Feast Days

THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD

► Text of Sunday Reflection

“The Christ of the Ascension”
by Fr Martin Loftus SDB

The curtain closes at the end of the musical! The audience starts to applaud! Backstage, the actors are hurrying into line for the final bow! Somebody shouts: “Open the curtain!” somebody else says: “No, wait! hold on a minute!” A flustered actress rushes from the dressing-room, to a chorus of whispered exhortation, and she slips into her place in the line! the curtain twitches; then sweeps quickly back! The applause rises to a crescendo, as people stand and clap and cheer! The actors and actresses bow; the grand finale. They wave their hands. The curtain closes again. The show is over!

Most of us think of the ascension, as a finale to the greatest show on earth! Our Lord has said wonderful things, and spoken his last lines! He has performed miracles! He has played the principal role in the amazing story of his life, and crucifixion, and death! He has made the roman soldiers gasp with the startling brightness of his resurrection! Now, with his ascension, he has taken his final bow, except, that instead of a curtain, it was a cloud that swept across, and hid him from human sight!

But to think of our lord’s ascension as a finale is to miss the point! Our Lord did not go back to heaven, in the same way as an actor goes back to the dressing-room, leaving the rest of us to go home in the rain!! You see, when Jesus ascended into heaven, he also took his human nature with him. He broke the barrier between heaven and earth. and not only that!! He has guaranteed a place in heaven for us too! Did he not say: “I am going now to prepare a place for you”??

If you stood in a queue outside the theatre – and if you had a friend, standing at the door waving to you, and holding the tickets, you’d be sure of getting in! The Christ of the ascension has booked a place in heaven for you! He paid for your seat with his life, & death, & resurrection! Now he sits at the right hand of the father, waiting for you – and – praying for you to come in! And he wants us all in there, in our human condition. And we are vulnerable in our human condition. All through our lives, we’re trying to keep one step ahead – living now – making the most of it, enjoying our life! Yet we know, in our hearts, that our journey must end. And the end of the chase is different for believers! As Christians, we don’t die direction-less! We die, in the knowledge of where Christ has gone! He is ascended into heaven, where he waits for us!

Yes, there will always be cloud and darkness in our life! But we, children of the light, can look through the darkness, to where our ascended Christ waits for us! Yes! Our hearts are full of hope and joy that we will follow him, into that new creation! I finish with an ascension blessing!

“May the light of your soul mind you at this time! May all your worry and anxiousness be transfigured in the light of his ascension. May you have a sense of your own great dignity, and a sense of how free you are! May you be blest, and may you find a wonderful love in yourself, for yourself, until you meet him, face to face, in the new creation. Amen.”

► Readings, Reflections & Prayers

Scripture readings: Courtesy of Universalis Publishing Ltd.
– www.universalis.com
Reflections and Prayers by Fr Jack Finnegan SDB

1st Reading – Acts 1:1-11

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Reflection

Luke tells the story of the Ascension twice: once in his gospel (Luke 24) and once in Acts as we have here. But in each he brings out a different aspect of this luminous event. The gospel of Luke emphasises what Jesus said and did, but Acts looks to the future of the faith community: what Jesus continues to do in and through a faithful Church: faithful to its mission, faithful to its proclamation of his life and work, faithful to his vision and love. The challenge for us today is twofold: to be his witnesses in the world while holding firm to the promise of the Father – the joy and power of the Holy Spirit. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we are waiting with longing, touched by ascended light, for the fulfilment of the Father’s promise. We are waiting in joy for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost! You are Risen indeed! You are ascended in glory and light! You sit at the Father’s right hand! Let your Spirit rest on each one of us today. Bless us as we need to be blessed. Fill us with your living presence and the light of your wisdom. Come to us today with healing and love and the power to touch lives. Alleluia! Amen!

Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9

Reflection

Today’s psalm celebrates God’s glorious enthronement among the people of Israel, the assembly wild with joy. Imagine the shouts of gladness, the sound of trumpets, the clapping of hands, and loud songs of praise. Sing praise to God, sing praise! This is our response on Ascension Day as the Crucified and Risen One ascends to sit at God’s right hand, the king of kings in glory. The psalm also hints at the people’s loss of confidence in their leaders and their return to God’s faithful love. There, too, is the challenge for us in our own days. Even when we lose confidence in our political and religious leaders we can still be certain of God’s abiding love that lasts forever.

Prayer

Come Spirit of truth into my mind!
Come Spirit of wisdom into my heart on this Ascension Day!
LORD, Adonai, you are enthroned forever on the praises of your people! We clap our hands and shout for joy to you with loud cries of gladness and delight! You are awesome! You are the great king in glory! And now Jesus has returned to you to sit at your right hand. Receive our sacrifice of praise! Receive the offering of lips that honour your Name! Glory be to you and the Ascended One! Send us your Spirit! Alleluia. Amen!

2nd Reading: Ephesians 1:17-23

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And 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.

Reflection

Like most of Paul’s Letters Ephesians begins with a prayer often based on an ancient liturgical hymn. In Ephesians 1 we pray to the Father of Glory for the Church’s growth in wisdom and knowledge, something much needed in Ireland and Europe today. And then we contemplate the Risen, Ascended Christ, the Glorious One who fills all things in every way. May each one of us be transfigured today by his glorious presence and let him live in the world! May the Spirit give us the gift of wisdom, a deep understanding of Christ’s role in the world and his inheritance among the holy ones!

Prayer

Come Spirit of truth into my mind!
Come Spirit of wisdom into my heart on this Ascension Day!
Lord Jesus, glorious Ascended One, renew in us your Spirit of wisdom and knowledge. Rekindle in us your Spirit of beauty and truth! Enlighten our hearts! Fill us with hope for a better world. You have passed though the curtain! You are the veil through which we pass to the Father in the power of the Spirit. May we take your wisdom with us wherever we go! May we hear your call and understand the dazzling riches of your glory! Touch us with your unsurpassing radiance and power! Please, Lord, fill your Church with new life! Fill all reality with your glorious presence and love! You are the Father’s living promise! Give us the courage to use the gifts you have given us! Fill us with your life! Make us one in you! Transfigure us into your measure of wholeness and oneness. Alleluia! Amen!

Gospel Reading: Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Reflection

As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. Today we reflect on the ending of Luke’s gospel. It offers us a very early summary of Easter themes: the paschal mystery, the invitation to bring good news to the whole world, the promise of the Father, being clothed with the power of the Spirit, Jesus ascending, and the disciples returning to Jerusalem full of joy and praise. The challenge for each of us is to witness to the Crucified, Risen and Ascended Lord in the goodness, truth, beauty, love, compassion and integrity of our daily lives. We have each been given the grace to take the gospel to a hostile, unbelieving world. Now we are blest and invited to live the good news and share it to the praise and glory of God.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, give us the courage to share your loving word in these challenging times. Let us proclaim your love to ourselves, writing it in our hearts and minds, wearing it on our wrists as we sing praise to you! Give us the right words, the right smile, the willing hand. Bless us! Fulfil the Father’s promise in our days! Send us your Spirit! Work through us and with us to the Father’s glory. May our lives dance in your healing light! Alleluia! Amen!

► Lectio Divina

by Fr Juan José Bartolomé SDB

Introduction to Lectio Divine

Luke concludes his gospel with a kind of testament of the Risen Lord to his disciples. Before finally leaving the earth to sit close to God, he leaves them well prepared. He explains what is happening in the light of the Scriptures, he assigns them a mission to preach conversion to the world, and he renews the promise of the Spirit. Jesus leaves his disciples well instructed and he leaves them something that gave meaning to their lives – his own Spirit and a universal mission. The blessing of Jesus as he departs fills the time of waiting with joy and with prayer. The disciples do not feel orphaned by their Lord, even though they lose sight of him. They are waiting for the gift he promised, his Spirit. They live in joy and they know what they have to do. They are to remain in Jerusalem waiting for the promised Spirit to come upon them, before they set out for the world.

The absence of Jesus does not weigh upon them while they await the coming of his Spirit. This is the time to preach to all creatures. For some of them, working for Christ will be the motive for waiting for the Spirit. He has left the world in our hands, but he has not left us alone and he has not left us with nothing to do.

Read: understand what the text is saying, focussing on how it says it

Luke’s account of the Ascension of Jesus describes two consequences that necessarily follow from it – the physical disappearance of Jesus when he went up to heaven, and the mission of the disciples when they received the promised Spirit. The Risen Jesus left his disciples orphaned but not idle, and he left them filled with hope. The time that begins with the Ascension of Jesus is a time of abandonment and emptiness that is filled, with the witness that is their mission, and with the Spirit who is their strength for the journey.

The version given by Luke is made up of a discourse and a narrative. It contains three distinct affirmations. 1. What has happened is the fulfilment of a promise: Scripture has already foretold God’s plan, which is now being fulfilled before the eyes of the disciples.  2. Now is the time to bear witness, but they still lack the power from on high. The mission will begin when the Spirit comes.    3. While Jesus is blessing those he leaves behind – the very last thing he does on earth – he blesses them and they bless God. Although orphaned by their Lord, the disciples feel happy, filled with joy and full of God, overflowing with blessings.

As we live waiting for the Lord’s final coming, we know that he is far away from us and seated in glory with God. Why is it that today’s Christian community does not feel blessed by God and prompted to bless God in return?

The appointment as witnesses is the last command given by the glorified Jesus, his final testament. The disciples cannot consider their apostolic mission as something they choose freely or as a personal project. Before carrying out their mission, the disciples must first be filled with the Spirit. Jesus does not seem to be in a hurry to start evangelizing the world!

While they wait, before they become witnesses, they are to bless God and know that they are blessed by God.

Meditate: apply what the text says to life

Do we realize that when we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus we are celebrating his absence from the world? By going up to heaven, Jesus brought to a conclusion his time on earth. After deciding to be born and to grow up as a human being, after living on earth and preaching the Kingdom, after choosing to die for all people, and letting himself be seen by some, who were chosen by him, Jesus now decided to cut himself off from them and leave them alone in the world.  It is something of a surprise that we Christians celebrate as a great feast the day when Jesus cut himself off from his disciples, depriving them of his company and his consolation. What is there to be happy about on the day when the Christian community lost sight of the One they loved most, and were left without the One they needed most? Why do we remember this day, especially nowadays, when the departure of Jesus from the world has developed into an absence that has lasted two thousand years?

Is it not true, that what we, the disciples of today, experience of Christ is the sense of his absence? Is it not true that what Christians perceive in today’s world is his absence? We feel abandoned by God, and not without reason. It seems that he has little interest in our affairs and in this world of ours. What use is Christ’s being in heaven with God, when we are far away from him here on earth? Feeling the absence of God in our world, and suffering because we are separated from him might indeed cause us to lose heart. It had exactly the opposite effect on the disciples who saw Jesus disappearing up to heaven, but went back to Jerusalem with great joy. When Jesus left his disciples, he blessed them, and he left them blessing God. They made up for the loss of Jesus with joy and prayer.

This is a characteristic of Christian life – to know that God is far from our earth and yet not to fear being abandoned by him. From the beginning of the Church, the disciples of the Risen Lord felt alone in this world but did not complain about being abandoned. Christians do not have a God on earth. We do not keep God always at hand’s reach, but we can reach him in our hearts. Feeling his absence is the best way to remember him with greater intensity. The more we suffer on account of his distance from us, the more we desire his presence. If we are aware of his absence, we will prepare all the more for his coming. The disciple knows that he will not meet his Lord in this world, because he knows that the Lord has gone before him to heaven. He does not lose hope that he will see him again, because he knows that he is waiting for him in heaven.

And since he is there interceding for us, we can be sure that we have not been altogether abandoned. Jesus has left us, and we miss him, but we know he is with God where he intercedes for us and for our concerns. If that is the way it is, then as soon as we become aware of this separation, we will feel all the more the absence of Christ in our world.  Our pain at his absence will reawaken in us the memory of Christ and the certainty that he is with God, interceding for us. The Christian does not lose hope of one day meeting his Lord, just because Christ has abandoned him for a little while. The Christian who is alone in the world and left to face his problems alone, knows that he is not lost because he has not lost his Lord. If Christ is not with us during our life on earth, it is because he is keeping watch for us with God.

When he returned to God, Jesus did not leave us orphans. He left us busy with the task of representing him in the world that is suffering, even if it does not admit it, on account of his absence. “You shall be my witnesses” Jesus said to his disciples before he left the earth. Jesus looks after our interests in God’s presence, and makes sure that God is concerned about them. He has left us the task of looking after God’s interests in the world. The Christian should not complain about God’s absence since it is not definitive, but should live in the world representing God’s interests. While God has not yet returned to be present in the world, while his will and his kingdom are not yet a reality among us and within us, we have the duty to act as his substitutes, making him present in our world, to be men and women who live as reminders to the world that God’s absence is only apparent. For as long as he remains distant from the world, God needs believers who will make him present, living according to his will and bearing witness to his demands.

The absence of God from our world is really oppressive, not because Jesus has left us, but because his disciples are far from being his witnesses, who rely on him since he is already close to God, conscious that we have in heaven an Intercessor who cares for us.  We ought to return with faith to the mission he left us. The world will not forget him, and our society will not forget him, if we carry out the mission he has left us, in a world where people are more concerned about things that matter little to God, and where many are forgetting him. Our life as believers is a lonely one, because we are unable to discover the many faces of God in what is happening around us. Our great weakness is our failure to recognize the signs of God’s presence in our world. We are not concerned about making God present in our world, and we also fail to notice that many around us have given up on God. This is not a time for us to feel abandoned, when there are so many around us in need of encouragement. It is not the time to add to God’s silence in the world but rather a time to bear witness to him.

To make us better able to carry out our task of bearing witness to him, we have been promised a power from on high, the Spirit of Jesus himself. His physical absence does not mean that the world is deprived of his Spirit. Those who have the task of making him present in the world will feel the force of his inner power. This is why the first Christians were able to feel happy when Jesus left them. He left them a difficult mission and his inner power. We will not feel orphans in the world, if we feel in our heart the power of his Spirit. Joy and a life of prayer are the fruits of those who hope in the Spirit of Jesus, and we can expect these fruits since he has promised them.

The Spirit of Jesus is in the hearts of those who are still in the world, if they spend their days in witnessing and in prayer. The task that Jesus has left us is to live our lives today as a reminder to the world that he has not abandoned our world. He is still interested in us. He is close to God where he can help us more, he is preparing a future for us, in the place where he is about to arrive. If we take all this seriously, it will help us to overcome our difficulties. Jesus has not left us alone. We have a task to do. We have his Spirit and we have hope. The world is waiting for us, and even though it does not say so, it is waiting for a reason to live, and a strength to live by. Before he went away, the Lord left us his Spirit and he left us hope. We must not lose his two parting gifts!