is true of course for marriage to find out how i relate that a little more to marriage you'll have to come to a wedding that i do i guess but when you see those signs of god coming ascending into heaven that tells you that humanity has a place with him which means we're called to live a higher life right so you're our you know there are days of course where people want to just like eat chips and drool themselves and do nothing right everybody says oh i'm so tired i just want to do nothing right nobody celebrates that it's not like hey man what'd you do with your two weeks vacation oh i did nothing i sat on the couch scratched my armpits ate chips and fell asleep in my clothes like huh man that's great you had a great vacation like everybody needs days of like rest but we're made for higher things right and we want to do those higher things we want to do things where you're doing something kind and you're reaching out and doing something that gives you life and gives life to other people we're made for that when you see people in the higher things that people are doing freely is lifting people up and spreading light and joy and goodness that's telling you about another life that's alive inside of them but if you find that people are resistant to the life of god like you find that people don't want to pray and they want to sin they don't have anything to do with well with god's people well then they're unplugging themselves and this is of course true for the church right the church is supposed to be a place that passes i'm really making a lot of this i really like this so we're using it right that you're supposed to see the signs of god's life alive in the church and you do as we right as we preach and we teach and we heal the sick we lead people we try to lift the culture up around us in the darkness of all the junk that's out in the world you're supposed to see the church as a place of light of course when you see like pre-sin and you see the church start to talk in ways that cloud the light you know where if the church starts to get into the muddy world of let's say politics and maybe says stuff to promote whatever communism um i don't know super consumerism um green bay packer fan-ism right when the church does something other than the mission that jesus gives it it starts to cloud the light and then that's not good but this is what we're called to do and jesus he says right he says uh those who you know those who believe will be saved those who don't believe will be condemned what is that about father dave didn't we talk a couple weeks ago about you get to go to heaven if you follow your conscience well yes but you go to heaven if you follow your conscience but that's really true that's true for all is we got to listen to our conscience but for people who have never heard about jesus well god doesn't forget them or throw them away he puts his voice in them by their conscience he does that for all of us but for people that get to see the signs to see christians around them and hear the gospel and have their family and friends invite them to this higher life if they resist that i don't want to no thanks you know church that's for you that ain't for me well then jesus's words are going to come true for them right the full teaching is right yet for those who have never heard the gospel never met a christian it could be like imagine like again uh the native american people living here before missionaries arrive right or people that only see you know cruel christians or someone raised in a muslim country who has no idea about jesus other than being taught that he's just a prophet right for those folks they have to follow their conscience when they when they see god they'll be like oh my gosh jesus i never knew you were a god he's like i yes but you did when you followed your conscience but for the rest of us who are blessed at baptism and blessed by being able to meet christians we have to respond to that sign that god is inviting us up to a higher life and we're called to live it but if you see people resist that i don't want to do that well that's telling you something about their internal reality and if you unplug from god you're gonna be like this light bulb and get darker and colder and that trajectory is gonna continue right so father dave how can i get that power that ran through the apostles that ran through padre pio right paja pio who did miracles healing the sick who could appear in multiple places at the same time who like helps pilots in the sky in the world wars like and could read your soul if you went to padre pier for confession right um you know you'd be like well you know maybe i lied and uh i didn't say my prayers and padre p will be like yeah well you also did this and this and this and this or he would be like no you're not telling me everything well yeah sure i am going to be like yeah what about the time that you cheated on your spouse oh well you know patrick people he could read your soul when you saw say padre pio healing the sick doing miracles reading souls appearing in multiple places what's happening that's a sign that the same life that was given to the apostles the life that was alive in jesus was poured into him that's poured into you and to me how can you get that power how can you get that life how can this extra source of strength come to you find that out you'll have to come back next week i believe in one god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth of all things visible and invisible i believe in one lord jesus christ the only begotten son of god born of the father before all ages god from god light from light true god from true god begotten not made consubstantial with the father through him all things were made for us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven and by the holy spirit was incarnate of the virgin mary and became man for our sake he was crucified under pontius pilate he suffered death and was buried and rose again on the third day in accordance with the scriptures he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end i believe in the holy spirit the lord the giver of life who proceeds from the father and the son who with the father and the son is adored and glorified who has spoken through the prophets i believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church i confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and i look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come let's raise our prayers a petition to almighty god for pope francis and the bishops let us pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for local and national leaders may the spirit of god move them to work together to protect the rights of all including the unborn let us pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for those who have wandered away from their faith in jesus may god grant them return let us pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for family and friends during this easter season may it be a time of faith hope and love let us pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for those who have died may they enter into the eternal life promised through christ's resurrection let us pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for an end to the coronavirus let us pray to the lord lord hear our prayer and now for the petitions we hold in the silence of our hearts let us pray to the lord lord hear our prayer we also pray for healing for all those suffering from the coronavirus especially those suffering in india and canada may god help them and rally other nations and people around them to give them aid on bless their doctors nurses in texts and as he multiplied the lows may he multiply the oxygen and the uh the antiviral medicines that they need whatever that is i don't know i vermectin whatever that is may god give them what they need and heal the sick we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer we also pray for peace in the middle east may god open up minds and hearts and speak through people's consciences uh and arrive at peaceful resolutions of conflict and and and bring an end to the struggle that's happening over there and give people work and care and help and just keep people safe especially for our brother and sister christians may god cause them to shine like saints and we're actually work through them to heal to rebuild over there we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer almighty father turn toward us and hear the prayers you inspire us to ask we ask them on the feast of the ascension on your day through christ our lord [Music] god [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] pray brothers and sisters that my sacrifice and yours can be acceptable to god the almighty father may the lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and the glory of his name for our good and good of all his holy church we offer sacrifice now in supplication oh lord to honor the wondrous ascension of your son grant we pray that through this most holy exchange we too may rise up to the heavenly realms through christ our lord amen the lord be with you lift up your hearts let us give thanks to the lord our god it is truly right and just our duty and our salvation always and everywhere to give you thanks lord holy father almighty and eternal god through christ our lord for after his resurrection he plainly appeared to all his disciples and was taken up to heaven in their sight that he might make us sharers in his divinity therefore overcome with paschal joy every land every people exults in your praise and even the heavenly powers with the angelic host sing together the unending hymn of your glory as they acclaim [Music] holy holy holy lord god of hosts heaven and earth are full of your glory hosanna in the highest blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord hosanna in the highest you are indeed holy o lord the fount of all holiness make holy therefore these gifts we pray by sending down your spirit upon them like the dewfall so that they may become for us the body and blood of our lord jesus christ the time he was betrayed and entered willingly into his passion he took bread and giving thanks broke it and gave it to his disciples saying take this all of you and eat of it for this is my body which will be given up for you in a similar way when supper was ended he took the chalice and once more giving thanks he gave it to his disciples saying take this all of you and drink from it for this is the chalice of my blood the blood of the new and eternal covenant which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this in memory of me the mystery of faith when we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim your death o lord until you come again therefore as we celebrate the memorial of his death and resurrection we offer you lord the bread of life and the chalice of salvation giving thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you humbly we pray that partaking of the body and blood of christ we may be gathered into one by the holy spirit remember lord your church spread throughout the world and bring her to the fullness of charity together with francis our pope and david our bishop and all the clergy remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and all who have died in your mercy welcome them into the light of your face have mercy on us all we pray that with the blessed virgin mary mother of god a blessed joseph her spouse the blessed apostles saint james saint martha and all the saints who have pleased you throughout the ages we may merit to be coheirs to eternal life and may praise and glorify you through your son jesus christ through him and with him and in him oh god almighty father in the unity of the holy spirit all glory and honor is yours forever and ever amen at the savior's command and formed by divine teaching we dare to say our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil deliver us lord we pray from every evil graciously grant peace in our days that by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress as we await the blessed hope in the coming of our savior jesus christ for the kingdom the power and the glory are yours now and forever lord jesus christ who said to your apostles peace i leave you my peace i give i give you look not on our sins but on the faith of your church and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will who live and reign forever and ever the peace of the lord be with you always let's offer each other the sign of peace lamb of god you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us lamb of god you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us lamb of god you take away the sins of the world grant us peace behold the lamb of god behold him who takes away the sins of the world blessed are those called to the supper of the lamb lord i am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed [Music] um um [Music] one [Music] um now [Music] let us pray almighty ever living god who allow those on earth to celebrate divine mysteries grant we pray that christian hope may draw us onward to where our nature is united with you through christ our lord i just want to say thank you thank you thank you if you guys uh participated and gave us a thumbs up that's awesome that does actually help if you had to endure a commercial that somehow helps google pay their bills but that lets us give the mass to you so thank you for that and some special also words of thanks to uh to one to a young lady named ella out there in california she drew a wonderful picture ella age seven she says i like your dog she is cute and isn't that a that's a very cute picture of craggly uh and craigly is doing much better she uh is more like herself she's still on a little bit of pain medicine and resting but she wants to play she's grabbing her favorite toy and she's asking for play time and that's pretty good we actually took we tried a little play earlier and she was doing fine as well a thank you letter all to some folks in virginia karen and steve they write my husband and three daughters 18 15 and 11 i don't think that's their names i think those are the rages and i really enjoy watching your online mass every sunday morning uh throughout the pandemic in between our own church's mass i explored other online masses throughout the neighborhood country and world and that's been like a pretty cool thing for people to like you know like people have watched mass in the vatican and people watch mass in you know uh africa and australia and people from africa and australia watch mass over here so hello you guys it was pretty cool to be able to do that and she writes once i found your mask my family refused to watch any other god bless you guys we love your meaningful relevant messages that speak to all ages in our family we enjoy your humor and dad jokes my husband is a jersey native and appreciates all the references to pork roll egg and cheese our girls love seeing craggly as do two of their other family members and i've not had anyone watch from this family group before and so these are this is cinnamon and oreo and cinnamon and oreo are two guinea pigs so hello to you guys or girls i'm not sure but hello hello cinnamon and oreo i think cinnamon flavored oreos would be delicious but i don't think guinea pigs would be delicious god bless you guys in your animal kingdom thank you karen and steve and the girls out there and oreo and cinnamon god bless you guys in all the ways that you live this higher calling that god puts into all of us now a question as we think about the animal kingdom why do seagulls fly over the sea because if they flew over the bay they'd be bagels the lord be with you may almighty god bless you the father and the son and the holy spirit go in peace thanks be to god so [Music] [Music] the lord be with you i forgot the hallelujah shouts of joy the lord amid trumpets that was a real tongue twister your hands shout to god with i can't i can't get through it there's too many

Channel: Father Dave

Views: 20,694

Rating: 4.953136 out of 5

Keywords: Sunday Catholic Mass today, Catholic Mass Ascension, Ascension Sunday, Sunday Catholic Mass for the Ascension, Mass today, Ascension Mwy 16 mass, Father Dave Mass today, Rev. David Swantek, St. Martha Point Pleasant NJ, Father Dave Mass today, Daily Catholic Mass, #Ascension, #Ascension mass, feast day

Id: 8MMr4gc5nVg

Length: 40min 29sec (2429 seconds)

Published: Sat May 15 2021