Thursday May 17, 2012
The Ascension of the Lord, Year B
Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23; Mark 16:15-20
We are drawing close to the end of the Easter season with the celebration of the Ascension of the Lord into heaven forty days after his Resurrection from the dead.
On June 27th we will celebrate Pentecost Sunday, the remembrance of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the newborn Church and then the day after, on we will return to "Ordinary Time" in the Liturgical calendar of the Church.
The focus of the Ascension is on the return of the Lord to the place in heaven, where he is destined to reign with the Father and Holy Spirit for all eternity. The Ascension is to be understood as an important part of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, the saving events of the One who was sent from heaven for the redemption of the human race.
All that Jesus underwent was a necessary prelude to and preparation for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord, poured out at Pentecost, on those called to be heirs to the mission of Christ.
During his life on earth, the Lord chose and instructed his apostles and disciples, trying to make clear to them the nature of his mission and their involvement in it.
The disciples of Jesus were to be neither innocent nor guilty bystanders, but real participants in making Christ known to the nations, proclaiming the Kingdom of God and the message of salvation in the Lord by their thoughts, words and deeds.
Their experience of the risen and ascended Lord made the testimony of the earliest disciples something living and active, but is also for those of us living well after the events of the Resurrection, Ascension and outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the first followers of Christ. Any who have been baptized in the Holy Trinity are heirs to the same spiritual life that the first disciples possessed.
We have all "put on Christ" in baptism (see Galatians 3:27) and bear witness to the Lord by the lives we live. We are strengthened and guided in this work by the reception of the Holy Spirit, which we especially associate in our Catholic tradition with the sacrament of Confirmation. This is another important source of help from God for us in our life of grace.
At the time of his Ascension we say that the earthly pilgrimage of Jesus ends and that he returns to heaven, but will come again in glory at the end of the ages. We do not know precisely when that moment will be, and cannot even guess, but leave it in the hands and mind of God. What we are to focus on in this intermediate era, after the sojourn of Christ and before his return in glory, is the present moment.
It can also be called "the era of the Church," of Christ alive and moving in the Church, and in a particular way in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of the Lord, Holy Communion, given at every Mass for the spiritual welfare of the followers of Christ.
This year the account of the Ascension comes from the Gospel according to Saint Mark. The emphasis is on faith in Jesus as Risen Lord and that belief having a tangible expression in the lives of believers. So strong is this vitality of faith that it cannot be diminished by encountering evil, misfortune, setbacks or illness or death. Even these can be overcome by the pouring forth of the saving grace of God into the lives of the needy, into each of our lives as well.
At the Ascension a real part of the mission of Jesus is completed. At that moment the disciples go forth for the evangelization, that is, the proclamation, of the Good News of the risen Lord, to all the nations. The giving of the Holy Spirit some days later is a further strengthening of the faith, hope and love of the disciples.
It is always important to remember that though he ascended, Jesus did not abandon his flock nor is he absent from his own now. The ascended Lord also has been and still is actively involved in the mission of the disciples, for the Lord is always working with them and in them. The presence of the Lord Jesus was and is made clear in the works of power which accompanied and accompanies the preaching of the Gospel.
So these were not "orphans of the Lord" who were proclaiming the Good news, but fully engaged members of the Body of Christ, sent out to the nations. This is still the case today. The love of God was always manifested and effective in the life of Jesus on earth, in the first members of the Church, and up to the present time as well.
At all times it is important for us to contemplate the permanent and vital presence of the risen and ascended Christ in the wider Church, as well as in our personal and communal lives. This contemplation helps in our full confidence and joy in being followers of Christ, not closed in on ourselves, but joyfully handing on the Good News to those with whom we live and work, as well as with our family and friends.
The Church in each generation and so also today, continues to prayerfully ponder and pray in order to more fully penetrate into the mystery of the saving love of God, which culminates in Jesus Christ, risen and ascended, that we may have eternal life.
Fr Christian Leisy, OSB, Monastery of Christ in the Desert, Abiquiu, New Mexico
Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23; Mark 16:15-20
We are drawing close to the end of the Easter season with the celebration of the Ascension of the Lord into heaven forty days after his Resurrection from the dead.
On June 27th we will celebrate Pentecost Sunday, the remembrance of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the newborn Church and then the day after, on we will return to "Ordinary Time" in the Liturgical calendar of the Church.
The focus of the Ascension is on the return of the Lord to the place in heaven, where he is destined to reign with the Father and Holy Spirit for all eternity. The Ascension is to be understood as an important part of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, the saving events of the One who was sent from heaven for the redemption of the human race.
All that Jesus underwent was a necessary prelude to and preparation for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord, poured out at Pentecost, on those called to be heirs to the mission of Christ.
During his life on earth, the Lord chose and instructed his apostles and disciples, trying to make clear to them the nature of his mission and their involvement in it.
The disciples of Jesus were to be neither innocent nor guilty bystanders, but real participants in making Christ known to the nations, proclaiming the Kingdom of God and the message of salvation in the Lord by their thoughts, words and deeds.
Their experience of the risen and ascended Lord made the testimony of the earliest disciples something living and active, but is also for those of us living well after the events of the Resurrection, Ascension and outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the first followers of Christ. Any who have been baptized in the Holy Trinity are heirs to the same spiritual life that the first disciples possessed.
We have all "put on Christ" in baptism (see Galatians 3:27) and bear witness to the Lord by the lives we live. We are strengthened and guided in this work by the reception of the Holy Spirit, which we especially associate in our Catholic tradition with the sacrament of Confirmation. This is another important source of help from God for us in our life of grace.
At the time of his Ascension we say that the earthly pilgrimage of Jesus ends and that he returns to heaven, but will come again in glory at the end of the ages. We do not know precisely when that moment will be, and cannot even guess, but leave it in the hands and mind of God. What we are to focus on in this intermediate era, after the sojourn of Christ and before his return in glory, is the present moment.
It can also be called "the era of the Church," of Christ alive and moving in the Church, and in a particular way in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of the Lord, Holy Communion, given at every Mass for the spiritual welfare of the followers of Christ.
This year the account of the Ascension comes from the Gospel according to Saint Mark. The emphasis is on faith in Jesus as Risen Lord and that belief having a tangible expression in the lives of believers. So strong is this vitality of faith that it cannot be diminished by encountering evil, misfortune, setbacks or illness or death. Even these can be overcome by the pouring forth of the saving grace of God into the lives of the needy, into each of our lives as well.
At the Ascension a real part of the mission of Jesus is completed. At that moment the disciples go forth for the evangelization, that is, the proclamation, of the Good News of the risen Lord, to all the nations. The giving of the Holy Spirit some days later is a further strengthening of the faith, hope and love of the disciples.
It is always important to remember that though he ascended, Jesus did not abandon his flock nor is he absent from his own now. The ascended Lord also has been and still is actively involved in the mission of the disciples, for the Lord is always working with them and in them. The presence of the Lord Jesus was and is made clear in the works of power which accompanied and accompanies the preaching of the Gospel.
So these were not "orphans of the Lord" who were proclaiming the Good news, but fully engaged members of the Body of Christ, sent out to the nations. This is still the case today. The love of God was always manifested and effective in the life of Jesus on earth, in the first members of the Church, and up to the present time as well.
At all times it is important for us to contemplate the permanent and vital presence of the risen and ascended Christ in the wider Church, as well as in our personal and communal lives. This contemplation helps in our full confidence and joy in being followers of Christ, not closed in on ourselves, but joyfully handing on the Good News to those with whom we live and work, as well as with our family and friends.
The Church in each generation and so also today, continues to prayerfully ponder and pray in order to more fully penetrate into the mystery of the saving love of God, which culminates in Jesus Christ, risen and ascended, that we may have eternal life.
Fr Christian Leisy, OSB, Monastery of Christ in the Desert, Abiquiu, New Mexico