Homily for Ascension Year B 2021
Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23; Mark 16:15-20
Introduction
I would like to compare today’s feast of
the Ascension, to the proverbial middle child.
The middle child, sandwiched between the over-achieving first born and
the pampered baby of the family, often feels neglected and can’t find his
niche.
For, coming as it does between Easter and
Pentecost, sometimes we forget about Ascension.
While everybody knows that at Easter, we celebrate the resurrection of
Jesus, when he conquered death once and for all and at Pentecost, we celebrate
the coming of the Holy Spirit to empower and inaugurate the Church, one might
ask, what is left to celebrate at the Ascension?
Scripture and Theology
If you are asking that question, you are in
good company; for the Apostles were just as clueless. On Ascension Day, when the Lord gathered them
together, they knew that something big was about to happen; but they were not
sure what. They thought, perhaps he was finally going to re-establish the
Kingdom, the Kingdom that the Jewish people had been waiting for, for hundreds
of years. They thought that perhaps this
was the big payday for which they had been working and waiting, to take up
positions in his Kingdom. That is why
they asked: “Lord, are you at this time
going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
To their great surprise, Jesus instead said:
"You will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” In other words, he was saying, “Look guys, I
have done my part in establishing the Kingdom – I am going back to the Father. You
now have to carry on the job that I started and bring the Kingdom to completion.”
·
And so, we could think of the
Ascension as being like the day when a successful CEO takes a step back from
actively running the company and hands the reins to his successor.
·
We could also think of the
Ascension as being like when the runner in the relay race, who has run a good
race, now hands the baton on to the last runner and says “off to the finish
line; win this one for us.”
Jesus is that successful CEO, Jesus is that
star athlete on the relay team who pass on the task. And we the Church are the new CEO, we are the
last athlete, and we have been given the task of completing the mission. The feast of the Ascension is therefore the
line that marks the ushering in of the age of the Church, when the disciples
take over God's mission of establishing the Kingdom.
But were the disciples qualified to carry
on this mission of establishing the Kingdom of God? They were good fishermen; but what did they
know about running a worldwide religious organization? Some were tax-collectors and that expertise
might help with the collection; but what did they know about preaching God's
word? Thankfully, Jesus did not just
throw them into the water and tell them to swim or sink. He had empowered them for the task in two
ways.
First Jesus had taught them, by his word and
by his example. For three years as they
lived with Jesus, they heard him teach, they saw his miracles and his example
of prayer and compassion, and most importantly, they saw his suffering, death
and resurrection, the cause of our salvation.
And these are the things they were to preach to the nations; these are
the things of which they were to be witnesses. Like the retiring CEO who has
been grooming his successor for several years by teaching him things, Jesus had
indeed groomed the disciples.
Secondly, and unlike the CEO, Jesus gives
spiritual muscle to the apostles. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit
comes upon you,” he tells them. In
other words, in carrying on the mission of the now departing Jesus, they are
not going to rely just on their own power and abilities; remember, they are
only weak human beings. Instead, they
will be empowered by the life-giving Spirit of God, for which they have to wait
in Jerusalem, which we celebrate on Pentecost.
·
And so, if Pentecost is the
birthday of the Church, when the Holy Spirit comes down upon the apostles,
Ascension is the conceiving of the Church, when Jesus gives the great commission:
“Go into the whole world and proclaim the
gospel to every creature. Whoever
believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be
condemned.”
·
If Pentecost is like the
wedding day when the bride and groom seal their love with the grace of the
sacrament, Ascension is like the engagement when the couple make the firm
commitment to get married.
And so, after all, Ascension, like the
middle child, has its niche. Ascension
reminds us Christians of the great commission given to us by Jesus.
Christian Life
The Apostles did indeed carry out the great
commission. They preached the Good News,
not only in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, but indeed to the ends of the
earth. They in turn passed on this baton
of faith to their successors who continued the work until the Good News reached
us who believe today.
We today, are responsible for restoring the
Kingdom of God. Each of us has been
given a role to play in this great commission.
And by we, I don’t mean just Pope Francis, the bishops, priests and
deacons; I mean all the Christian faithful, all the baptized. In fact, last week Pope Francis instituted a
lay ministry of catechist. This
ministry, which in a way goes back to the position of teacher described in the
Scriptures, shows have even the laity have an important role in witnessing to
the gospel. In fact, in many mission
countries like Uganda, the catechists assist the priest in running the 20 or so
missions that each parish has.
What St. Paul in today’s second reading
told the Christian community of the Ephesians, he tells our Christian community
gathered here. “. . . grace was given to each of us according to the measure of
Christ’s gift.” In other words, like
the disciples received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to enable them carry out
their mission, Christians have also received the grace of the Holy Spirit,
particularly from the sacraments:
·
At Baptism, we are cleansed of
sin and made worthy for ministry.
·
At Confirmation, we are
strengthened by the Holy Spirit for witness.
·
At Eucharist, we receive the Word
and Sacrament, food for the journey.
·
At Matrimony and Ordination, we
each receive the graces we need to serve God and others, as married people or
as ordained ministers.
·
And when our witness is
weakened by illness or sin, we are healed and strengthened by the sacraments of
Anointing of the Sick and Penance.
We have no excuse! We have the power to do the work Jesus left
us.
That is why St. Paul in the same reading
goes on to say: “And he gave some as
apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and
teachers . . ..” In other words,
there is something for each of us to do.
And Paul continues to explain that these various callings are given “to equip the holy ones for the work of
ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity
of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature to manhood, to the extent
of the full stature of Christ.”
These are powerful words that should assure us that we have been
equipped for the work of ministry, for the building up the Body of Christ, so
that the Kingdom of God is established forever.
Conclusion
I like to summarize the three ways we do
this, the three ways we witness to Jesus like the apostles, in three W’s -
Word, Worship and Works, that is, teaching the word, celebrating worship and
performing good works.
Like the apostles, let us be "witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Let us be witnesses to him everywhere, at
Walmart, Walgreens and Winn-Dixie. Let us be witnesses to him always.
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