The Second Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary is the Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven.
One Catechism states: “Christ stayed on earth forty days after His resurrection to show that He was truly risen from the dead, and to instruct His Apostles. After forty days Christ ascended into Heaven, and the day on which He ascended into Heaven is called Ascension Day.”
“In Heaven Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. When I say that Christ sits at the right hand of God I mean that Christ as God is equal to His Father in all things, and that as man He is in the highest place in Heaven next to God.”
St. Pius X wrote, “Jesus Christ ascended into heaven: 1. To take possession of the Kingdom He had merited by His death; 2. To prepare the place of our glory, and to be our Mediator and Advocate with the Father, 3. To send the Holy Spirit upon His Apostles.”
A Bible commentator wrote, “When He left this world, our Lord handed over to His Apostles His threefold office. 1. The office, or the right and duty of teaching the Christian faith (‘Go ye and teach all nations’). 2. The priestly office, or the right and duty of sanctifying the souls of men by the Christian Sacraments (‘baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’). 3. The pastoral office, or the right and duty of guiding and maintaining the faithful in the observance of the commandments (‘Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you’). Our Lord did not commit this threefold office to the Apostles only, but also to their successors, as is to be plainly inferred from the words: ‘Go and teach all nations’, and: ‘I am with you all days even unto the end of the world.’”
St. John Chrysostom said, “And because what He had commanded them to do was great, in order to exalt their spirits He adds, ‘And, behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ As much as to say, ‘Do not tell Me of the difficulty of the things I command of you, seeing that I am with you, Who can make all things easy.’ A like promise He often made to the prophets in the Old Testament, to Jeremiah who pleaded that he was just a child, to Moses and to Ezekiel, when they would have shunned the office imposed upon them.”
In his divine nature, Jesus is everywhere; in his human nature, Jesus is in heaven and in the Blessed Sacrament.
In the celebration of the Solemnity of Ascension, Holy Mother Church prays at Mass: “Mediator between God and man, judge of the world and Lord of hosts, he ascended, not to distance himself from our lowly state but that we, his members, might be confident of following where he, our Head and Founder, has gone before.”
Meditation on the Mystery of the Ascension should deepen our longing for heaven. At Mass, the priest invited faithful: “Lift up your hearts.” And the faithful response: “We lift them up to the Lord.”
St. Leo the Great said, “And so, dearly-beloved, let us rejoice with spiritual joy, and with gladness pay God worthy thanks and raise our minds unimpeded to those heights where Christ is. Minds that have heard the call to be uplifted must not be pressed down by earthly affections, they that are fore-ordained to things eternal must not be taken up with the things that perish, they that have entered on the way of Truth must not be entangled in treacherous snares. Each one of us must so take our course through these temporal things as to remember that we are sojourning in the vale of this world, in which, even though we meet with some attractions, we must not sinfully embrace them, but bravely pass through them.”
In this Second Glorious Mystery, let us pray for the increase of missionary spirit and desire for heaven.
『 我同你們天天在一起』
玫瑰經榮福二端是『耶穌升天』。
一本教理書說明：『基督在祂復活後，留在世上四十日，顯示祂是真的從死者中復活，並指導祂的門徒們。四十日後耶穌升了天』。
『在天堂，基督坐於全能天主父的右邊。當我說基督坐於天主的右邊，我的意思是基督作為天主，一切與祂的聖父平等，並且，作為人，祂是在天堂上處於最高位置，在天主身旁。』
聖庇護十世寫道：『耶穌基督上升天堂：1.去擁有祂以死亡功勳贏取的王國；2.去準備我們光榮的地方，去作我們與天父間的中保和護慰者；3.派遣聖神臨於祂門徒中。』
一位作者寫：『當祂離開這世界時，我主交付門徒們祂的三疊的職務。1.教導基督的信仰的職務，或權柄和義務（「你們要去使萬民成為門徒」）。2.司祭的職務，或權柄和義務去以基督的聖事聖化人的靈魂（「因父及子及聖神之名給他們授洗」）3.牧民的職務，或權柄和義務去帶領，維護信眾去遵從誠命（「教訓他們遵守我所吩咐你們的一切」）。我主不單只是把這三疊職務交於宗徒們，也交給他的繼承人。這是以以下話語顯示出來的：「你們去教導萬民」和：「我同你們天天在一起，直到今世的終結。」』
金口聖若望說：『因為祂命令他們去做的事是偉大的，為了提升他們的勇氣，祂又說：「看，我同你們天天在一起，直到今世的終結」就一如在說：「不要告訴我我命你們做的事的困難，看見我跟你們一起，我是那位能夠讓一切事情變得容易的。」就如在舊約祂給先知們的承諾一般，為耶肋米亞，他辯解說，他只是一個小孩，為梅瑟和厄則克耳，他們回避交托給他們的職務。』
論天主性，耶穌無處不在；論人性，耶穌是身處天堂，並在聖事內。
慶祝耶穌升天瞻禮，慈母教會在彌撒中祈禱：『他是天人之間的中保、世界的審判者、萬有的主宰。基督升天，並非捨棄我們卑微的人性，而是要我們懷著信心，追隨他，到他那裡，因為我們是他的肢體，他是我們的首領和根源。』
默想升天的奧蹟應能深化我們天堂的期望。彌撒中，神父邀請信眾：『請舉心向上。』信眾回應：『我們全心歸向上主。』
聖良一世說：『所以，親愛的，讓我們喜悅以靈魂上的喜樂和歡欣付給天主應得的感恩，高舉我們不被阻隔的思想到基督高處。聽到召叫作高舉的思想不要被世事的喜好而低沈；祝聖為永恆的事物，不要被可枯萎的取代；那些進入真理道路的，不要纏繞於凶險的陷阱。我們每一人應該走過這些暫時的事物，記得我們都短暫逗留在這世界的山谷中，甚至我們會遇到一些富吸引的，我們都不要罪惡地擁抱它，但勇敢地超越它。』
在榮福二端，讓我們祈禱求主增強我們福傳的精神，和天堂的渴望。