Liturgical Calendar
The Ascension of Our Lord
Mass Readings
Acts 1, Ps 47, Eph 1, Lk 24
Saint(s) of the Day
Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat. See https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day or https://www.catholic.org/saints/sofd.php?date=2022-05-29 for more information and other saints of the day.
Reflections & Song Idea
Today is the Ascension of our Lord. This is the day when Jesus, after His Resurrection, and spending 40 days with His disciples, was lifted up to Heaven in a cloud as two men in white garments asked the disciples, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
What this means is that Jesus is still alive. After the Resurrection He remained alive, and He is still with us today. You and I can still communicate with Him, and He has his ways of communicating with us. He will return to us at the Second Coming, and He also returns to us, in a way, each moment of each day.
How Jesus was actually, physically, taken into Heaven by the Father is a mystery to us. But just as the Incarnation of Jesus as a baby united Heaven and Earth, the Ascension continues the unification, and you and I still have this connection to the divine life of the Holy Trinity.
The song prompt for today is to write a song that has the words to this question in it:
“Why are you looking up at the sky?”
In other words, find your own poetic way of why you believe Jesus is still alive and part of your life. Why are you looking up at the sky, when so many people only seem to be looking at the passing things of this world? Maybe there is some experience you’ve had that’s made this clear to you – some event in your life that changed your heart and gave you more clarity in faith, hope, and love. Whatever it is, answer the question of why you are looking up at the sky?
The Song Form
The song form chosen for this song is a medium tempo waltz in the key of E minor. When creating your melody, try using the E harmonic minor scale. That’s like the E minor scale, except that it has a D sharp in it instead of a D natural.
This song form is just to get you started, but do anything you like to make this song your own. Feel free to use it as is or change the chords, rhythm, time signature, or key.
