May 15, 2026
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
After having meditated yesterday on what Jesus Christ did for us in the mystery of the Ascension, we will meditate to-morrow on what we ought to do for Him, and we shall see that this mystery: 1st, preaches to us universal detachment; 2d, that it calls us to holiness. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to raise our thoughts and our affections to heaven, where is Jesus Christ, our advocate, our High-Priest, our Head; not to have any longer any attachment to this world, and henceforth to live only for heaven; 2d, to place all our confidence in our Mediator who is in heaven. We will retain as our spiritual nosegay the words of the Psalmist: “I shall be satisfied when Thy glory shall appear” (Ps. xvi. 15).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore Jesus Christ in the glory of His Ascension and of His enthronization at the right hand of His Father. O Sovereign Lord! Thou only art the Most High! Thou only art holy with the Holy Ghost in the glory of Thy Father! Oh, how ravished I shall be to contemplate Thee in this glory, and in Thee to behold human nature elevated to the right hand of God! I submit myself now and forever, and with all the affection of my heart, to Thy sweet empire.
FIRST POINT
The Mystery of the Ascension Preaches to us Universal Detachment
How would it be possible for us to attach ourselves to anything here below when we see Jesus, Our Lord, take flight to heaven? What affection is there of our hearts which would not follow Him there? Seek the things that are on high, says St. Paul, because there is Jesus Christ (Coloss. iii. 1, 2). My great desire, says the same apostle, is to die, that I may be with Jesus Christ (Philipp. i. 23); and, seeing my Saviour ascend to heaven, I understand that we are all of us only pilgrims here below. Exiles, we travel towards our country, sighing in the expectation of that beautiful heaven where our adoption as children of God will be perfected (Rom. viii. 23). Filled with the same thought, St. Peter said to the faithful: I conjure you to abstain from all attachments to things which pass away, and to look upon yourselves here below as travellers on a journey, who pitch their tents in the evening and raise them the next morning (I. Pet. ii. 11). Now, it is at the spectacle of Jesus ascending to heaven and showing Himself to us in His glory that these lofty sentiments ought to be awakened in us. Called to such sublime destinies, we could not any longer attach ourselves to the possessions of this world, which are so small, so miserable, and so soon pass away. Called to infinite felicity, we ought to disdain the false enjoyments which self-love, the satisfaction of the senses, and the use of temporal goods present to us. Called to incomparable glory, we ought to count as nothing the false glory of the world, the opinion of men, the splendor of honors, and say with St. Ignatius: “Oh, how vile earth seems to me when I look up to heaven;” and with St. Paul: All is nothing to me, provided that I gain Jesus Christ (Philipp. iii. 8).
SECOND POINT
The Mystery of the Ascension Calls us to Holiness
When I consider Jesus Christ ascending to heaven and opening to me its doors, showing me the place He has prepared for me, I understand two things: 1st, that I must be a saint, for the heaven to which Jesus Christ calls me is made only for saints; and how could I hope to go and take my place amongst the saints on high if I were not a saint here below; if I did not often say to myself during my life: In what way would the saints utter this prayer and perform this action? so that I might be encouraged to pray and to act as they did? I understand, 2d, that nothing ought to cost me too much in order to become a saint, for we do not obtain heaven without making generous efforts (Matt. xi. 12); we cannot enter therein without a struggle (Luke xiii. 24); but also does not heaven well deserve the pain to which these sacrifices expose us? The pain lasts but for a moment, the glory is eternal (II. Cor. iv. 7); and all that we can do or suffer here below has no proportion with the greatness of the recompense (Rom. viii. 18). Let us enter with our whole heart into these two dispositions: the first, to determine to be a saint; the second, to be decided to become one, no matter at what sacrifice.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.