Feast of the Ascension, Sunday, May 20, 2007

Scripture: Acts 1:1-11. Psalm 47:2-9. Hebrews 9:24-28; 10:19-23. Luke
24:46-53. Lectionary # 58, Cycle C:

Luke is the evangelist of the Ascension both in his Gospel and in the
opening paragraph of the Acts of the Apostles. It is he who tells us that
the resurrection appearances of Jesus lasted 40 days thus reminding of us
of the time Jesus spent in the desert preparing for his active preaching
and ministry. It also harkens back to the narrative of the Exodus. Luke
even uses the word "exodus" for the reference to Jesus' return to the
Father in Luke's narrative about the Transfiguration. Each mystery of
Jesus reveals more for the next mystery that we contemplate. When I was
younger, I imagined the Ascension literally and even experienced a symbolic
re-enactment of the Ascension in a small church in Switzerland where a
statue of Christ is lifted up into the ceiling of the Church and Jesus
disappears. I also saw this same thing at a Protestant version of the
Passion-Death and Resurrection of Jesus and then the dramatic lifting up
into the ceiling of the church. I think that Luke as the theologian and
historian pushes us further into reflecting about the Ascension of Jesus.
These forty days are given to Jesus' friends and disciples and to us to
give us the assurance of our faith that Jesus truly did rise from the dead
and appeared and then returned to the Father. Both in his opening verses
of the Gospel (Luke 1:1-4) and then in today's reading from the Acts of the
Apostles the transformative dramatic Ascension leads us to deepen our faith
with the writings of Luke who tells us explicitly that this is his purpose.
It is he who helps the early Christians not to expect an immediate return
of the Christ but to enter into the present work of the Holy Spirit in
salvation history. Jesus has sent the promise of himself and the Father
in the Person of the Holy Spirit who guides us through the history of our
time and enables us to be conformed to Christ so that we may take up the
role the apostles, disciples, and friends of Jesus had during their time.
A new purpose is given to us in the reading from Acts--not to stand idle
looking up into the heavens and hoping for an immediate return of Jesus,
but to boldly proclaim that Jesus is Lord. This is only possible through
the Person of the Holy Spirit working within us as a community and as
individuals sent out from the community as were the apostles and disciples
of Jesus. We are in the liturgical time experiencing a transition and a
transformation through the mystery of the Ascension. In the rosary we
dedicated the second glorious mystery to this event and have as our prayer
the gift of detachment from our own world of desires, things, and
possessions to the transformative graces of being one with the Lord of
history. We are encouraged by the bold assurance (parrhesia) of the
apostles in their preaching and teaching after the return of Jesus to the
Father. Today we have the opportunity to pray for the grace of our
conformity with Christ because of the presence of the Holy Spirit within
us. We, too, like the apostles are being sent out from our homes and
communities to make the Good News known to all peoples and to be convinced
that God is with us even to the end of time. Amen.