MAY 29, 2025 – ASCENSION THURSDAY. & ST. CYRIL, MARTYR.

• Ascension of Our Lord. (Current, Traditional)
• Sr. Maximus of Trier (370). Bishop. (Historical)
• St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi (1607). Religious, Virgin. (Traditional)

THE ASCENSION.

THE mystery which the Church honors on this day is at the same time that of the triumph of Jesus Christ and the hallowed hope of His disciples. The Saviour, after having accomplished His mission on earth, ascends to heaven to put His manhood in possession of the glory due to it, and to prepare for us an abiding-place. He ascends thither as our King, Liberator, Chief, and Mediator. Our King, because He has purchased us at the cost of His blood; our Liberator, because He has conquered death and sin, and has ransomed us from the thralldom of Satan; our Chief, because He wishes that we should follow in His footsteps, and that we should be where He is, even as He has Himself declared; our Mediator, because we can have access to the Father only through Him. He ascends thither as our High Priest, in order to offer unceasingly to God the blood which He has shed for us in His character of man, and to obtain for us through the merits of His sacrifice the remission of our sins.

Let us, then, by means of faith, follow Him in His ascension to heaven, and abide there henceforth in heart and spirit. Let us remember that heaven is wholly ours, as our inheritance; and amid the temptations and miseries of this life, let us think often of this home of peace, of glory, and bliss eternal. We must not flatter ourselves, however, that, without earnest efforts on our part, we shall have any share in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. There are many mansions in the house of our heavenly Father, but there are not many roads leading thither. Jesus Christ has traced out for us the way of humiliation and suffering, and it is the only one that conducts to eternal peace. If the hardships of the journey and the sight of our own weakness strike us with dread, we should gather energy by leaning on the promises of the God-Man. He will be with us even unto the end, and if we love Him, all will become easy.

REFLECTION: Let us cherish hope: “Christ being come, a High Priest of the good things to come, hath entered into the holy of holies, by His own blood having obtained eternal redemption.

ST. CYRIL, MARTYR.

ST. CYRIL suffered while still a boy at Cæsarea, in Cappadocia, during the persecutions of the third century. He used to repeat the name of Christ at all times, and confessed that the mere utterance of this name moved him strangely. He was beaten and reviled by his heathen father. But he bore all this with joy, increasing in the strength of Christ, who dwelt within him, and drawing many of his own age to the imitation of his heavenly life.’ When his father in his fury turned him out of doors, he said he had lost little, and would receive a great recompense instead. Soon after, he was brought before the magistrate on account of his faith. No threats could make him show a sign of fear, and the judge, pitying perhaps his tender years, offered him his freedom, assured him of his father’s forgiveness, and besought him to return to his home and inheritance. But the blessed youth replied, “I left my home gladly, for I have a greater and a better which is waiting for me.” He was filled with the same heavenly desires to the end. He was taken to the fire as if for execution, and was then brought back and reexamined, but he only protested against the cruel delay. Led out to die, he hurried on the executioners, gazed unmoved at the flames which were kindled for him, and expired, hastening, as he said, to his home.

REFLECTION: Ask our Lord to make all earthly joy insipid, and to fill you with the constant desire of heaven. This desire will make labor easy and suffering light. It will make you fervent and detached, and bring you even here a foretaste of that eternal joy and peace to which you are hastening.

WORD OF THE DAY

JUSTICE. As a virtue, it is the constant and permanent determination to give everyone his or her rightful due. It is a habitual inclination of the will and therefore always recognizes each one’s rights, under any and all circumstances. The rights in question are whatever belongs to a person as an individual who is distinct from the one who practices justice. The essence of justice, then, as compared with charity, consists in the distinction between a person and his or her neighbor; whereas charity is based on the union existing between the one who loves and the person loved so that the practice of charity regards the neighbor as another self.

Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)

EASTER MEDITATIONS

Enjoy daily meditations this Easter from Fr. Richard Clarke, SJ. Short and powerful, written in 1880 for busy lay people to reap rewards through Eastertide: 40 — The Return to Jerusalem.

May, Month of the Immaculate Heart

Maria Magnificata. Short Meditations for May, the Month on Our Lady’s Life. 29th Day — Mary’s Death.

This article, MAY 29, 2025 – ASCENSION THURSDAY. & ST. CYRIL, MARTYR. is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
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