20210513 CHOSEN, FORMED, EMPOWERED AND SENT
13 May, 2021, Thursday, The Ascension of the Lord
First reading | Acts 1:1-11 © |
Jesus was lifted up while they looked on
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.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 46(47):2-3,6-9 © |
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!
Second reading |
Ephesians 4:1-13 © |
We are all to come to unity, fully mature in the knowledge of the Son of God
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.
Gospel Acclamation | Mt28:19,20 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Go, make disciples of all the nations.
I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 16:15-20 © |
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News
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.
CHOSEN, FORMED, EMPOWERED AND SENT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 1:1-11; EPHESIANS 4:1-13; MARK 16:15-20]
On the Solemnity of the Ascension, we can be like the disciples, gazing into the sky, speculating on whether Jesus’ body was truly taken up into the sky, into the heavens, which is outer space! Or we can be debating the discrepancies on the account of Jesus’ ascension, whether it took place soon after His resurrection, as the other gospels have it, or whether it literally happened forty days later. And where did the ascension take place, was it at Mount Olivet or at Bethany, as Luke has in his gospel? The facts do not seem to coalesce. Precisely, the evangelists were not leading us to do any star-gazing. The gist of the message is clear. The Lord had chosen the apostles, taught them from the beginning, appeared to them after His death, instructed them to continue the mission to establish the Kingdom of God He had started by empowering them with the Holy by Spirit to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.
Indeed, like the disciples, the Lord has chosen us not for ourselves but for mission. Jesus had told the disciples, “You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” (Jn 15:16) Indeed, to be a Christian implies having an evangelical zeal. God did not choose us so that we can have a comfortable and secure life, blessed with riches, good health, loving family, good job and friends. This is not to say that being a Christian, we will not receive these blessings. In Acts, the Lord told the disciples, “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.” In the gospel, the Lord said to them, “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.”
But before we can be witnesses and evangelizers, we need to be formed. Formation is an on-going process. We have formal training and education in theology and scriptures, like attending seminars, courses and conferences; or spiritual formation through retreats and informal faith sharing with our communities. But formation also takes place whilst we are actively engaged in the ministry or in the mission. We learn through experience and mentorship. The weakness of Catholics is that we are willing to serve in the ministry and in Church but we lack the theological and spiritual foundation. This explains why we are lacking in lay teachers and formators in the teaching of the faith. Many feel diffident in talking and explaining their faith. As a consequence, we are happy to be doing active service in logistics, finance, maintenance, administration, and the functional needs of the community. Many are most comfortable in helping the poor and the underprivileged.
Unfortunately, we fail to realize that unless we are also doctrinally and spiritually formed, we can at best only offer a service of goodwill to the church, but often not motivated by the love for Christ, or we forget that the objective of our humanitarian service is the proclamation of Christ and not just helping the poor. This is why we often see members in ministry fighting for power, position, honour, and recognition, even as they claim to serve God and the community. Often, there is competition among leaders and church ministries, each vying to be the best. They are not interested in working for the greater mission of the Church and the spread of the gospel.
This is why St Paul in his letter to the Ephesians focused on the intra-formation of the Christians. He was fully aware of the challenges of uniting the community and aligning them with the same mind and same heart. “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.” There is a need to work in communion with each other and to see that we are all protecting the unity of the community by exercising the gospel teachings of Christ.
Secondly, St Paul saw the urgent need to form the Christians if they were to be sent out. And so he took the occasion to stress the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to them. “Each of us has received a special gift in proportion to what Christ has given. 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.” The community has been given diverse gifts so that we are inter-dependent on each other in our spiritual growth and also in the mission. Indeed, St Paul underscored, “He did this to prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ. 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.”
What kind of formation is needed? Before we can speak about even acquiring knowledge and skills to undertake the mission, we must be clear what this mission entails. Indeed, even though the disciples of Jesus had been under formation for three years before His death, they were merely instructed on the life of a disciple, but they were still unclear just what mission the Lord had given to them. They did not understand the nature of the Kingdom. They were still thinking of establishing the Kingdom of God in political, nationalistic and spatial terms. The questions they asked of our Lord revealed their narrow-mindedness. They asked our Lord, “Has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” They were thinking of an earthly kingdom that would take place soon. And this is true for many Catholics. They can be active in Church, in ministry and in organizations but they are not fully aware of what they are doing and the ultimate goal of what they do. They are doing because everyone is doing it. But they never ask why and what they hope to achieve.
So Jesus took the opportunity to correct their mistaken ideas about the nature of the Kingdom, its extent and fulfillment. Clearly, the kingdom of God is spiritual in character. This does not mean it has no political or social implications. But it is not earthly insofar as it is different from earthly powers. It spreads through witnessing, not by way of military conquest, through peace, not war, through dialogue not coercion, by the power of the Holy Spirit, not through some techniques or revolutionary movement. It is also not nationalistic but universal. Hence, the Church is Catholic. Everyone is invited, regardless of race, nation, sex, language or social status. Finally, this kingdom will expand gradually, in God’s time, like the mustard seed. We do not have to know the dates and times as Jesus said because it belongs to God’s sovereignty. Our task is to continue the mission started by Christ in extending the Kingdom of God by having everyone under the rule of the gospel, the love of God.
Finally, this work that we undertake cannot be accomplished by our strength and ingenuity. We need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Hence, the Lord reminded His disciples, “not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised” when they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. The mission of the apostles could only be fruitful under the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, without which the mission would have been futile. The works of the Holy Spirit is seen as St Mark noted, “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.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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