20220526 WHY IS ASCENSION DAY A CELEBRATION?
26 May, 2022, 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 1:17-23 © |
God made him sit at his right hand in heaven
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers. This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation.
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 | Luke 24:46-53 © |
He withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘You see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.
‘And now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.’
Then he took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God.
WHY IS ASCENSION DAY A CELEBRATION?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 1:1-11; Ps 46; HEB 9:24-28; 10:19-23 or EPH 1:17-23; LK 24:46-53]
During the time of the apostles, the ascension of Jesus was met with anxiety and sadness. When Jesus told them He was going away to return to His Father, the apostles were troubled. (Jn 14:1,27) We can feel with them because they had given up their livelihoods and joined Jesus as an itinerant missionary. They left everything including their families, believing that Jesus would establish the Kingdom of God and that when He comes to power, they would have a share of His glory and power as well. (cf Mt 20:20-24) This hope never died even after the resurrection of our Lord. This was even after the fact that “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.” They asked him, “Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” The apostles were indeed slow to understand as Jesus foresaw. He told His apostles, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” (Jn 16:12)
Why, then, do we celebrate the Feast of Ascension, which is termed as the departure of Jesus, as in the case of someone going away from us for good, whether to another place or from this earth and this life? Of course, if it is a departure, it is deemed a farewell. All forms of separation from our loved ones are painful. But in the case of Jesus, His Ascension is not exactly a separation. In fact, He would be even closer to us, not just in the ability to see Him physically like the early disciples of our Lord, but to have Him so close to us as in His living inside us. Indeed, Jesus wants to live in us and not just be seen by us. If we rely on physical seeing, the person is still outside of us. But when we cannot see the person, that person lives in us even more intimately. Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (Jn 14:18-20)
Indeed, the departure of Jesus is in order that He might return in a new way. This was what the angels said to His apostles. “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.” But how does Jesus come to us in a new way? This Jesus will return in the Holy Spirit. Indeed, Jesus had already prepared the apostles for the coming of the Holy Spirit. He said to them, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn 16:13f) This is what Jesus meant when He said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” (Jn 14:1-3)
It is the Holy Spirit that makes Christ’s presence possible in a New Way, whenever the Word of God is read, whenever the sacraments are celebrated. In a special way, He comes to us in the Eucharist for He said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.” (Jn 6:56f) The Eucharist is the way in which the Risen Lord will live in us. We become one in Jesus and He in us. Through the sacrament of reconciliation, our sins are forgiven. “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'” (Jn 20:22f) Jesus will come again in His Church, the Body of Christ. Christ is our mystical head and we are the members of His body, the Church. Jesus will come again in the poor, spiritually and materially poor. (Mt 25:41)
Secondly, the Feast of the Ascension celebrates Jesus as our High Priest in heaven interceding for us. The second reading says, “It is not as though Christ had entered a man-made sanctuary which was only modelled on the real one; but it was heaven itself, so that he could appear in the actual presence of God on our behalf.” Hebrews also says, “he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.” (Heb 7:24-26) “Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:14-16)
Thirdly, the Feast of the Ascension celebrates our final destiny. Jesus has returned to His Father. And Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us in His Father’s House. (Jn 14:1f) Where Jesus is with His Father, there we will be too. This is why Christians do not fear death because as St Paul says, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.” (Phil 3:20f) The book of Revelation says, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” (Rev 20:3f) Indeed, because of this we live with a purpose in life on this earth.
Finally, the Ascension warns us that there will be judgment at the end. “Since men only die once, and after that comes judgement, so Christ, too, offers himself only once to take the faults of many on himself, and when he appears a second time, it will not be to deal with sin but to reward with salvation those who are waiting for him.” We are all accountable for the life we live. We have to face God when we die. This is why we cannot live our life recklessly or live in vain thinking that when we die, all our troubles will end. On the contrary, without the body, our spirit will suffer more intensely the guilt, resentment and anger in us.
Until then, therefore, we must live a life of holiness so that we can reach our final destiny. The second reading exhorts us, “In other words, brothers, through the blood of Jesus we have the right to enter the sanctuary, by a new way which he has opened for us, a living opening through the curtain, that is to say, his body. And we have the supreme high priest over all the house of God. So as we go in, let us be sincere in heart and filled with faith, our minds sprinkled and free from any trace of bad conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us keep firm in the hope we profess, because the one who made the promise is faithful.” Like St Paul, we must also say, “As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Tim 4:6-8)
But salvation is more than just keeping ourselves from sin, or waiting for the coming of God’s kingdom. We must be the extension of Jesus in the world and be His witnesses. The Lord commands us, “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.” In the gospel, the Lord, citing scriptures says, “in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.” So the Feast of the Ascension gives us, Christians, a clear vision and mission to live our life fully witnessing for Christ.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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