20180510
ASCENSION AS THE CALL TO SHARE IN THE
EXALTATION OF CHRIST
10 MAY, 2018, Thursday, Ascension of the Lord
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First reading
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Acts 1:1-11 ©
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Jesus was lifted up while they looked on
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In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had
done and taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to
the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven.
He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations:
for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the
kingdom of God. When he had been at table with them, he had told them not to
leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised. ‘It is’ he
had said ‘what you have heard me speak about: John baptised with water but you,
not many days from now, will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’
Now having met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, has
the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It
is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own
authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and
then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and
Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth.’
As he said this he was lifted up while they looked on,
and a cloud took him from their sight. They were still staring into the sky
when suddenly two men in white were standing near them and they said, ‘Why are
you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky? Jesus who has been
taken up from you into heaven, this same Jesus will come back in the same way
as you have seen him go there.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 46(47):2-3,6-9 ©
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God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up
with trumpet blast.
or
Alleluia!
All peoples, clap your hands,
cry to God with shouts of joy!
For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear,
great king over all the earth.
God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up
with trumpet blast.
or
Alleluia!
God goes up with shouts of joy;
the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.
Sing praise for God, sing praise,
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up
with trumpet blast.
or
Alleluia!
God is king of all the earth,
sing praise with all your skill.
God is king over the nations;
God reigns on his holy throne.
God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up
with trumpet blast.
or
Alleluia!
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Second
reading
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Ephesians 4:1-13 ©
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We
are all to come to unity, fully mature in the knowledge of the Son of God
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I, the prisoner in the Lord, implore you to lead a life worthy of
your vocation. Bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness,
gentleness and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by
the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you
were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all,
through all and within all.
Each one of
us, however, has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted
it. It was said that he would:
When he ascended to the height, he captured
prisoners,
he gave gifts to men.
When it says, ‘he ascended’, what can it mean if not that he
descended right down to the lower regions of the earth? The one who rose higher
than all the heavens to fill all things is none other than the one who
descended. And to some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some,
prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the
saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of
Christ. In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge
of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, fully mature with the
fullness of Christ himself.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt28:19,20
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Go, make disciples of all the nations.
I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 16:15-20 ©
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Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News
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Jesus showed himself to the Eleven and said to them:
‘Go out to
the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is
baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. These are
the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out
devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their
hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their
hands on the sick, who will recover.’
And so the
Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the
right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached
everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs
that accompanied it.
ASCENSION AS THE CALL TO SHARE IN THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 1:1-11; EPHESIANS 4:1-13; MARK 16:15-20]
What is the
feast of the Ascension all about? We read, “after saying this, he was taken up to heaven as
they watched him, and a cloud hid him from their sight.” So for the
ordinary uninformed Catholic, the image of Jesus taken away from our sight as
He ascended into the sky would be all that he or she understands. If that
were the case, there is no real significance of this celebration, or worse, the
connotation that Jesus has left us for heaven, and we are now orphans.
Such an interpretation would be too physicalistic and we miss out the intended
symbol of what the ascension of Jesus is about.
The
significance of the Ascension is that Jesus is exalted on high to share in the
glory of the His Father, the glory that was His before the foundation of the
world.
The resurrection of Christ does not have this symbol of glorification and
power. It underscores Jesus’ victory over sin and death and the new
life He has. Consequently, the feast of the Ascension is celebrated to
highlight that Christ not only has overcome sin and death, but that He now
shares in the divine power of the Father. “After the Lord Jesus had
talked with them, he was taken up to heaven and sat at the right side of God.”
This is what it means when we say that Jesus sat on the right hand of the
Father. To be seated on the right of someone is to be right hand man, the
one who is next in line from the perspective of power.
With the
resumption of His divinity and powers, Jesus now rules heaven and earth. This is what the
responsorial psalm is celebrating. “All peoples, clap your hands, cry to
God with shouts of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear, great king
over all the earth. God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up with
trumpet blast. Sing praise for God, sing praise, sing praise to our king, sing
praise. God is king of all the earth, sing praise with all your skill. God is
king over the nations; God reigns on his holy throne.” Indeed, the
Ascension celebrates Christ’s exaltation as King over all creation.
However, the
exaltation of our Lord is not His alone. He as the Head of the Church, His body
has gone before us so that we too can share in His exaltation. This is
what is prayed at the Collect, “Gladden us with holy joys, almighty God, and
make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving, for the Ascension of Christ your Son
is our exaltation, and where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is
called to follow in hope.” Just as His resurrection gives us hope of our
resurrection, His exaltation also reminds us of the hope of sharing His
glorified and exalted life. If the feast of the Ascension is so important
for the Church, it is because it speaks of our ultimate destiny and calling in
life, which is to share in the life and the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. For us now, we already share this exalted life as a foretaste
when we live His transcendent life through faith in hope and love.
For this reason, it
would be wrong to suggest that the Ascension of the Lord means His absence from
the Church. On the contrary, His ascension means that as His body,
the Church, we are called to follow where Christ our Head is.
Precisely, because He is glorified and exalted, symbolized by the act of
ascending on high, He did not leave us to be alone but in order that He could
come in a New Way to be with us forever, unrestrained by space and time.
This was what the two men in white told the apostles, “Galileans, why are you
standing there looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken up from you
into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven.”
How, then,
can we share in this exalted life of our Lord? St Paul tells us that
first and foremost the exalted life would entail a life of unity. Just as Christ is one with
the Father in the Spirit, we too must live a life of unity and love. He
wrote, “I urge you, then – I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord: live a
life that measures up to the standard God set when he called you. Be always
humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being tolerant with one another.
Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace
that binds you together. There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one
hope to which God has called you. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
there is one God and Father of all mankind, who is Lord of all, works through
all, and is in all.” Such a life of humility, compassion and
gentleness is what an exalted life entails.
Secondly,
living the glorified life of Christ is to live a life of service. St Paul says, “Each
of us has received a special gift in proportion to what Christ has
given.” Christ “appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets,
others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. He did this to
prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service, in order to build
up the body of Christ.” Indeed, we are called to use our gifts as
Jesus did when He was anointed by the Holy Spirit to give up His life in
service of His brothers and sisters, especially the poor, marginalized and
sinners. We too must likewise be the channels of God’s mercy and
compassion to others, especially the weak and the lost.
Thirdly, to
live the exalted life is to build ourselves up in Christ. This entails on one
hand, the building up of the Body of Christ, and on the other, it means
building each individual to become more and more like Christ. This is
what St Paul says, “And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our
faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people,
reaching to the very height of Christ’s full stature.” It is to grow in
the perfection of life in imitation of our Lord; to grow in Christian maturity
so that we can attain the full manhood in Christ, which is the call of every
Christian. In other words, we are called to strive to become saints in
Christ by identifying ourselves with Him in every way.
Finally, to
live the exalted life is to share this life with everyone. The call to proclaim
the Good News to all of creation is an obligation of every Christian. We
have not received this new and exalted life for ourselves but for all of
humanity. If we are convinced of the greatness of this life, we too must
share with others this Good News we have inherited. The command to be His
witnesses to the ends of the earth is the final command of our Lord. When the
apostles were concerned about the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, the
Lord told them to be His witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.” The Good News is not imposed but given as
a free gift. The Lord commands us “Go throughout the whole world and
preach the gospel to all mankind. Whoever believes and is baptized will be
saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” The condemnation is
self-condemnation. By rejecting Christ, they forfeit for themselves the
opportunity to share the glorified life of Christ. But in accepting
Christ, they will live that life of glory with Him.
But how can
we do this? How do we spread the gospel? We do not do it
alone. By ourselves, we will not succeed. That is why Jesus
ascended on high to give us His gifts. He wants to empower us just
as He was empowered by the Holy Spirit. St Paul wrote, “So the one who
came down is the same one who went up, above and beyond the heavens, to fill
the whole universe with his presence. It was he who ‘gave gifts to mankind’; he
appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists,
others to be pastors and teachers.” Indeed, without the Lord working in
us, we cannot by our own strength reach maturity in Christ. We need the
grace of God.
This is what
the Lord also promised the disciples when He sent them out. “Believers will be
given the power to perform miracles: they will drive out demons in my name;
they will speak in strange tongues; if they pick up snakes and drink any
poison, they will not be harmed; they will place their hands on sick people,
and these will get well.” Indeed, the gospel of Christ spread to the
whole world not simply because “the disciples went and preached everywhere” but
because “the Lord worked with them and proved that their preaching was true by
the miracles that were performed.” We need the Lord to work in and
through us.
Indeed, not
by might but by the power of the Holy Spirit. For this reason, we need the Spirit of
Jesus to empower us and give us the zeal, the passion, wisdom, conviction and
fortitude to bring His Good News to all. This explains why Jesus
instructed the disciples not to go out till they had received the Holy Spirit
from on high. “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift I told you about,
the gift my Father promised. John baptized with water, but in a few days you
will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus has not gone from us but He
comes to us in a New Way in the Holy Spirit. And not only is He
with us again but “when he went up to the very heights, he took many captives
with him; he gave gifts to mankind.” He also said to them, “The
times and occasions are set by my Father’s own authority, and it is not for you
to know when they will be. But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be
filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me.” So with the
apostles, let us be watchful and continue to pray for the coming of the Holy
Spirit anew into our lives so that, filled with His power and gifts, we can
with joy live the exalted life, and with power proclaim Him in the world by our
words and deeds of compassion and love.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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