THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD
24 MAY 2020
Jesus
began his public ministry in Galilee. In
Galilee he taught his earliest followers how to become disciples. Over time, he taught them how to listen to
him. By listening, they began to learn
how to live. He taught them how to
pray. Most importantly he taught them
how to do what is pleasing to the Father.
Not only did he teach disciples how to live in a totally different way,
but he formed them most powerfully through his own example. After he had given himself completely to them
in his sacrificial death, he instructed the women who had encountered him in
the resurrection to tell his brothers to return to Galilee, where they will see
him again.
That is
exactly what they have done. Today, they
gather on a mountain in Galilee.
Mountains had always been incredibly important in the process of Jesus
teaching his followers how to be disciples.
He had often gone to a mountain to pray to the Father. He was tempted on a high mountain in the
desert before his public ministry. He
gave his most famous sermon on a mountain.
He had been transfigured on a mountain, and his final agony was at the
foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
On this mountain, the risen Christ encounters the eleven, as he had
promised. Like the Magi at the beginning
of the Gospel of Saint Matthew, they worship him. But interestingly, Saint Matthew reports that
they continued to doubt. Like the Magi,
they do not completely understand the mystery before them and with many
questions.
But those
doubts and questions do not stop the risen Christ. Even though he had instructed them throughout
his public ministry to go first to their fellow Jews, he now sends them to make
disciples of all nations. After
baptizing those drawn to Christ, these witnesses of the resurrection would do
for the new converts what Jesus had done to them. They would teach them how to listen to the risen
Lord in his Word. They would teach them
how to live and how to pray. They would
teach them how to do what is pleasing to the Father. At the beginning of his Gospel, Matthew had
declared that Jesus Christ is Emmanuel, which means that God is with us. As he gives this great commission at the end
of the Gospel, he assures them that he continues to be Emmanuel. He continues to be with us always, until the
end of the age.
The great
Mystery of the Ascension is that the risen Lord is more with us now than he was
ever with his disciples during his earthly ministry. He is present to us in the Sacramental life
of the Church. He promises to be with
us, whenever two or more of us gather in his name. During this last forty days of the Easter
Season, he has led us in reflecting on the Mystery of his resurrection. We have come to believe that the words of the
witnesses are true.
As we wait
to celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost next Sunday, we pray for a new
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Through
Baptism, we have become his disciples.
We have listened to him speaking to us in his Word. He has taught us how to live, and we have
learned to pray in new ways, especially in the confinement of these pandemic
months. As we allow the Holy Spirit to
help us learn how to do what is pleasing to the Father, we too can be effective
evangelists in our day and in our world, even in the midst of our doubts and
hesitations. The Lord entrusts this
mission to us, just as he entrusted this mission to the earliest witnesses of
the resurrection.
No comments:
Post a Comment