Day 85: The Blessing Never Stops

0:00And for the Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars, they're known this is the rosary in your podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and comes a source of grace for the whole world. The rosary in a year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 85. To download the prayer plan for rosary in a year, visit AscensionPress.com-4-Rosary in a year or text R-I-Y-The-3-3-7-7. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month and it's great we attract your progress. The best place to listen to podcasts in the Ascension app, there's special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full rosary with myself and other Friars. No matter what app you're listening in, remember to tap follow or subscribe for your daily notifications. For today's Lexiou Divina, we'll be praying with the second glorious mystery, the Ascension Luke chapter 24 verses 50 to 53, and the point of emphasis will be this, the blessing

1:06never stops, the blessing never stops. For our time of Lexiou, 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 worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God. Let's go ahead and engage the scripture for our meditats, you just a reminder, right of the overall arc of what's happening here is Jesus ascends to the Father is that he now becomes present to us, he comes active in our lives in a new way, without the limits

2:07that he took upon himself, I'm during his earthly life, that he always sees all of us, he always hears all of us, he's always ministering to caring for protecting all of us according to his most perfect will in a particular point of emphasis clearly in the ascension narrative of Luke is he never stops blessing us, notice the details, he lifts up his hands and he bless them. And while he is blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. The image portrayed illustrated is Jesus with his hands and blessing and continually keeping his hands and blessing over the disciples and over all of us as he returns to heaven as this sign up, he's returning to the Father, to the right hand of the Father, but he will forever, right, forever continue to bless us. The blessing of Jesus never ends again as he took on human nature and its limitations.

3:13There would have been a time even for Jesus, like the raising of his hands, he would have gotten tired, but now Jesus resurrected, Jesus ascended, he doesn't have these limitations, there's no end, eternally he is blessing us, forever he is blessing us and forever he is blessing the Father, as he's in the Father's presence, right, right hand of the Father with the Holy Spirit. And then what's the response, what's the response again, we point out which is this important detail that Jesus in a sense is leaving them, but the disciples are not sad because through faith they know that he's actually becoming present to them in a new way in an even more profound way. So as he ascends to heaven, they worship him, they return to Jerusalem, but with great joy, not great sadness, and what happens, they were continually in the temple blessing God. The idea that the blessing doesn't stop, the blessing of Jesus upon us never stops, but also the reciprocation, the response of blessing God, of praising God, like it never stops.

4:20And so there's this beautiful reality to enter into the never-seacing blessing of Jesus towards us and our return of never-seacing to bless him, never-seacing to return to him with joy and worship and adoration, continuing with our meditatio to reflect on this beautiful invitation of Jesus' eyes always on us with love and blessing. Perhaps we could put some words to this, like Jesus always looking upon us as beloved son, beloved daughter, blessing us with the truth of who we are, blessing us with the grace that we need to persevere in faith, to persevere in hope on this pilgrimage, but then also this invitation in our own hearts to continually bless him, to praise him, to adore him, to place our trust and confidence in him, to bring our needs and supplications to him with confidence.

5:24Part of the fruit of the ascension is we have access to this perfect and never-seacing dialogue and exchange of blessing with our risen Lord, our Lord ascended into heaven. Okay, returning for our Lexium, lifting up his hands, he blessed them, and they were continually in the temple blessing God. For the ongoing meditatio, man, she can really encourage you with your own imagination, your own prayer, to look upon Jesus with his hands still outstretched in blessing. And in your own way, you can literally, if you want to lift up your hands to return the blessing, if in your

6:28own heart you want to just imagine what returning the blessing looks like for you, like I'm just going to ask you to look upon him, blessing you, and to respond with your own blessing. And so again, for this, for the meditatio, I'm going to really encourage you to spend a moment to develop this scene so that as you return to this mystery again and again while you're praying the second glorious mystery in the rosary, you can return to this place. Okay, one more time here to conclude our, our Alexio, our reading, lifting up his hands, he blessed them, and they were continually in the temple blessing God. Now we'll transition to our, our Ratsio, our time of prayer falling, our template, receive, respond, request, rejoice, receive the good news, receive what God is revealing about himself.

7:35I think it is important to note again the Father's faithfulness that Jesus becomes man, Jesus comes to save us. Throughout his earthly life, he remains obedient to the Father, trusting the Father and dialogue with the Father. And now he has risen and descended, he's returned to the right hand of the Father, like victorious, where he reigns forever. So the good news again of the victory of Jesus, of the victory of the fidelity of God, the Father, also the good news that we have a new access to Jesus, getting even more profound, even more efficacious, even more beautiful, even more immediate access to Jesus than we did during his earthly life or the disciples and apostles would have during his earthly life, that he continually forever blesses us. There isn't a moment where Jesus

8:41isn't looking upon us, ministering to us, pursuing us, pouring out his grace upon us. God has moved to our response, beginning with praise and adoration, with these disciples, like with great joy, let us return the blessing. Jesus, we bless you, we adore you, we worship you, we glorify you, we rejoice in your ascension. We rejoice, Lord, in the new access we have to you, in the way in which you are present to us. We thank you, Lord, for looking upon us in this moment with your hands raised in blessing. Your heart filled with love for us, your eyes, seeing us in all of our need. To our second level of response, what's the second level of response that is to return the blessing

9:47as Jesus never ceases to bless us, to look upon us with love. Let us, like spiritually, night and day, be in the temple, continually blessing Jesus, continually in relationship with Jesus, continually looking to Jesus, continually processing life, journeying through life with Jesus. And now our request, okay, Jesus, we're going to ask for the grace to receive the great news, the great joy of the ascension. Can we really ask for the grace of the Holy Spirit that we may persevere like in blessing, persevere and being in the temple in relationship with Jesus, persevere and experiencing life under the gaze, the loving gaze of Jesus.

10:54And Jesus is in particular, we're going to ask for this particular grace, Lord, to see you looking at us in this moment with love, affection, and blessing. And now we'll conclude our Orazio with our rejoicing, Jesus, we just thank you for the gift of this prayer, we thank you for the stillness, we thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit. We thank you, Lord, for reminding us that even now, seated at the right hand of the Father, you bless us, we thank you, Jesus, for the grace that we need, that we may persevere in prayer. That we may persevere in remaining in your presence and your holy temple, that we may persevere in returning the blessing. And together we'll conclude our Alexa Divino with our Quentin Plazio by praying one decade of the rosary. Him and ask you really to kind of remain in this place of looking upon him as he looks upon you. Okay, look upon Jesus,

12:03see him blessing you and respond by adoring, speaking to him. Now with our Lady, we pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, that kingdom come, that will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trust passes as we forgive those who trust pass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

13:04Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

14:09Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary full of grace,

15:12the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now at the hour of our death, amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be, world without end, amen. And the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. That's going to conclude our time of praying, Lexia Divina, together today. Certainly, if you've been taken to a place of prayer, and you're able to continue remaining in dialogue, and in this mutual blessing of God, we'd encourage you to do that. But thank you. Thank you for joining me and praying with me today, and I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. All right, poke poke friends. God bless you.