20250529 JESUS COMES TO US IN A NEW WAY AT THE ASCENSION
29 May 2025, 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 |
Hebrews 9:24-28,10:19-23 |
Christ entered into heaven itself
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. And he does not have to offer himself again and again, like the high priest going into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own, or else he would have had to suffer over and over again since the world began. Instead of that, he has made his appearance once and for all, now at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself. 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.
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.
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.
JESUS COMES TO US IN A NEW WAY AT THE ASCENSION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 1:1-11; Ps 47; 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, as they had given up their livelihoods to join Jesus as itinerant missionaries. They left everything, including their families, believing that Jesus would establish the Kingdom of God and that, when He came to power, they too would share in His glory and power as well (cf Mt 20:20-24). This hope never died even after the resurrection of our Lord.
Even after 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 still 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 had foreseen. He told them, “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 the Ascension, often seen as Jesus’ departure – as though He was going away for good? All forms of separation from our loved ones are painful. However, in Jesus’ case, His Ascension is not a true separation. In fact, He becomes even closer to us – not through physical sight, as with the early disciples, but by dwelling within us. Indeed, Jesus wants to live in us and not just be seen by us. When we rely on physical sight, the person remains outside of us. But when we no longer 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, Jesus’ departure was so that He might return in a new way. As 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” (Acts 1:11)
But how does Jesus return to us in this new way? He comes in the Holy Spirit. Indeed, Jesus had already prepared the apostles for the coming of the Holy Spirit, “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. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, 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 who makes Christ’s presence possible in a New Way.
Jesus comes in the Word of God. “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them (Jn 14:24). When we obey His Word and His commandments, God will live in us. Jesus said “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you” (Jn 14:15-17). The apostles testified: “We are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him” (Acts 5:32).
Jesus comes in the Sacraments, especially in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Jesus instituted the sacraments so that we can continue to encounter His mercy and love. 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 lives 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)
Later on, the Church extended the forgiveness of sins to the Sacrament of the Sick. St James wrote, “Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective” (Jas 5:14-16).
Jesus comes in His Church, the Body of Christ. Christ is our mystical head and we are the members of His body, the Church. “He is the head of the body, the church” (Col 1:18). St Paul identified himself with Christ and His Church when he said, “I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Col 1:24). Ephesians affirms, “He has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:22f). St Paul says, “The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph 4:11-13).
Jesus comes in the poor – the spiritually and materially poor. In the parable of the Last Judgment, Jesus identified Himself with the poor: “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me”‘ (Mt 25:34-36). “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:41).
Jesus comes when we unite ourselves to Him in worship. 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).
For this reason, Jesus instructed His apostles to wait for the Holy Spirit to empower them. He 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.’ (Acts 1:4-5) He assured them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8) So, His ascension is certainly a cause for rejoicing. As the Lord said, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (Jn 16:7). This explains why the Church encourages us to pray the Novena to the Holy Spirit after Ascension, in preparation for the Feast of Pentecost – joining Mary and the apostles in prayer as we wait the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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