The Ascension of the Lord
Reading 1: Acts 1:1-11
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
Reading 2: Eph 1:17-23
Gospel: Mt 28:16-20
This Sunday, we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. In the gospels, we actually have only two accounts of the Ascension; one in Mark and one in Luke, and they differ in their descriptions of the event. We also have an account of the Ascension of the Lord in The Acts of the Apostles and that account is our first reading this week.
The important point for our consideration in this celebration is what happens after the Ascension. Notice in our first reading that the apostles are told: “In a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” and “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses.”
In the description of the Ascension of Christ in our first reading the apostles ask a question that clearly shows their lack of understanding of Jesus’ message: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Christ came into this world to establish a kingdom; but it is the Kingdom of God, not the Kingdom of Israel. The apostles apparently still believed that Jesus would be the Messiah that would relieve Israel of their oppressors and re-establish the kingdom as it was under King David.
If we read a little further into chapter 2 of Acts, we have a description of the Pentecost event as the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles as “tongues as of fire.” The men were immediately transformed from confused, frightened, uneducated fishermen, into men “filled with the Holy Spirit,” who immediately began preaching what they now fully understood, and apparently did so in several languages. In that Pentecost event, we should clearly see the power of the Holy Spirit that completely transformed the lives of those men and, we should clearly see that it has the same power to transform the lives of those who welcome that Holy Spirit into their hearts.
Recall in chapter 16 of the Gospel of John, Jesus told the apostles that it was better for them that he ascend to the Father, because without the Ascension, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, would not come to them. It was better for the apostles, and it is better for us, that Jesus ascended and sent the Holy Spirit into the world to make the life of Christ available throughout the world. If Jesus had remained on earth in human form, he could only be in one place at one time, but through the Holy Spirit he is present in all places at all times. He also told them: “But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” I believe that this Pentecost event, set off by the Ascension, is what we should see as most marvelous. The apostles were guided into all truth (and truth is unequivocal) and began preaching truth throughout Jerusalem and the surrounding areas and, eventually, throughout the world. A truth that they did not fully understand before Pentecost.
In our second reading from Ephesians, St. Paul asks that God grant that same “Spirit of wisdom and revelation” to the church – to us – as the Body of Christ. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the church has continually conferred that “Spirit of wisdom and revelation” on those who will listen.
Our gospel passage this week is the Commissioning of the Disciples from chapter 28 of Matthew. According to this account, the disciples went to Galilee after the Resurrection and there they encountered Jesus. “When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.” They doubted because they had not yet experienced the Pentecost event. But, once they received the gift of the Holy Spirit, they were charged with making disciples of ALL NATIONS, not just Israel. And they were to accomplish that commissioning by baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching the whole world what Christ had revealed to them through the Holy Spirit.
Our readings throughout the Easter Season are centered on the development of the early church, and that development was brought about by the preaching of truth by the apostles which they passed on to their successors throughout 2000 years of history in what we refer to as Apostolic Succession. The church today is simply a world-wide extension of that early Jerusalem church and has continued the preaching of truth throughout history by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Pray to the Holy Spirit for the gifts of wisdom and revelation.
