Today, most Catholics in the United States are celebrating the Ascension. We celebrated the Ascension a few days ago on Ascension Thursday, which is scriptural. Sacred Scripture tells us that Jesus ascended into heaven forty days after the Resurrection.

Another year has gone by and another Mother’s Day is upon us. This day can be a bittersweet day for many people, especially women. We want to be able to celebrate with joy our mothers, but for many people there is sadness or bitterness or anger.

Today’s first reading is about the beginnings of the diaconate. Seven men were chosen and the apostles laid hands on them. As we know in our Catholic faith, after Pentecost, the Catholic Church defined ordained ministry by the laying on of hands. The ordained ministries are deacon, priest and bishop.