Hearing The Word

A weekly newsletter delivering context and insight into the Sunday Gospels.

May 10, 2026

The Ascension of the Lord

Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,

to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.

When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.

Then Jesus approached and said to them,

“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father,

and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”



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From Victory to Vocation

Rev. Patrick Brady, S.T.D., S.S.L., M.DIV

Parochial Administrator + Saint Stanislas Church, Lansdale, Pa.

“They worshiped, but they doubted.” The risen Jesus is standing right in front of them, and the apostles still can’t fully grasp what is happening. He doesn’t scold them. He reveals the new reality: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Even in their doubt, he commissions them: go, baptize, make disciples of all nations. Power becomes sending. Victory over death becomes mission. Faith does not need to be perfect, just the size of a mustard seed, to transform the world.

This is enthronement language drawn straight from Daniel’s vision in ch. 7. The prophet sees “one like a son of man” coming on the clouds of heaven, approaching the Ancient of Days, and receiving dominion, glory, and kingship over all peoples and nations. When Jesus speaks these words, he is stepping into the most exalted figure in Israel’s apocalyptic imagination, saying: this is me. The disciples standing there, doubting and worshiping, are witnessing the fulfillment of what Daniel saw from afar.

In Acts, the disciples are still hoping for political restoration. Jesus gives them something harder and larger: witness to the ends of the earth. The cloud that receives him is not a special effect. It recalls the shekinah — the pillar of fire, the divine presence that led Israel through the wilderness. Jesus doesn’t simply leave. He opens the path between earth and the throne of the Father.

Ephesians meditates on the cosmic scope of the Ascension. Christ is seated above every power and authority. And the Church (his pleroma, his fullness, the body of which he is the head) shares in that position as the body that he is head of. The Church isn’t compensating for an absent Lord. It is the very place where the enthroned Lord makes himself present and known.



Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us, and his last words hold that name: “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” No farewell. No distance. The one who ascends is the one who stays.

Making Disciples - An Invitation to an Encounter

~Dennis Mueller

Saint Albert the Great Church + Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

“Go, therefore, and make disciples.” It’s easy to imagine this command applying only to priests, religious, or missionaries in distant places. But Jesus didn’t limit His words to a select few. He spoke to ordinary followers – people who walked with Him, stumbled, tried again, and kept showing up. What He spoke to the first disciples before ascending into heaven, He speaks to us now. 

Missionary discipleship rarely looks dramatic.  It isn’t usually preaching on street corners or knocking on doors, though those have their place in our call to make disciples of all nations.  For most of us, it simply means living with greater intention: choosing prayer when we’re tired, speaking kindly when we’re frustrated, listening when someone needs to be heard. It means remembering that every person we encounter at work, in the grocery store, in our own home, is someone Christ loves deeply.  Often, that quiet, consistent love is more challenging than any bold public proclamation.

Yet the Gospel also nudges us beyond silent witness.  It invites us to share our faith in simple, human ways: reading Bible stories to children and grandchildren, inviting someone to Mass, offering to pray with a friend who’s struggling. These small gestures can feel insignificant, but these are often the moments when Christ works most powerfully.  Scripture shows us again and again how God works through the quiet and the ordinary. 

What gives me courage is Jesus’ promise: “I am with you always.” Through Baptism, He doesn’t send us out alone. He fills us with His divine presence and grace and walks with us into every conversation, every act of service, every moment of encounter. The mission isn’t about having perfect answers or polished explanations.  It’s about trusting that Jesus is already at work in and through each of us, and allowing ourselves to become instruments of His love to all the nations. 

When we embrace the true heart of this passage, it becomes less of a command and more of an invitation to encounter Jesus more deeply and to let that encounter overflow into the world around us.