Today sunday reflection

ASCENSION OF OUR LORD
Synopsis
Introduction
Today's readings describe the Ascension of the Lord Jesus into his heavenly glory after promising his disciples the Holy Spirit as their Source of heavenly power, and after commanding them to bear witness to him by their lives and preaching throughout the world. But the ascended Jesus is still with us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and of the Father and Jesus as he has promised,"I am with you always; yes, to the end of time." Today's feast is a celebration of Jesus' glory after his suffering and death – a glory in which we also hope to share.
The scripture lessons
The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, describes the scene of Jesus' Ascension, his promise of the Holy Spirit, his instruction to the apostles to wait in Jerusalem for the power from above and the missionary command to his apostles to bear witness to him. In the second reading, St. Paul amplifies this message, saying,"May God enlighten the eyes of our heart so that we may know the great hope to which we have been called." Paul teaches us that God revealed His might in the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and in his exaltation over all angelic forces. He remains accessible to us now in the life-giving Holy Spirit. Today's Gospel tells us that, with his return to the Father, Jesus completed his mission on earth. But just before his Ascension, he entrusted to his disciples the mission of preaching and teaching the Good News and evangelizing the whole world by bearing witness to him through their lives. In the descriptions of Christ after his Resurrection, we are given a hint of what life will be like in Heaven. But it is in his Ascension that we see him entering fully into the Life and Glory of God. The prospect of sharing in that glory should be the driving force of our lives.
Life messages
1)We need to be proclaimers and evangelizers:To be a Christian is to be a proclaimer and an evangelizer. There is a difference between preaching and proclaiming. We preach with words, but we proclaim with our lives. Let us ask the guidance of the Holy Spirit to bear witness to Jesus by our transparent Christian lives.
2)We have a teaching mission: Jesus taught us lessons of Faith, Hope, Love, forgiveness, mercy and salvation by his life and preaching and gave us the mission to teach these to others. Hence, let us learn about Jesus and his teachings by our daily study of the Bible and the teachings of the Church, experience him in personal prayer, reception of the sacraments and works of charity, and convey Jesus whom we have experienced to others with the help of the Holy Spirit.
3)The ascended Jesus is our source of strength and encouragement:We will be able to overcome doubts about our Faith and baseless fears, anxieties and worries by meditating on Jesus' Ascension and the lesson it teaches – that we, too, are called to share his glory in Heaven.
ASCENSION OF OUR LORD (ACTS 1: 1-11; EPHESIANS 1: 17-23; MATTHEW 28: 16-20)

Anecdote
1:Solar Power:One of the national coordinators of Sun Day, held early in May every year, is Denis Hayes. He worked as researcher at a Washington D.C. 'think-tank' and has written a book on solar energy entitled Rays of Hope: The Transition to a Post-Petroleum World. Hayes claims that we are at the crossroads of making a critical choice for mankind – the choice between going solar or going nuclear for a power source. Hayes opts for the sun because it is "the world's only inexhaustible, predictable, egalitarian, non-polluting, safe, terrorist-resistant and free energy source." We've already learned to use the power of the sun to grow food, make wine and operate greenhouses. All we need to do is develop better technology to harness solar energy to heat houses, drive our cars and run our industry. People like Hayes are looking at the sky with its sun as the main source of our future energy supply. Today we turn our attention to the sky for another reason – to commemorate our Lord's Ascension into heaven. In the first reading, from Acts, Jesus makes a promise: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes down on you." That Spirit is the power source that can give all the energy we need to live our lives to the full. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds).
2:"Is this thing working?"There is the funny story of the raw army recruit standing at attention on the drill field. The drill instructor yells,"Forward, march!"And the entire ranks begin to move, all except this one raw recruit. He's still standing there at attention. So the drill instructor strolls over to him and yells in his right ear,"Is this thing working?""Sir, yes, sir!"The recruit yells.
Then the drill instructor walks around to the other ear and yells,"Is this thing working?""Sir, yes, sir!"The soldier says."Then why didn't you march when I gave the order?""Sir, I didn't hear you call my name."Some of us are like that soldier, standing around waiting for God to call our names. But the great commission given by Jesus on the day of his Ascension is a blanket order. It has everyone's name on it. And you can be sure that the man in charge says,"Go! Make disciples! Teach!" It is your mission and my mission.
3:"I have no other plan -- it must work."A beautiful old story tells of how Jesus, after his Ascension into Heaven, was surrounded by the Holy Angels who began to enquire about his work on earth. Jesus told them about His birth, life, preaching, death and resurrection, and how he had accomplished the salvation of the world. The angel Gabriel asked, "Well, now that you are back in Heaven, who will continue your work on earth?" Jesus said,"While I was on earth, I gathered a group of people around me who believed in me and loved me. They will continue to spread the Gospel and carry on the work of the Church." Gabriel was perplexed. "You mean Peter, who denied you thrice and all the rest who ran away when you were crucified? You mean to tell us that you left them to carry on your work? And what will you do if this plan doesn't work?" Jesus said,"I have no other plan -- it must work."Truly, Jesus has no other plan than to depend on the efforts of his followers!
Source:http://cbci.in/Sunday-Reflections.aspx&sa=U&ei=ri6LU6HdG8S7PfuxgIAL&ved=0CCYQFjAD&sig2=ETBKWiZOIvnKTKK0B6BMkg&usg=AFQjCNGeSxSoUYC_4li-vXeb2y4N6Mj6Jg