Jesus passes the baton on to us

Homily for Ascension Year C 2016

Acts 1:1-11; Hebrews 9:24-28,10:19-23; Luke 24:46-53

Introduction

Today's feast of the Ascension could be compared to the middle child.  Coming as it does between Easter and Pentecost, sometimes we forget about Ascension.

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.  So what is left to celebrate at 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. Was he going to perform some miracles like he did before his death?  No.  That was old news.  Was he going to die and rise again from the dead like he did at Easter?  No. He had done that already. There was only one possibility left; he was finally going to re-establish the Kingdom, the Kingdom that the Jewish people had been waiting for, for hundreds of years, since the Exile.  This was the big payday for which they had been working and waiting.  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, saying, “Carry on now – take the company to greater heights; I will continue guiding you in the background.”

·        We could also think of the Ascension as being like when the runner in the relay race, who has ran 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 age of the Church, the age when we have charge of 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.  Actually 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, 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; they will be empowered by the life-giving Spirit of God. The coming of that Spirit, for which they have to wait in Jerusalem, is what we shall celebrate next Sunday, 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.”

·        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 here in Louisiana.

We today, now have the baton of faith.  We today, are called upon to be witnesses of Jesus.  We today, are responsible for restoring the Kingdom of God.  And by we, I don’t mean just Pope Francis, the bishops, priests and deacons; I mean all the Christian faithful, all the baptized.

Each of us must decide what role we will play in this noble mission.  If I were to list all the things we can each do, we would be here until the cows come home.  But broadly speaking, we have three theatres of action: teaching the word, celebrating worship and performing works of love: the Word, Worship and Works.

When Ascension Sunday coincides with Mother's Day, it gives us the opportunity to reflect on the witness of parents in general, but especially the witness of mothers.  I am sure that most of us learnt about the faith from our mothers and grandmothers.  I know I did.  My mother taught my siblings and me the basic prayers, the commandments and the sacraments, for that is simply what mothers do!  She read to us stories from the Bible about Jesus, for that is simply what mothers do!  But most of all, she showed us by her example, what it means to live as a Christian and a Catholic, for that is simply what mothers do!

In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis reminds us of those who are at the peripheries of the Church and of the world.  And so, we cannot forget the witness of mothers who are in very difficult situations.

·        Think of the single mother, made single either by divorce, separation or widowhood, or by an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.  And yet she ploughs on, working two, three honest jobs to put food on the table; showing her children the values of Jesus, despite their lack of material things.

·        Think of the woman who has no children, either because she was not able to bear children, or for various reasons chose not to be a mother, or has lost her children to death or imprisonment, or has simply been abandoned by her children.  Such women often witness in their own way to carrying the cross of Christ.  Can we witness to them too, by an act of love today?

·        Finally, you have children who have no mothers to celebrate, either because they lost them to death or imprisonment or abandonment, or who have a strained relationship with their mothers.  And yet, they too witness to Jesus, by forgiving them, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Conclusion

May Ascension takes its rightful place in our spiritual lives, reminding us of the great commission given us by the Lord, to proclaim the gospel, to worship him and to be his witnesses to the whole world especially by our works.