Seventh Sunday of Easter - Ascension, May 17, 2026, 11:30AM #HolyFamilyArtesia #LACatholics #MMHCUSA

The Ascension teaches that goodbye can be sweet. The Collect speaks first and sets the tone. “Gladden us with holy joys… and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving,” because “the Ascension of Christ your Son is our exaltation.” The prayer names the season: not grief, but joy. The day reads like a different kind of parting, charged with gratitude and hope.

“Christ yesterday, today, and forever” frames the movement. Christ yesterday meets disciples who have already seen the empty tomb. The ones standing under the sky are not the anxious faces from the Upper Room. Fear has been re-schooled by the Resurrection. Death has been met and mastered, so trouble no longer gets the last word. The church worships this risen Yesterday, and that knowledge carries saints and strugglers through their own storms.

Christ today speaks in the Gospel and hands a mission, not a vacuum. “Make disciples of all nations.” Purpose lands, and with it, joy. The call is simple enough to practice in ordinary ways: show up, walk the road together, let presence do its quiet work. Communion becomes formation. A child who sees school friends at Mass learns that faith is not travelled alone. Even what looks small, like attending with love and attention, turns into real evangelization. Joy becomes contagious when Christian life is lived in the open.

Christ forever opens the horizon. The Ascension means the Head has gone ahead. Heaven is not closed. “Where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is called to follow in hope.” That promise lifts the heart. The subtext is trust. Christ entrusts the mission and does not micromanage it back, even when disciples make a mess. He stays, with trust, until the end of time. The image lands gently: a parent who lets a child find his legs after a fall. That is not absence. That is confidence. And confidence flowers into joy.

So the Ascension names its own spirit. Joy, because the Lord did not end in death. Joy, because a real mission turns ordinary presence into holy purpose. Joy, because the future is open and the Head has marked the trail. The goodbye is sweet, not because Christ is gone, but because He has gone first.

Key Takeaways

• 1. The Ascension is real joy Joy is not a mood but a response to what God has done. The church prays to be “gladdened with holy joys” and to “rejoice with devout thanksgiving,” because the Ascension lifts the Body with the Head. The parting is not a loss but an exaltation that changes the tone of discipleship. The day invites practiced gratitude, not polite sadness. [22:13]
• 2. The risen yesterday steadies fear The disciples at the Ascension have seen the Resurrection, so their inner weather has shifted. Fear still knocks, but it no longer rules, because death itself has been outmatched. Remembered victory becomes present courage, the kind that endures setbacks without surrender. The church lives out of that memory like oxygen. [24:09]
• 3. Today’s mission gives clear purpose Christ leaves no one idle. “Make disciples of all nations” gives direction that can carry a soul through hardship without drifting. Purpose simplifies choices, and even small acts done in love gather into the work of God. Clarity breeds joy because meaning is not vague anymore. [25:30]
• 4. Simple presence grows contagious faith Showing up matters. Presence on the road lightens the road, and shared worship trains hearts to know faith as a communal way. Ordinary attendance with love becomes evangelization, because joy seen is joy shared. The slow habit of being there plants deep roots. [26:06]
• 5. The Head ahead anchors hope The Ascension does not take Christ away. It takes Him ahead. Where He has gone, the church can follow, so hope is not imaginary. His trust in His people is itself a gift that matures them, like a parent who lets a child stand and walk. Confidence given becomes confidence learned. [29:08]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [06:34] - Confiteor and mercy
• [10:14] - Opening Collect of Ascension
• [20:33] - The ache of goodbyes
• [21:07] - Ascension kept on Sunday
• [22:13] - “Gladden us with holy joys”
• [23:19] - Christ yesterday, today, forever
• [24:09] - Resurrection remakes the disciples
• [25:30] - Sent to make disciples
• [26:06] - Show up on the road
• [28:24] - Joy that evangelizes
• [29:08] - The Head has gone ahead
• [30:22] - Trusted even through mistakes
• [31:57] - Joy summed up

1. In Acts 1:9-11, the disciples witness Jesus’ Ascension. What emotions or reactions might they have felt, and how does the angels’ question (“Why do you stand looking into heaven?”) redirect their focus?
2. The sermon mentions that the disciples at the Ascension were “not the anxious faces from the Upper Room” but had been changed by the Resurrection. What specific examples does the sermon give about how their “inner weather” shifted? [24:09]
3. How does the mission in Matthew 28:19-20 (“make disciples of all nations”) contrast with the idea of being “left idle” or in a “vacuum”? [25:30]
4. The sermon shares a story about a child who saw friends at Mass. How did this simple act of “showing up” impact the child’s faith formation? [26:58]

1. The sermon emphasizes that the Ascension is a “sweet goodbye” rooted in joy, not grief. How does the promise of Christ’s return (Acts 1:11) and His ongoing presence (Matthew 28:20) transform the meaning of His physical absence?
2. The Resurrection “re-schooled” the disciples’ fear. How might remembering Christ’s victory over death help believers face setbacks or suffering without surrendering to despair? [24:33]
3. The sermon compares Christ’s trust in His followers to a parent letting a child learn to walk. How does this metaphor challenge the assumption that God’s absence equals abandonment? [31:21]
4. Hebrews 6:19-20 calls Jesus our “anchor” and “forerunner.” How does the Ascension redefine hope as something active rather than passive?

1. The sermon suggests that “showing up” in community (e.g., attending Mass) can be evangelization. How might your presence in ordinary moments—like a family meal or a friend’s crisis—reflect Christ’s mission? [26:06]
2. Joy is described as a “response to what God has done,” not a mood. What daily practice (e.g., gratitude journaling, sharing a testimony) could help you cultivate joy rooted in Christ’s victory?
3. The Ascension assures us Christ has “gone ahead” to prepare a place for us. When have you struggled to trust God’s timing or plan? How might focusing on His faithfulness (not your circumstances) renew your hope?
4. The sermon says even “small acts done in love” contribute to God’s work. What seemingly insignificant habit (e.g., praying for a coworker, serving a neighbor) could you commit to as part of your discipleship? [25:44]
5. How can you intentionally “walk the road together” with others (e.g., joining a small group, mentoring someone) to strengthen communal faith? [27:29]
6. The sermon warns against viewing goodbyes as “loss.” Is there a relationship, season, or dream you’ve mourned that God might be inviting you to release with hope instead of sorrow?