(Anglo-Saxon for Good News, root of the English word Gospel)
Happy
Ascension Thursday.
This is
one of our truly major feasts—a Solemnity.
It’s one
of only six Holy Days of Obligation in the U.S.
Ranking
right up there with the Feasts of:
Mary
Mother of God, the Assumption, All Saints Day,
The Immaculate
Conception, and Christmas.
It’s
also the subject of the second Glorious Mystery of the Rosary.
According
to today’s first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles,
Jesus
remained on earth for 40 days after his resurrection.
So, given
that guidance, the Church set the celebration of his Ascension into Heaven on
the 40th day after Easter.
And,
since Easter is always celebrated on a Sunday,
That 40th
day always falls on a Thursday.
So, for
us older folks it was Ascension Thursday most of our lives.
But in
1999, many dioceses moved the celebration to Sunday.
That
doesn’t lessen the importance of this Feast in any way.
The
Church has always held Sunday to be the holiest day of the week.
The
Ascension is packed with significance.
It was
a moment of transition—major, radical, change.
It was
a moment for those disciples, and now for us,
To be
flooded with the realization
Of all that
Jesus accomplished in his brief ministry.
The
teachings, the examples, the miracles, the revelations.
All those
things that together form the Good News.
We
heard not just one, but two, accounts of the Ascension today.
Luke
ended his Gospel with his account of the Ascension,
And he
began the Acts of the Apostles with a continuation of that,
Which
we just heard.
And
then, in today’s Gospel, we heard Mark’s account.
In
both, Jesus is leaving.
He'll
no longer be with the disciples in human-body form.
He's
tried over the past many months to prepare them for that.
He’s
taught them all that they need to know.
He’s
boiled down the 600 Jewish laws and the 10 Commandments
To just
two Great Commandments.
Love
God, and love your neighbor as yourself.
He’s
revealed to them the inner life of God—the Trinity.
So much
of what we know about God was unknown, unknowable,
Until
Jesus revealed it.
He’s
proved to them that he and the Father are one—he is God.
He’s
shown them the Father, and taught them to pray.
Told
them that his Father loves them, just as he himself loves them.
That his
Father invites them too, to call him Father—even Daddy.
By his
own death, he’s shown them just how much God loves them.
By his
resurrection he’s shown them victory over suffering and death.
And
assured them that they too can share in that victory.
He's
told them that he'll come back at the end of time.
He's
told them that they'll join him in Heaven.
That
his Father's house has many rooms.
He’s
told them that he'll be with them until the end of the age.
He’ll remain
present in the Church—that community that he founded.
He’ll
be present with them in the Eucharist that he’s given them.
This is
my body, this is my blood, do this in memory of me.
He and
the Father will actually dwell within us.
He’ll
be present in the Holy Spirit who he’ll send in his place.
(We'll
celebrate that next Sunday, Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit.)
All of that
Good News, and more, is pulled together in the Ascension.
Because
Jesus calls all of this to mind,
When he
tells his disciples that they are his witnesses.
And he gives them the Great Commission
To
spread the Gospel—all that Good News—
To
every creature, throughout the whole world.
And as
Mark tells us, they did—they went and preached everywhere.
And the
Lord worked with them, confirming their words by signs.
That’s
how we’ve come to know the Good News.
It was
passed down to us in oral and written transmissions,
By billions
of believers throughout a hundred generations.
As
beneficiaries of their witnessing, we’re now called to give witness.
By how
we act.
By what
we say.
By how
we treat others.
The
world deserves to share in our knowledge of the Good News.
To know
that there truly is an all-powerful God.
An
all-loving, all-merciful, all-just, God who loves each of us dearly.
And
wants us to share eternal happiness with Him in Heaven.
That’s
quite a revelation!
Won’t
that all-powerful God get what he wants?
Will he
let his Word return to Him empty?
We can’t
let ourselves presume that we’ve all got it made.
That we
and those we love are all going straight to Heaven.
But,
with a God like that, we can certainly have great hope.
Let us
always look forward to that Heavenly reunion.
And as witnesses,
as carriers of the Good News,
Let’s always
try to act on our calling.
Let’s
Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by our lives.
The Ascension
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