FRIDAY EVENING MASS HOMILY – FATHER ANTHONY 

Right after the Consecration, the Holy Spirit is working through us and remembering that we draw from the Jewish people from the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit remembers with us the act of redemption. Every year the Jewish people call to mind the Passover. We recall in the Mass the act of redemption made present to us. This saving action is made actual and saving for you. The Easter season will be over at Pentecost. Before we end the Easter season, the Ascension is an important part of the Paschal season. 

"Do this in remembrance of Me". You are calling to mind the whole action of your redemption. What do you remember of our redemption – death and crucifixion of our Lord. Everything that Jesus did for our salvation to free us from sin in tying it with the Old Covenant, I am tying it in with the New Covenant.

Jesus crossed into Heaven. Jesus never left the side of His Father while He was on earth. The Trinity is never separated. Jesus is always united in Heaven with His Father the Spirit. Jesus is present among us, and He is living in Heaven and earth, constantly present with us. The Ascension is a promise of hope for us. "Follow Me".  Our hope and promise is that we will enter Heaven for eternity. Our hearts and heads have to be in Heaven while our feet are on the ground. The Ascension is part of the Paschal season. The joy that comes from the Ascension and the Resurrection renews our whole life.

SATURDAY MORNING MASS HOMILY – FATHER JOSEPH 

Jesus taking our humanity into Heaven opened up Paradise for us. Jesus' work would not end with the Ascension. Now it will continue with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that it was better that He go. It is so the Holy Spirit could come. He will be present in the body, the Church, and in the hearts of everyone who is baptized. Tomorrow we will celebrate Pentecost. We will celebrate a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Apostles with Mary prayed constantly for the gift that Jesus would send – the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Look at all the gifts that God has given us: the gift of this Mass, the gift of life, the gift of the Holy Spirit, etc. A sign and reality of God's love for us is that He gives us all these gifts. God cannot give the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who choose a life of sin. St. Paul said in the Letter to the Galatians that the desires of the flesh are against the Holy Spirit, and the desires of the Holy Spirit are against the desires of the flesh. We feel that tension of the sin of our first parents which we inherited.

In Galatians St. Paul lists the works of the flesh which are evil things. The Fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It is up to us to choose which of these groups we will live. We live in that life with that tension within us, but beginning again and renewing our contrition within us. Then we will see the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

We all have to grow, but we can see evidence of these things and fruits of the Spirit in our lives, and we can give thanks to God for what He has given us. We need to examine our conscience every day and turn away from our sins more and more. We cannot remain there, but we have to struggle more. Thank God for everything.
Father asked that the Holy Spirit come anew in our lives, that the fruits of the Holy Spirit come into our lives. He is the Sanctifier. We all need to grow in virtue. We need this Sanctifier. Let us do what the Apostles did this last day before Pentecost. Let us join with Mary in prayer. She knew the Holy Spirit prior to Pentecost. The Apostles recognized in Mary not only the physical resemblance of the Lord but the spiritual resemblance of the Lord. We pray that Mary will intercede for us with the Holy Spirit. 

SATURDAY MORNING INSTRUCTION – DEACON MARK 

Deacon Mark quoted passages from the Bible related to prayer. He said, in relating to these scripture passages, that what the Lord is telling us is how much more will our Heavenly Father give us if we persist in our prayers. Pray always without becoming weary. We are incomplete without God. His grace penetrates us, raises our nature, and makes us who we are to be. We are beggars.

Deacon Mark said that his life started to turn around when he started to pray. All we do stems from a prayer life. St. John of the Cross said that one simple act of pure love is better than the greatest preaching. He used Mother Angelica as an example. This is the Year of the Rosary. We should be praying for peace, and we can pray four rosaries in a day.  In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, there is a whole section to life in prayer. There is vocal prayer, meditative prayer and contemplation. Father then started to explain each type of prayer. (His talk was then interrupted with an announcement of a meeting with Mother Angelica).     

HEALING SERVICE –DEACON MARK  
 
Deacon Mark read the beatitudes. A meditation – We are empty and then we are filled with God.
"He must increase; I must decrease." Sanctification is that we are small and we are being filled by God. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are needed to live this life of the beatitudes. We do not strive to be like Christ; we strive to be Christ.

What is meditation? How is contemplation different from meditation? Meditation is we are doing the work. Contemplation is when God moves in and gives to us and infuses in us an awareness of His presence. 

Meditation is a quest, to confront whatever we are meditating on and make it our own. If you want to grow in your prayer life, you have to live Scripture generously by obeying the ten commandments and loving your neighbor. Lord, what do You want me to do? Vocal prayer engages our body; meditation engages our interior life and engages our thoughts, imagination and desire.    

A quick method of meditation: It is just about thinking, conversely with the Lord, aims to become more and more intimate like a conversation between two friends. Not to think much, but to love much is the goal.

The way to meditate is to: 

1) Find a suitable time and place, turn down some of the noise in your life, and mortify some things in  your life;
2) To notice His presence – placing yourself in the presence of the Lord; 
3) Say slowly some vocal prayer, i.e., Our Father, Hail Mary, or Glory Be;
4) Input – subject material on what you will meditate on;    
5) Pondering a passage, apply to yourself, and talk it over with the Lord. Be simple; be yourself – heart of meditation. Only I can glorify Our Lord in a certain way and bring it in union with Him.
Adoration, praising, repenting, thanking, asking.  Psalm 46 says: "Be still and know that I am           God."
6) Make a concrete resolution – there must be a change for the better in your growth in prayer.

St. Theresa of Avila said that if a person has meditation and growth in prayer, mortal sin cannot exist in that person.