“I AM ALWAYS WITH YOU!”June 08, 2026

“I AM ALWAYS WITH YOU!”

On Sunday, May 17, 2026, Feast of the Ascension, the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland celebrated their 175thanniversary with their sisters in residence at Regina Health Center, a facility of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. Father Lou Papes preached at the community mass that morning. His homily invites us to celebrate the special connections that we share. It calls us to believe in the promise Jesus left us at the Ascension and to join in the celebration of the sacred life we share. Here is the invitation for you to continue to celebrate the sacred story of the Ascension, the Ursuline Story and that of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine.

Readings from the Ascension of the Lord: Acts: 1:1-11; Ephesians: 1: 17-23; John: 15: 9-17

Hey, People, That Wasn’t a Rhetorical Question!

What a great story! And because of it, we have more than one great story. Today we have three great stories!

We have the Sacred Story, wherein the Risen Christ blows the minds of his disciples by not only ascending into the heavens but also challenging them with a vision that bluntly states: “People of Galilee, why are you standing there looking into the sky?” I guess, on the basis of everything that went on before that and the reason for the angels’ query about their looking up at the sky would be, in our jargon: Hey, People, That wasn’t a Rhetorical Question! It’s clear that what looks like the end of a story is really the beginning!

The same may be said of another interesting story we celebrate today, the 175th Anniversary of the founding of the Ursuline Sisters in Cleveland. And again, what a story! Bishop Amadeus Rappe, who had served as chaplain of the Ursuline nuns in France, invited the sistes to staff Cleveland’s parish schools. In 1850, five Ursuline nuns arrived from France, with Mother Mary of the Annunciation Beaumont as the superior. The sisters took charge of a Catholic girls’ school on Euclid Avenue, the forerunner of Cathedral School.

The fledgling community of Ursuline wasted no time. Three years later, they were already at St. Patrick on Bridge. And when four Charity Sisters of St. Augustine arrived from France in 1851, the Ursuline took them under their wing. Later, when those original Charity sisters returned to France, their novices here were put under the supervision of an Ursuline novice, making the CSA’s first superior an Ursuline who took her final vows as a Sister of Charity with the name of Mother Ursula. The Ursulines thus came to corner education; the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine focused on works of Charity. No standing around looking up at the sky for these faith filled women! What a story!

But wait. I said that today’s Sacred Scripture led to three great stories. Could the third great story belong to the rest of us? Are we, by any chance, also being asked: “Why are you standing around looking up at the sky?” Do we come here, listen to the Story and expect something magical to happen? Or is the Risen Lord whispering in our ears: “Hey, People, That Wasn’t a Rhetorical Question.”

You and I are getting the same message heard by those young women from France, Ursulines and Sisters of Charity in 1850 and 1851 and still today.

The women and men of those early Christian communities described in the Acts of the Apostles…possessed the memory of a promised new order which was handed down to them through the prophets: the images of the advent of the Reign of God that came alive in the message and mission of Jesus. So, they heard the Good News with eager anticipation. The same Good News that motivated the first Ursulines and Sisters of Charity!

The question for those disciples, for those Sisters and for you and me as people of faith is whether we are willing to go beyond the promise: Thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Are we willing to put into practice the message and mission Jesus proclaimed throughout his ministry? If we are, we need to face the reality that hymn we often sing: Not in some heaven light years away, but here in this place the light is shining. Now is the kingdom, now is the day.

The question for us today is how willing are we to build the Reign of God at this time and this place.

We begin in our personal relationships by strengthening the ones we enjoy and repairing the ones we find broken. What would it be like if we treated one another in our immediate and extended families as if we were celebrating a birthday or anniversary every day? Finding ways to treasure and reinforce our most intimate relationships creates the foundation for many other relational issues in our lives.

In wider societal relationships, becoming more directly involved in promoting healing and peace can accomplish more than just the easy route of complaining about the issues that divide. The message of Jesus was one of healing, and what we today might call, conflict resolution. (Jesus) sought out those who were in trouble, the marginalized and the alienated. He put a human face on the issues. Might we do the same? Bringing our personal conflicts as well as the world’s strife and discord to our prayer life should be part of our every act of worship where we are strengthened for the task of building the Reign of God. For we must come to understand the final words of Jesus remembered at the end of the Gospel of the Ascension that we celebrate: All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,…And behold I am with you always, until the end of the age.

That is an awesome promise. But it was – and is – also a profound challenge: In other words: You can do it because I am with you! That is something we should never forget and bears repeating especially on this feast of the Ascension:

You can do it because I am with you!

With Permission of Father Lou Papes. May 17, 2026

Sister Mary Ellen Brinovec