Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 1:17-23; Gospel According to Saint Luke 24:46-53
We celebrate our Lord’s Ascension, taking place forty days after his resurrection. We recount with joy the day Christ completed his earthly mission and returned to the Father to reign in majesty and to be the judge of the living and the dead. It seems we just began our Paschal celebrations and now this joyful liturgical season is drawing to a close. That is how life seems to go, cycle after cycle, what has been called an infinity of little hours. Precisely there, in the midst of the mundane, we are being invited to encounter the God who has not left us orphans but lives among us and who loves us until the end of time.
Who can fully grasp the intensity, the depth, the mystery of the Lord’s Ascension? Certainly not I. But all of us are being invited to reflect on the tremendous act of God’s redeeming love in Jesus Christ, who suffered, died, rose and ascended on high, that all might be made free and partakers in God’s life forever.
Christ completed the Father’s work on earth as a mission of obedience to the will of God. Its purpose was and is to bring eternal life to every human being. We may ask: how do I feel about Christ’s obedience unto death, how does it touch me, and what role do I play in the mystery being celebrated on Ascension of the Lord? What is being asked of me as a follower of Christ?
Perhaps we may feel little or nothing of note to reply to these questions, but we must not think for a moment that the saving events of Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension have no meaning in our lives. We are all united to Christ and one another in the great mystery of salvation in Jesus Christ. We have “put on Christ,” Saint Paul tells us, by the fact of our baptism, so we cannot so easily walk away from the light and life being offered to us in the Church. Of course we have free will and cannot be stopped from rejecting God’s call, but the challenge is to cultivate God’s life within us in order to bear lasting fruit.
We all must learn throughout our earthly sojourn what it means to really belong to Christ, to forget ourselves that others may have, to take up our cross each day and embrace our vocation without compromise. We also are asked to follow the Lord without fear or regret. This is no easy task, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, Third person of the Blessed Trinity and the promised Comforter, we can make progress in virtue and humility, asked of us by our having “put on Christ” at baptism.
How might we be witnesses of Christ and fulfill the mission he gave to his followers before his Ascension and to each of us today? There is a phrase which perhaps sums up well the challenge of discipleship then and now, and that is, “to be honest and authentic in our lives,” which means seeking to do good and attentive to the interior voice of our conscience. We must all strive to be more authentic in our response of the Lord to go forth and bear fruit, born of genuine love.
In the celebration of the Lord’s Ascension we rejoice greatly for the assurance that future glory is realized in Jesus Christ and offered to the human race. This gift encourages us to desire deeply and always the glory of heaven. We wish to go to heaven where Christ has gone. The apostles are asked by the angels, “Why are you gazing in astonishment at the sky? Just as you have seen him ascend into heaven, so, in like manner, shall he return” (Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1, verse 11).
In the meantime we are asked to put our hands to work and our hearts to God, doing the will of God in preparation for the return of our Savior at our death and at his second coming in glory.
The Sacrament of the Eucharist is the source of strength for those who witness to Christ. We celebrate the Eucharist to dispose ourselves more completely to all that God has in store for those whom he loves and who love God. We ideally gather in a place of worship, where we ponder God’s mercy, learning how the suffering of Christ becomes a way to glory. Where he has gone so we hope to follow. Each liturgical action is meant to lift us up further in joy and wonder for all that God has accomplished on our behalf in Jesus Christ.
The risen and ascended Christ now reigns over creation, enabling his followers to use their spiritual gifts for building up the body of Christ, the Church. The Ascension is linked to the Church’s mission in all ages and is part of the dynamism that makes Christ known from generation to generation, to the ends of the earth. May we never cease to thank God for bestowing such great gifts upon us individually and as a Church.
We are convinced that the Lord Jesus will come again in glory. His fullness fills the universe already and he distributes the wealth of his glorious heritage and the immeasurable scope of his power to all who believe (see Ephesians 1:19).
Blessed Ascension Day (whether you keep it on Thursday, May 5th or Sunday, May 8th) and a good preparation for the outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost next Sunday, May 15th.
Prior Christian Leisy, OSB
Monastery of Christ in the Desert
Abiquiu, New Mexico
