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 Homily for Ascension of the Lord – Solemnity (Seventh Sunday of Easter)

READ: (Acts 1: 1-11; Eph 1: 17-23; Matt 28: 16-20/ Mk  16: 15-20)

REFLECT:  Let’s be a living witness, by being closely united with the Holy Trinity and continue spreading the mission of God's Love to all...

Dear friends, today we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord. The Feast commemorates Jesus’ ascension into heaven after forty days since his resurrection. Jesus after having spent the next 40 days preaching and preparing His disciples to perform the work of preaching and baptizing all people, he now ascends to the Father. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we read, “Our Lord’s Ascension which we celebrate today in the Church universal is both a historical and transcendent event” (CCC no. 660). All the more, if we look at it from theological point of view, the ascension of Jesus is the exaltation and glorification of Jesus, the sign and seal of the accomplishment of His mission on earth and now returns back to God completing the task that Jesus was entrusted. So we can call the ascension of Jesus as Jesus’ return to the Father

Thus, the feast of ascension invites each one of us to cherish the experience of Jesus and calls us to share in the experiences of Jesus by being witnesses in the world by preaching and spreading the good news of joy near and far. So based on the liturgy of the word, I would like to share with you three points of reflection;

1.     Ascension: a call to be living witnesses:

In our lives many must have been eye-witnesses of good and bad events of our life history on earth. It may be a glorious vision or miserable vision; may be tsunami or an earthquake; an accident or bomb blast and could be many other events likely in the world. Today, in and through the solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus, Jesus invites us to be witnesses. It is not merely a name sake witness rather a living witness, wherein, the life that we live and the words that we speak correspond to what Christ lived and taught us. Moreover, we are not talking about witnesses in terms of Man-made words and deeds but rather witnesses for God’s works. That’s what we hear in the First reading readings from the Acts of the Apostles, “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”

Many of us today have not been witnesses of what Jesus did and said, whereas the disciples and apostles of Jesus have been part of such a glorious and a healing ministry. But none of us can deny that we are witnesses of God’s word that is read in every Eucharistic celebration; we are witnesses to the works of God experience in life. It is to this event of God experience that we are called to bear. By bearing witness to Christ’s word and deed in life we become living witnesses of God by a wonderful sharing of God experience. Remembering God’s goodness and greatness in our lives itself is a wonderful experience of God. In spite of our weaknesses, faults and failures, God continues to bless us and holds us firm to remain in him and with him. when we begin to share God’s goodness and greatness in life to others, they become an inspiration to other and our sharing becomes a bearing witness to God.

Perhaps the apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ were privileged to have had such experience of seeing and believing God’s hand at work in Christ. Today we are also privileged because the faith is handed on to us by apostles to us to continue living in our lives. The world does not look for mere witnesses rather life-witnesses and life-examples. People don’t wish or appreciate or rather inspired by word-witness, that is, only by speech rather look for a living witness by life-style and life-example. As Pope Francis says, “Be a witness to Jesus Christ in the way you conduct your ordinary, everyday life, and it will become a masterpiece for God.” So let us be witnesses in whatever little ways we can and be one such person to bring people to Christ by life in word and deed.

2.     Ascension: a call to be closely united with the Trinity:

It is true that the Trinitarian God has been present in the world since the time of creation, guiding the prophets in the Old Testament and Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament. Today all of us too have the presence of the Trinitarian God in us through the sacraments that we have received. But today, by Jesus ascending into heaven shows us the way that we are going to be united with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  That’s what we hear in the second reading from St. Paul’s letter to Ephesians, where St. Paul seeks the blessing of God the Father through Jesus Christ to give us the spirit of wisdom and Knowledge to the hope which he has called to inherit. The inheritance is nothing but the glorious company with the saints in heaven and to experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power in those who believe in Christ. So Jesus’ ascension in a way marks our life with the saints in heaven to be in the glorious light and gracious presence of God.

More than ever, in and through the ascension of Jesus, the time of Holy Spirit begins to animate our lives very closely and we are given the advocate, the Holy Spirit to lead and guide, accompany and accomplish God’s work in our lives. That’s what we hear in the Gospel of John Jesus says, “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you,” (Jn 16:7). Yes! the Spirit which was guiding and leading the ancestors, leaders, prophets, kings and judges, Jesus and his ministry, the disciples, is now given to us by the ascension of Jesus to encourage us and to give us courage to be bold proclaimers and believers in the Lord.

Some of us might think we have not been called by God by name for mission work, God has not given me the Holy Spirit or God has not told me personally to be proclaimers of God. But by the fact that we bear the name of Christ as Christians, we partake in the mission of Christ. The fact that we received the Holy Spirit in and through the sacraments we become soldiers of Christ, strengthening one’s faith and others faith. So let us not wait for God to call out our name personally to do his work rather be filled with the power, gifts and fruits of the Holy spirit, we shall go forth spreading the good news of Christ to everyone. Let us be happy that through the ascension of Jesus we would be closely united with the Holy Trinity. And to experience such glorious and sacred union with the Holy Trinity we need to co-operate with the Holy Spirit that Jesus gives us as parting gift of his ascension into heaven. May the Holy Spirit assist us all to experience the ascension of Jesus in our lives.

 3.     Ascension: a call to continue the mission of Jesus:

No one here on earth is without vision and mission. If not, then it is time for all of us to have such visions and mission to make life meaningful. For with a vision we visualize what we want to be and by mission we actualize what we want or ought to be. Perhaps Jesus had such a vision and mission. That’s what we will read in Lk 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me, to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” This is the mission of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke and he has fulfilled it. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus gives them a mission command to make disciples of all nations and to observe all that Jesus commanded. All the more, Jesus assures of his presence in the course their mission by working with them, accompanying them and confirming them with messages and accompanying signs. So Jesus gives us mission and all the more gives us assurance of his presence while engaging in the mission of God. So what more do we need when the Lord assures of us his presence and accompaniment. The presence of God and the accompaniment of God will bring about a drastic change in the life of everyone who encounters God through the words and deeds of the disciples and we as his followers are called to make the people encounter God by the words that we speak and the life that we live. 

Pope Francis on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord tells us that Jesus, although He ascended to Heaven to dwell gloriously at the right hand of the Father, is still and is always among us: this is the source of our strength, our perseverance and our joy.” Yes, it is a gaze at Jesus not with pessimism or suspicion rather a gaze of drawing strength, courage and joy to continue Jesus’ mission, believing in the promise of Jesus to be with us always. Most often we feel that the mission or the ministry that we are entrusted is impossible and difficult. It is because of our selfish motives or self-centred acts or over confidence and no confidence in God. But in reality, the Lord gives us his grace and power to make the mission possible, when we do what God wishes us in his mission work.

Today Jesus has not abandoned us rather assures us his presence and gives us a task in and through the solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus; Jesus invites us to partake in the mission of Jesus. That’s why Jesus entrusts us to continue the mission of preaching the good news and reaching out to people far and wide. Today, every Christian along with one’s life vision and mission, take into heart the vision and mission that Jesus entrusted to the Church and become co-workers and promoters of such mission to the world. Perhaps God makes sure his mission is continued and fulfilled, but it is we at times try to centralize our own petty ideas, our vision and mission with the mixed world vision and mission. And so, the mission focus is diverted and missionary dynamism dies. Today, let us continue the mission of Christ, without focusing on our own mission and ministry but seeking the benefit of entire humanity that God wishes and believing in the constant presence of Jesus. Let us remember that ascension of Jesus is an invitation and an indication to continue the mission of Jesus in and through the power of God's word, presence of Jesus and the accompaniment of the Holy Spirit. The mission of God will never become a failure, because it is God's mission and God makes it complete and perfect. What we need to do is to be open to the spirit of God, be guided and directed by God to accomplish the mission of saving act in our lives. May God accompany us to accomplish the mission of spreading his unconditional love to the whole of humanity.

RESPOND:

Do we realize our call to be Christians is living witnesses in the world?

Do we wish to become part of the glorious and sacred union with the Holy Trinity by the assistance of the Holy Spirit?

Do we take to heart in sharing and continuing the mission of Jesus entrusted to us on his ascension day?

Let us realize our call to be living witnesses, make efforts to share in the ascension of Jesus by becoming part of the sacred union with the Holy Trinity by the assistance of the Holy Spirit and take to heart the mission of Jesus spreading good news to all. Amen.

God bless us all! Live Jesus!

Fr. Ramesh George MSFS

rameshvkmsfs@gmail.com

9500930968