Text Box: Sunday after Easter, this May 24th. It is the final act of our redemption that Christ began on Good Friday. On this day, the risen Christ, in the sight of His apostles, ascended bodily into Heaven. The reality of the Ascension is so important that the creeds (the basic statements of belief) of Christianity all affirm, in the words of the Apostles’ Creed, that "He ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead." The denial of the Ascension is as grave a departure from Christian teaching as is denial of Christ's Resurrection. Christ's bodily Ascension foreshadows our own entrance into Heaven not simply as souls, after our death, but as glorified bodies, after the resurrection of the dead at the Final Judgment. In redeeming mankind, Christ not only offered salvation to our souls but began the restoration of the material world itself to the glory that God intended before Adam's fall. By the late fourth century, the feast of the Ascension was celebrated in some parts of the church on the fortieth day after Easter (see Acts. 1:3, 9-11). Originally, this mystery of the ending of Jesus’ visible presence among his followers seems to have been observed as part of the outpouring of the Spirit on the 50th day, or Pentecost. For the first time, the original 50-day festival was broken. The weekdays between the Ascension and Pentecost are a preparation period for the outpouring of the Spirit. It is popularly called the Pentecost Novena (see Acts 1:14).The Feast of the Ascension marks the beginning of the first novena, or nine days of prayer. Before His Ascension, Christ promised to send the Holy Spirit to His apostles. Their prayer for the coming of the Holy Spirit, which began on Ascension Thursday, ended with the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, ten days later. Pentecost, itself, closes out the Easter season. It celebrates the overwhelming experience of God pouring out the Spirit upon the first community of those who believed Jesus was the Lord and Christ (see Acts. 2:1-4). Pentecost is called, therefore, the birth of the church, or the birth of the church’s mission. THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY – In the 11th & 12th centuries, different places started devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In 1799 Pius VI, then in captivity in Florence, granted the bishop of Palermo permission to celebrate the Feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary in his diocese. On July 21, 1855, the Congregation of Rites finally approved the Office & Mass of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In different places, this Feast is celebrated at different times of the year. MARIAN LITANIES Late in the Middle Ages, litanies seeking Mary’s intercession became common. This simple and popular form of praying addresses Mary using a series of titles with the petition, “Pray for us.” The Litany of Loreto, familiar to Catholics, was approved by Sixtus V in 1587. It received this title because it was popular at the shrine of Loreto in Italy. This litany was made popular by St. Peter Canisius. It has about fifty titles for Mary, the most recent, “Queen assumed into heaven,” was added by Pius XII in 1950. Text Box: LECTORS NEEDED Do you like to read aloud, and would you like to proclaim the readings and Prayer of the Faithful at Mass to the congregation? If so, please give Father Żak (stanzak7@yahoo.com) or Lynn Suer (lynnsuer@aol.com), the Lectors Coordinator, your contact information, and let us know which Mass you usually attend so we can make up a schedule. Also tell us when you are not available to read. God bless you! OUR PARISH BULLETIN Additional advertising support is needed to cover the expenses of printing our parish bulletin. Now we have 8 pages every week. If you are a business owner, or know of someone who might wish to place an ad, please e-mail our BULLETIN PUBLISHER: mpublications@sbcglobal.net; or call them at 888-253-4358. Please patronize our advertisers. PARISH FAMILY NIGHT On next Sunday, May 24th we would like to invite all our parishioners: young and old, with children and without, to celebrate that afternoon together. You can come to the 3:30pm Holy Mass (Marian Movement of Priests) and Holy Hour afterwards; or just come to the Parish Hall for the 5:00pm Potluck Dinner. Bring some food to share. After the dinner, we will see a video about the "Our Lady of Fatima Shrine" in Portugal. This year it is the 92nd anniversary of the Apparition to the three Portuguese children. ST. MARGARET MARY JOBS NETWORK Have you lost your job? Do you know someone who is hiring?  Are you an employer with job opportunities?  Because many people have lost their jobs recently in our declining economy, a number of parishes are trying to help parishioners who may be having difficulty finding employment in this tight job market. St. Margaret Mary parish would like to use its resources to help unemployed parishioners find another job. The parish will not function as an employment agency but as an informal network to help our unemployed parishioners in their job hunt. We ask parishioners who know of any employment opportunities, great or small, full or part-time, permanent or temporary, to send that information to our parish office to be passed on to our parishioners who are looking for work. Please notify the parish office by email at stmargaretm@yahoo.com or Lynn Suer, jobs coordinator, at lynnsuer@aol.com if you know of any available jobs or if you are in need of a job. You may also phone the parish office at 510 482-0596 or send a letter to St. Margaret Mary Church, 1219 Excelsior Ave., Oakland, CA 94610.