MEDITATION is a way of deep praying. Through the silence, it helps you understand yourself and leads you into the presence of God.

Come and learn this silent form of prayer - prayer of the heart.

The St Anne's group meets 7:00 PM every Tuesday in the sanctuary. Come a little earlier to quiet down.

Praying for our children and children of the world.  This group meets at the St. Anne's Parish Hall (1/F) --

Every TUESDAY at 10:45AM (Cantonese)

 Every WEDNESDAY at 10:30AM and 6:00PM (Bilingual)

Nowadays, we see various systematic and concerted efforts from secular society to erase God from the lives of the people. Secular governments all over the world are becoming more and more bold in their attempts to put God away from public life and curtail religious freedom. It is a blatant and deliberate attempt to take away the Christian faith from us. We have to be very vigilant. Faith is a gift from God, and it could be totally lost. Losing our faith is very disastrous to our soul.

In our relationship with God, there are three theological virtues: Faith, Hope and Love. St. Paul said that these are the three things that last. And the greatest among them is love. St. Thomas Aquinas added some qualification to that statement. He said that in the order of dignity, it is true that love is the greatest. But how can we love God when we do not know Him? Nothing is desired unless it is known beforehand. It is faith that helps us to know God. And we can love God only if we know Him. So, in the order of knowledge, faith comes first. Losing our faith, therefore, means to lose our means to know God, making it impossible to love Him.

The Gospel this Sunday gives us the story about two miracles done by Jesus: the healing of a woman who was hemorrhaging for twelve years, and the raising back to life of a twelve-year old girl, the daughter of Jairus.

The woman touched the garment of Jesus, uttering to herself: "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." And in the second instance, Jesus made sure Jairus had faith in him: "Do not be afraid. Just have faith." It is faith that moves the hand of God to do wondrous deeds. It is not the other way around. Some people think that for them to have faith, they need to witness a miracle. "To see is to believe", they say. That is wrong. As the Gospels clearly illustrate, one has to have faith first, and this faith will produce miracles: "Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move.' Nothing will be impossible for you" (Mt 17:20).

Let us, therefore, examine our faith. Every Sunday at Mass we recite the Creed. It contains all the most important and fundamental truths of our faith revealed to us by God. If we believe in something, which is contrary to any of these truths, we are committing sin against faith. It is truly important to know and study the doctrines of our faith as taught to us by the Church since the beginning. Knowing them, we must also adhere and hold on to them with firm belief and conviction.

And secondly, trusting more in one's self, in other persons and things rather than in God is definitely wrong. Trusting in our own intelligence and powers, or relying solely on money or in other persons, totally disregarding God's providence, are sins against faith. We must trust in God over and above everything in this world. We are truly blessed and fortunate that, despite our unworthiness, God granted us the gift of faith. We are duty bound to protect and defend it, and to make sure it is nurtured through study and prayer. And most importantly, God expects us to share our faith with others. The more we share it, the stronger it becomes.

As followers of Christ, it is our duty and our mission to share and spread our faith and thereby fulfill his command: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15).

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm. 

"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" This is not a simple and innocuous question from the disciples. It is actually an accusation and a judgment: "Do you not care?" When does Jesus not care? In His public ministry, Jesus has shown quite clearly and abundantly His care, compassion and love for everyone, especially for the poor, the weak, and the sick.

In the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus gives us two parables of the seeds to describe the reign of God. The first is the Parable of the Growing Seeds. It tells us that God's kingdom, like the seed, will definitely come, regardless of any human intervention. The second is the Parable of the Mustard Seed, "the smallest of all the seeds on the earth." Yet when it is sown, it grows and become the largest of plants. Why did Jesus use the image of the seed in these parables? Certainly, the seed has significant qualities that will help us understand the mystery of the kingdom of God.

First, the seed is small and, in the eyes of most people, insignificant. Only farmers truly appreciate its value. In the parable of the Sower, Jesus pictured God as the farmer who sowed seeds on the ground. And that is precisely how God works – always from humble and small beginnings.

This teaches us the lesson on humility and littleness. Fallen human nature tends to seek for recognition and appreciation. Hence, people aspire to become big – rich, famous, and powerful. But experience tells us that this is not the way to true greatness and happiness. The seed is a reminder that being little does not mean being powerless or insignificant. In fact, as shown by the example of God, it is the way to true greatness. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "A great man is always willing to be little." In other words, it takes a lot of greatness to become little. The way of God is humility; the way of the devil is pride.

Second, the seed grows slowly. It follows the process of nature, which is gradual and slow. There is no shortcut to growth and development. This is the way the Kingdom of God unfolds. Unfortunately, many people nowadays do not subscribe to this truth anymore. Being used to the comforts and convenience in this age of technology, they think that success can be achieved quickly and easily. Everybody is in a hurry and impatient. They hate to wait. But the seed teaches us that the way to greatness and success is a long and painstaking process.

Third, the seed is totally dependent, not on the power of any human being, but on the providence of God. It is God who supplies the minerals and nutrients in the soil, and sends sunshine and rainfall on the seed until it grows and bears fruits. Again, this truth does not resonate with many people nowadays. Progress in the fields of technology and science has made people think they can be self-sufficient, and can now conveniently put God aside. Pope Benedict XVI made this apt observation: "The crisis we are living through carries with it signs of the exclusion of God from people's lives, a general indifference to the Christian faith, and even the intention of marginalizing it from public life."

Finally, the seed, though nurtured by nature and God's providence, still needs the caring hands of the farmer. God seldom operates directly in the affairs of the world. As a rule, He always uses the instrumentality of human beings who cooperate in His plan to bring about His Kingdom in the world. God gives only the seeds of peace, progress and salvation. And He expects us to plant and nurture them to full fruition. This we do by faithfully obeying His will.

Ultimately, it is God who brings about His kingdom, and He invites us to join Him in building it here on earth until it reaches perfection and fullness in heaven.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm. 

I'd like to let you know that I will be stepping down as the Music Ministry Coordinator in September. It will have been 15 years since I started as coordinator, and it is time for me to let someone else take up the post. The main responsibilities are coordination and communication, setting the schedule, and selecting the music.

Please let me know (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) if you are interested to do this, or if you would like to nominate someone who you think would be good for the role. 

Today we celebrate not only the gift of the Eucharist, the Body, and Blood of Our Lord, but the covenant sealed through Our Lord's Precious Blood.

In today's First Reading the old covenant that the Lord established with the people of Israel is sealed with the blood of a sacrifice.

The old covenant involved the shedding and sprinkling of blood. The altar represented God, and by sprinkling the blood on it and the people a communion of life was established that would be maintained for as long as they followed the precepts stipulated.

The Lord didn't need to do it, but, after the sins of humanity, the people of Israel did. That covenant was repeatedly renewed in Jewish worship through the sacrifice of animals and the shedding of their blood, with the hope of atoning for having transgressed the covenant.

This covenant and the sacrificed blood that sealed were just a foreshadowing of the covenant to come.

When God became man, he chose to become that sacrifice, to shed his blood to establish a new and everlasting covenant. If the blood of animals produced a spiritual benefit for those who were offering it, today's Second Reading reminds us how much more spiritual benefit comes from the blood of Christ, who sacrificed himself for the sins of the world.

Moses in the First Reading ratified the covenant with the blood of bulls; the Second Reading reminds us that Jesus has ratified the new covenant with his blood. It's one thing to sacrifice something of value and make amends; it's a whole other level to sacrifice your very self, body, and blood.

In ancient religions sacrifices were made and then partaken of, eating the food or animal sacrificed, to express communion with the deity to which the sacrifice was being made.

In today's Gospel, we see Our Lord in the Last Supper establishing a new and eternal covenant that would be sealed with his sacrifice on the Cross.

Our Lord established the sacrament of his Eucharist in an unbloody way, at the Last Supper, enabling his disciples to partake of his body and blood sacramentally so that they wouldn't have to physically.

However, that didn't preclude Our Lord from physically sacrificing himself on the Cross. We celebrate today the Body and Blood of Christ because they are now the one sacrifice to restore and maintain our communion with God.

We offer and receive this sacrifice in an unbloody manner, under the appearance of bread and wine, in part because Our Lord didn't want our squeamishness to keep us from coming to him as the Bread of Life.

We remember today that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ so that we never forget that a sacrifice has been made once and for all the forgiveness of sins: our sins, not his. 

We are well aware of the fact that nourishment is an expression of love. A mother nursing her baby is a vivid picture of this. Such is also the essence of the Eucharist, the sacrament of love. God so loved us that He gave His only Son, Jesus, who became man and offered his life on the cross for our salvation. But Jesus did not stop there. He went further as to give his own flesh and blood for our eternal nourishment: "For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him" (Jn 6:55-56). "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (Jn 6:54).

This Sunday, as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, the Feast of the Eucharist, let us examine our understanding and attitude towards this most august sacrament. We can discuss so many issues concerning the Eucharist. But we cannot tackle them all in one homily. Suffice it to say, however, that the Mass is not just a meal, or a fellowship, or an entertainment presentation. Rather, the Mass is the one eternal sacrifice of Jesus that he offers to the heavenly Father in atonement for our sins. From this, let me share with you two major considerations that will hopefully help us improve our understanding of and devotion to the Eucharist.

First, the Mass is all about God. It is never about the priest, or the choir, or the sponsors, or any human being. How many times have we clapped our hands during Mass for a "nice" homily, for a splendid "performance" of a choir or for the generous donors and sponsors? How many times have we heard people remark that they like to go to this or that church because it is there that they enjoyed the Mass? For many people, the Mass is not about God but about them – they expect to be entertained, and to get something from it. If not, they leave and look for another church where they will "enjoy" and have "fun"! This is a terrible mistake!

The Mass is never about us; it is all about God! We come to Mass to worship, glorify and praise God – nothing else! Whether we enjoy or not, it is not the point. After all, as Pope Benedict XVI said, "Liturgy is not a matter of 'what you please'." (Ibid., p. 22). For, indeed, liturgy is all about pleasing God. Hence, "Looking at the priest has no importance. What matters is looking together at the Lord." (Ibid., p.81).

The second point: The Mass is all about giving. Failure to consider the Mass as the sacrifice of Jesus being offered to the heavenly Father gives rise to the belief that we go to Mass primarily to get something from God. While the Mass is all about giving – Jesus giving himself totally to God in sacrifice so that we may be forgiven and saved – many people who come to Mass only think of getting. This is truly absurd! No wonder they find the Mass oftentimes meaningless and fruitless – for they have totally missed the whole point.

The Mass is about giving everything to God, about offering our whole selves as we join in the sacrificial offering of Jesus. It is all about dying to self. During consecration, Jesus really dies, and we also should die with him. Then, and only then, can he raise us up to new life when we receive his Body and Blood in Holy Communion.

Obviously, then, the reason why many of us do not anymore find meaning in the celebration of Holy Mass is because we have become too self- centered. We have totally lost our focus on God, Who, by the way, is the real essence of the Mass. So, next time we come to Mass, think only about God – focus on Him, first and foremost!

And make sure we bring something that we can offer to God – not only our surplus, but everything: our crosses, our sacrifices, and our whole selves – and join Jesus in his sacrificial offering. Then, and only then, will the Mass become for us truly alive, profoundly meaningful and eternally fruitful.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm. 

As this is almost the end of the school year, I'd like to take this chance to thank all the members of the music ministry who volunteered their service and talents this year. In particular, thanks to Jam General and Winnie Pun for helping choose the music line-ups, and to Oliver Wong, Haeju Gallagher, Hubie Lem, Agnes Lee, and Jaye Oh for their keyboard accompaniment. Thanks also to Fernanda da Rosa and Jaye Oh for their initiative and guidance for the choir competition in November, singing the Angel's Carol. What a good effort and result! I know this has been a difficult year for everyone, with church closures and pandemic restrictions, and I would like to thank you all for your good will during this unusual time. 

In the Catechism, we have more wisdom about God and the world than the very wisest person who lived before Christ.

Before Christ, wise and self-disciplined people learned about God from the outside - from reflecting on the beauties of creation, for example, or thinking about human experience philosophically.

This is what the great religious thinkers of antiquity did - Buddha, Zoroaster, Plato and Aristotle... They dedicated themselves to looking at God from the outside. And they learned a lot.

There is a lot of truth in what they discovered, just as there would be a lot of truth in what a police agent would discover about you or me if he put us under surveillance for a while.

But if we were to sit down with that agent and honestly tell him everything he wanted to know about ourselves, he would make much more progress much more quickly.

And that's what God has done through Jesus Christ. He wasn't satisfied with being known partially and doubtfully, the only way our external human efforts could lead us to him.

He wanted to let us into his heart, to reveal himself to us, to show and tell us about his nature, essence, thoughts, and desires. He has given us the inside story about himself. This story is told in the Bible, and it is explained in the Catechism. Through our faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit enables us not just to know about God, the way we know about someone through a magazine article, but to know God, the way we know a friend.

And what is the central characteristic that we discover about God?" That he is dynamic, personal, and involved in our lives - in short, that he is a Trinity: one divine nature, and three divine Persons.

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity Becomes a House of God

No one understood this better than Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity. She grew up in France in the late 1800's, the daughter of a successful military officer who died of a heart attack while she was still only a girl.

She was an extremely strong-willed and temperamental child. Her frequent fits of rage were almost uncontrollable, and she was known as the "little devil." This began to change after her first Communion, when she was eleven. That afternoon she met for the first time the prioress of the nearby Carmelite convent.

The nun explained that the girl's name, Elizabeth, meant "house of God," and wrote her a note that said: "Your blessed name hides a mystery, accomplished on this great day. Child, your heart is the House of God on earth, of the God of love." From then on, recognizing that God had taken up residence in her soul, she waged a holy war against her violent temper.

She didn't win overnight, but she did win, eventually, and she also discovered her vocation to become a Carmelite herself. Her mother didn't like the idea, however, and made her wait until she was twenty-one.

She won friends of all ages during these years of waiting, singing in the parish choirs, arranging parish day-care service for families that worked in the local tobacco factory, and also winning several prizes for her skill at the piano.

She died only five years after entering the convent, at the age of 26, after having suffered horribly for months from an extremely painful disease of the kidneys. But her realization that the Blessed Trinity dwelt within her enabled her to suffer with patience and even with joy.

As she wrote to her mother: "The bride belongs to the bridegroom, and mine has taken me. [Jesus] wants me to be another humanity for him in which he can still suffer for the glory of his Father, to help the needs of his Church: this thought has done me so much good." St. Elizabeth of the Trinity had discovered the intimate, loving presence of God that he so eagerly wants to reveal to all of us.

Listening to God's Voice in Nature

God wants us to get to know him, because he knows that the happiness we long for can only come from living in friendship with him.

When we experience stress, anxiety, exhaustion, and depression, it can be a sign that we have lost touch with God's Word, that we have lost sight of his goodness, that we aren't taking good care of this friendship.

Daily prayer, both as individuals and as families; reflective reading of the sacred Scriptures; regular and faith-filled reception of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and confession: these are the most important ways to stay in touch, to continue letting God speak to our hearts and reveal himself to us.

But today's Psalm also reminds us of another way. It tells us that "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made..." In other words, all of God's creation is, in some sense, a revelation, just as the works of an artist are a window into his personality. In the wonders of nature God is whispering to our hearts, inviting us to admire his goodness and to fall in love with his beauty.

The more we listen to those whispers, and the more often we accept that invitation, the wiser we become, the more God's love penetrates our yearning hearts. St Patrick discovered the goodness and power of God when he worked for six years as a slave, tending his master's flocks on the hills and forests of Ireland. King David had a similar experience.

Simple, balanced contact with nature, through healthy recreation, a family garden, family trips to the park, and maybe even an annual family pilgrimage to a beautiful shrine...

This too can help remind our hearts that they are loved by a God whose very essence is a dynamic relationship of love, and who is also our true and perfect Father. 

We cannot say this about the Most Holy Trinity. We will never fully understand this most profound and unfathomable mystery. We are grateful, however, that Jesus Christ, the Incarnate God, revealed this mystery to us. Otherwise, we would not have any idea about this sublime truth.

Through Jesus Christ, God revealed to us His innermost secret about Himself. God is one, but He is not alone. He is a family of three Divine Persons: The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These are three absolutely distinct Persons, but only one God. How did this happen? That is precisely the greatest mystery, which we can never fully fathom with our limited minds. The Catechism of the Catholic Church said: "By sending His only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed His innermost secret: God Himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and He has destined us to share in that exchange."

The first thing we should therefore ask is: Why did God tell us about His innermost secret? It is because He is inviting us to a more intimate relationship with Him. In other words, God made Himself known to us so that we can be made sharers in His family of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus, we have all become children of God, and sharers of His divine family. And how do we fully participate in this divine family?

There is only one word that can somehow describe God: love. God is love. The only reason why the three Divine Persons, though distinct from each other, are perfectly united as only one God is because God is love. We all know by experience that love always unites. It is the bond that unites us, first and foremost, to God. The Apostle John points this out quite clearly in his first Letter: "God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him" (1 Jn 4:16b).

The only way to become sharers in the divine life of God, the family of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, is to love. In love, we become one with God, and only then do we find complete happiness.

Furthermore, if we truly love, not only are we made sharers in the divine family, but we must also become one big human family. The key to our unity as brothers and sisters is love. Again, St. John has this to say: "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another" (1 Jn 4:11). "If anyone says 'I love God' but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother" (1Jn 4:20-21). Imagine a world where everyone loves each other. There will be no more wars, no more crimes, and no more hungry people. Everyone will serve and care for one another. That is heaven even on earth.

The solemnity we celebrate this Sunday is a reminder to us that the Most Holy Trinity is not just an unfathomable mystery, which makes us gape in awe and wonder. Neither is it a mere doctrine of faith, which we have to profess and believe in. Rather, it reminds us that the Holy Trinity is the way of life of God. And the best news is that God invites us all to share in this way of life. This way of life is love.

It is true that the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is impossible for us to fully understand. But we are not expected to understand this mystery anyway. Rather, we are called to live it. And, in fact, we are expected to live it, for to love is the most vivid mark of every Christian. Jesus said: "By this shall all men know you as my disciples: your love for one another."

Every time we make the sign of the cross, let us renew our faith in the One God and three Divine Persons. Let us also renew our commitment to live the life of the Trinity by loving one another as His children.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm. 

After forty days of being with the disciples after his Resurrection, which we have celebrated during these forty days of the Easter season, Jesus has crossed into Heaven to take his place at the Father's right hand, as the prophecies foretold for the Messiah. The Father has crowned him with the glory he merited by his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, and in turn, he is eternally asking the Father for each of us–by name–to receive the graces we need to join him one day in eternity and to help others get there too.

In today's First Reading Saint Luke recalls why he decided to make his writings a two-volume set. The work of salvation is not done until everyone has an opportunity to be saved.

The Lord's Ascension is just as important for the Church as his Incarnation, Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Like the disciples in today's First Reading, we are awaiting the Lord's return in glory, but we also know that in Ascending to Heaven, he is not just sitting up there on his hands.

He and the Father are preparing to send the Holy Spirit to his Church, just as we await on Pentecost Sunday a week and a half from now, and then our part in his saving work goes into high gear, as attested to by the Acts of the Apostles. Our Lord also speaks on our behalf to the Father for all eternity, interceding for us. We need the whole Trinity's help in fulfilling our mission throughout history: to help Our Lord in Heaven to continue his saving work on earth.

In today's Second Reading, St. Paul reminds what Our Lord won through his victory over sin and death. The Lord returns to Heaven in glory for what he suffered and endured for us. Taking his place at the Father's right hand is taking the highest place of honor next to the Father's, not only as his Son but as his Son, who has pleased him.

Our Lord does not just receive glory. He receives a reward as well. Even as he was preparing to ascend, he told his disciples that all authority had been given to him by his Father (see Matthew 28:18). He doesn't just rest on his laurels. He puts that influence to work for us and our efforts to help share his Gospel with the whole world.

In today's Gospel Our Lord imparts a blessing even as he is taken up into Heaven. He doesn't stop imparting blessings, even today. In a little over a week, he'll impart once again the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

The Easter season is longer than any other season except for Ordinary Time, and before his Ascension, the days he spent, risen from the dead, were some of the most precious on earth for his faithful disciples. It was quality time just for them.

He's looking forward to spending that quality time with us in Heaven, and from eternity he is doing everything in his power to make sure that happens. As the Easter season nears its conclusion in ten days, we too should be rejoicing as we recall all the blessings he has imparted to us during these forty days. We should also rejoice over the blessings to come.

This Sunday, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. We profess our faith in this glorious mystery when we say in the Nicene Creed: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. We believe that Jesus' earthly life reached its culmination when He passed from this world to the Father. He no longer belongs to the world of corruption and death that conditions our earthly life. He passed into the glorified state in God.

It is important to understand that the Ascension does not mean that Jesus has departed from us. He has not abandoned us or left us orphans. Otherwise, after the Ascension, the disciples would not have returned to Jerusalem with great joy, as Saint Luke tells us (24:52). He is close to each one of us forever. Recall the words of Jesus at the end of Matthew's Gospel: And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age (Matthew 28:19).

With His Ascension into heaven, the Lord Jesus is now present to us in a new way. On the eve of His Passion, Jesus had told the apostles that it was to their advantage that He go away. He said: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you: but if I go, I will send Him to you" (John 16:7). Though Jesus' earthly and visible presence in the world ends, He remains with us in an invisible way. He has not left us alone. He is always close to us.

Christ sends us the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, Christ continues to be with us, sanctifying us and giving us life. He acts through the Holy Spirit in the Church and in our souls. He guides us and leads us to the Father. Christ, the Head, is never separated from His Body, the Church. He entered heaven as our Head.Pope Saint Leo the Great taught that at the Ascension, the glory of the Head became the hope of the Body. This is very true: because Christ has ascended to the Father to prepare a place for us, we have hope of eternal life with Him in heaven.

Exalted at the right hand of the Father, Christ intercedes for us with the Father. He is our eternal High Priest, our Mediator with the Father. As the letter to the Hebrews says: He always lives to make intercession for them (7:25). He communicates to us His Body, the Church, the grace and strength to live in Him. Because of Christ's intercession with the Father, we are able to grow in holiness.

Jesus is present to us in His word and in the sacraments. Jesus is visibly present in the Church in "a sacramental manner." We think especially of His presence in the Holy Eucharist. In the Eucharist, we participate in the new life of Christ's Body glorified by the Spirit. Christ's holy Body and Blood is our food on our journey to the Father's house.

Another important truth about the mystery of the Ascension concerns our own journey to the Father's house. There, Jesus said, He has gone to prepare a place for us. He waits for us. When He ascended into heaven, Jesus took our humanity to God and He opened the path for us to heavenly glory. He united humanity with God forever.

As we meditate on the mystery of Our Lord's Ascension, we also remember His words to the disciples immediately before His Ascension. He not only promises the Holy Spirit, He commands the disciples to go forth as missionaries to the world. He gives them the charge of evangelization. He then gives them the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this mission.

The Ascension does not point to Jesus' absence, but tells us that He is alive in our midst in a new way. He is no longer in a specific place in the world as He was before the Ascension. He is now in the lordship of God, present in every space and time, close to each one of us. In our life we are never alone: we have this Advocate who awaits us, who defends us. We are never alone: the Crucified and Risen Lord guides us. We have with us a multitude of brothers and sisters who, in silence and concealment, in their family life and at work, in their problems and hardships, in their joys and hopes, live faith daily and together with us bring the world the lordship of God's love, in the Risen Jesus Christ, ascended into Heaven, our own Advocate who pleads for us.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm. 

The Catholic Women's League is appealing to the parishioners to help in raising funds for the disadvantaged students and families enduring hardships. There are envelopes on the bulletin board by the exit door, which contain information on how you can help the Catholic Women's League raise funds. Any assistance would go a long way to transform lives. Thank you for helping the less fortunate in our society. For details, please refer to Notice Board (near Side Entrance). 

TAIZÉ prayer will be held on 28 May (Friday) at 8:00 PM at St. Anne's Church and will have synchronized playback on Facebook. We welcome all brothers and sisters to participate!

MEDITATION is a way of deep praying. Through the silence, it helps you understand yourself and leads you into the presence of God. Come and learn this silent form of prayer - prayer of the heart. The St Anne's group meets 7:00 PM every Tuesday in the sanctuary. Come a little earlier to quiet down.

After forty days of being with the disciples after his Resurrection, which we have celebrated during these forty days of the Easter season, Jesus has crossed into Heaven to take his place at the Father's right hand, as the prophecies foretold for the Messiah. The Father has crowned him with the glory he merited by his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, and in turn, he is eternally asking the Father for each of us–by name–to receive the graces we need to join him one day in eternity and to help others get there too.

In today's First Reading Saint Luke recalls why he decided to make his writings a two-volume set. The work of salvation is not done until everyone has an opportunity to be saved.

The Lord's Ascension is just as important for the Church as his Incarnation, Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Like the disciples in today's First Reading, we are awaiting the Lord's return in glory, but we also know that in Ascending to Heaven, he is not just sitting up there on his hands.

He and the Father are preparing to send the Holy Spirit to his Church, just as we await on Pentecost Sunday a week and a half from now, and then our part in his saving work goes into high gear, as attested to by the Acts of the Apostles. Our Lord also speaks on our behalf to the Father for all eternity, interceding for us. We need the whole Trinity's help in fulfilling our mission throughout history: to help Our Lord in Heaven to continue his saving work on earth.

In today's Second Reading, St. Paul reminds what Our Lord won through his victory over sin and death. The Lord returns to Heaven in glory for what he suffered and endured for us. Taking his place at the Father's right hand is taking the highest place of honor next to the Father's, not only as his Son but as his Son, who has pleased him.

Our Lord does not just receive glory. He receives a reward as well. Even as he was preparing to ascend, he told his disciples that all authority had been given to him by his Father (see Matthew 28:18). He doesn't just rest on his laurels. He puts that influence to work for us and our efforts to help share his Gospel with the whole world.

In today's Gospel Our Lord imparts a blessing even as he is taken up into Heaven. He doesn't stop imparting blessings, even today. In a little over a week, he'll impart once again the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

The Easter season is longer than any other season except for Ordinary Time, and before his Ascension, the days he spent, risen from the dead, were some of the most precious on earth for his faithful disciples. It was quality time just for them.

He's looking forward to spending that quality time with us in Heaven, and from eternity he is doing everything in his power to make sure that happens. As the Easter season nears its conclusion in ten days, we too should be rejoicing as we recall all the blessings he has imparted to us during these forty days. We should also rejoice over the blessings to come.

This Sunday, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. We profess our faith in this glorious mystery when we say in the Nicene Creed: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. We believe that Jesus' earthly life reached its culmination when He passed from this world to the Father. He no longer belongs to the world of corruption and death that conditions our earthly life. He passed into the glorified state in God.

It is important to understand that the Ascension does not mean that Jesus has departed from us. He has not abandoned us or left us orphans. Otherwise, after the Ascension, the disciples would not have returned to Jerusalem with great joy, as Saint Luke tells us (24:52). He is close to each one of us forever. Recall the words of Jesus at the end of Matthew's Gospel: And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age (Matthew 28:19).

With His Ascension into heaven, the Lord Jesus is now present to us in a new way. On the eve of His Passion, Jesus had told the apostles that it was to their advantage that He go away. He said: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you: but if I go, I will send Him to you" (John 16:7). Though Jesus' earthly and visible presence in the world ends, He remains with us in an invisible way. He has not left us alone. He is always close to us.

Christ sends us the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, Christ continues to be with us, sanctifying us and giving us life. He acts through the Holy Spirit in the Church and in our souls. He guides us and leads us to the Father. Christ, the Head, is never separated from His Body, the Church. He entered heaven as our Head.Pope Saint Leo the Great taught that at the Ascension, the glory of the Head became the hope of the Body. This is very true: because Christ has ascended to the Father to prepare a place for us, we have hope of eternal life with Him in heaven.

Exalted at the right hand of the Father, Christ intercedes for us with the Father. He is our eternal High Priest, our Mediator with the Father. As the letter to the Hebrews says: He always lives to make intercession for them (7:25). He communicates to us His Body, the Church, the grace and strength to live in Him. Because of Christ's intercession with the Father, we are able to grow in holiness.

Jesus is present to us in His word and in the sacraments. Jesus is visibly present in the Church in "a sacramental manner." We think especially of His presence in the Holy Eucharist. In the Eucharist, we participate in the new life of Christ's Body glorified by the Spirit. Christ's holy Body and Blood is our food on our journey to the Father's house.

Another important truth about the mystery of the Ascension concerns our own journey to the Father's house. There, Jesus said, He has gone to prepare a place for us. He waits for us. When He ascended into heaven, Jesus took our humanity to God and He opened the path for us to heavenly glory. He united humanity with God forever.

As we meditate on the mystery of Our Lord's Ascension, we also remember His words to the disciples immediately before His Ascension. He not only promises the Holy Spirit, He commands the disciples to go forth as missionaries to the world. He gives them the charge of evangelization. He then gives them the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this mission.

The Ascension does not point to Jesus' absence, but tells us that He is alive in our midst in a new way. He is no longer in a specific place in the world as He was before the Ascension. He is now in the lordship of God, present in every space and time, close to each one of us. In our life we are never alone: we have this Advocate who awaits us, who defends us. We are never alone: the Crucified and Risen Lord guides us. We have with us a multitude of brothers and sisters who, in silence and concealment, in their family life and at work, in their problems and hardships, in their joys and hopes, live faith daily and together with us bring the world the lordship of God's love, in the Risen Jesus Christ, ascended into Heaven, our own Advocate who pleads for us.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.