Welcome back to our time each day to reflect on the Gospels. What a beautiful time it is, a chance to reflect on the Word of God, allow the Word of God to-- to penetrate our hearts, soften our hearts. They do get hard, don't they? Today is the solemnity of the Ascension. The reading comes from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, verses 46 through 53, which is the very end of Luke's Gospel. "And Jesus said to His disciples, 'Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning with Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things, and behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.' Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple, blessing God." It's amazing reading. If you imagine yourself there, these disciples, they've spent these three years with Jesus. They saw him die. They saw him rise from the dead. They've seen him appear in different people. They've heard stories of him appearing to other people. And now he's leaving them.

But just think about this last bit. Lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. Imagine what it was like for Jesus to lift up his hands and bless them. Imagine the power in that moment when someone who's really striving to live the Christian life prays over you, lays their hands on you and prays over you with great intention. That there's power there, right? When you go to Rome and you see the pope, and he comes by, and he blesses you that there's power there. But this is Jesus. This is the Lord of the universe, the alpha and the omega. And lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And that blessing changed them. It says they went back to Jerusalem with great joy and continued to bless God in the temple. How is God trying to bless you today? And how open are you to it? Or are you resisting it? Imagine Jesus raising up his hand to bless you and-- and someone saying, "Ah, no, thanks, Jesus." It's ludicrous, right [laughter]? It is ludicrous. But we do it. We do it all the time. God raises up His hand to bless us, and we're like, "No, thanks, God. I prefer my selfishness. I prefer my pride. I prefer my greed. I prefer my lust. I prefer my sloth. I prefer my gluttony." We love our sin sometimes, right? And God raises up His hand to bless us, and we're like, "No, thanks, God." And that's tragedy. That's ludicrous. We gotta fix that. God wants to raise up His hand and bless you today. Open your heart. Open your mind. Open your soul. Be open. Have a great day. And remember, be bold, be Catholic.