Introduction: Ascension: May the Lord continue to open your life to the promptings of the Holy Spirit so that you may fulfill your on-going mission of spreading the Good News.
As we celebrate Ascension Sunday, we recall Jesus’ return to His Abba-Father and His commissioning of His disciples to carry on His ministry and mission of proclaiming the Gospel to all people, with the promise of the further outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We all have a share in this mission of spreading the Good News and we also can look forward to a further empowerment of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
First Reading Acts 1:1-11: Jesus was lifted up while they looked on
Commentary: How are we to envisage what happened at the Ascension? Two feet disappearing into a cloud? It is mentioned only in the Acts. Luke, the author, is putting across several messages. Firstly, the 40 days since Easter should not be carefully counted. In biblical language ‘40’ makes just ‘a fairly long period’, often a period of preparation, like Jesus’ 40 days being tested in the desert, or Israel’s 40 years of the Exodus. For all that time Jesus has been preparing his apostles. Secondly, it is the definitive parting of the physical Jesus, after which the Risen Christ is no longer with his disciples. It is now the Spirit of Christ which is at the heart of the Church, inspiring all its activity. Thirdly, Luke represents Jesus as a prophet (and more than a prophet), so he leaves his disciples in the same way as the prophet Elijah, who was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot, leaving his disciple Elisha to carry on his work, filled with a double share of his spirit.
Responsorial Psalm 47:2-3,6-9, God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.
Psalm 47 is often associated with the Ascension of the Lord and is a song of praise to God, the King of all the earth. Here’s a brief Catholic commentary on the verses you’ve mentioned:
Verses 2-3: These verses recognize God’s awesome power and sovereignty. The psalmist calls the people to acknowledge God’s supremacy over all nations and peoples. It’s a call to worship God for His mighty deeds and His exalted nature.
Verses 6-9: The psalmist invites everyone to sing praises to God with a joyful song. The “music” and “sound” mentioned here are expressions of jubilant worship. Verse 8 speaks of God’s reign over the nations, emphasizing His universal kingship. Finally, verse 9 describes the gathering of the princes of the peoples to the people of the God of Abraham, symbolizing unity under God’s rule.
Second Reading, Ephesians 4:1-13: We are all to come to unity, fully mature in the knowledge of the Son of God
Commentary: This alternative reading has two crucial passages, divided by a puzzling section. The Letter to the Ephesians was probably written by a close follower of Paul rather than the apostle himself. In many ways it sums up and develops Paul’s teaching. The puzzling bit in the middle is a specialized piece of Jewish exegesis, brought in by the quotation of Psalm 68 (67).18. The point of the passage is not the rather contrived explanation of ‘ascended’, but the fact that Christ’s return to the Father ensured the gifts of the Spirit. These gifts are detailed both before and after the quotation. The earlier part is almost a reflection on Paul’s plea to the Corinthians in First Corinthians 1-3, urging them to abandon their squabbles are work together: ‘one Lord, one faith, on baptism’, a unity of Christ’s followers for which we are still hoping and praying ever more urgently. After the quotation comes what could also be a reflection on the later teaching of First Corinthians 12-14 about the gifts of the Spirit. Through the Spirit every member of the Church has their own special gift, their own special contribution and ministry to building up the body of Christ
Gospel Mark 16:15-20, Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News
Commentary: This final blessing on the mission of the disciples summarizes events narrated in the Acts of the Apostles, events which show the power of the Spirit at work in their mission. Finally the account of the Ascension itself is given, modelled on the account given in the Acts, the assurance of the power of Christ which stands behind all the works of his followers and believers. Most of these activities would not be expected in today’s Church, but the first and the last are still the task of the Church. Casting out evil spirits and healing may not be done so dramatically as in the gospel miracles, but it is still the Christian’s task to bring goodness where there is evil and healing where there are wounds. We have many opportunities in the course of the day either to foment anger and enmity or to soothe it, opportunities to roughen a wound or to smooth it down. As we know from our failures to do this, such works are the works of the Spirit of Christ, supporting our own weakness and triumphing over our own leanings towards evil.
Reflection: Why did Jesus leave his disciples forty days after his resurrection? Forty is a significant number in the scriptures. Moses went to the mountain to seek the face of God for forty days in prayer and fasting. The people of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years in preparation for their entry into the promised land. Elijah fasted for forty days as he journeyed in the wilderness to the mountain of God. For forty days after his resurrection Jesus appeared numerous times to his disciples to assure them that he had risen indeed and to prepare them for the task of carrying on the work which he began during his earthy ministry.
The Risen Lord Jesus is with us always to the end of time
Jesus' departure and ascension was both an end and a beginning for his disciples. While it was the end of Jesus' physical presence with his beloved disciples, it marked the beginning of Jesus' presence with them in a new way. Jesus promised that he would be with them always to the end of time (Matthew 28:20). Now as the glorified and risen Lord and Savior, ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven, Jesus promised to send them the Holy Spirit who would anoint them with power on the Feast of Pentecost, just as Jesus was anointed for his ministry at the River Jordan. When the Lord Jesus departed physically from the apostles, they were not left in sorrow or grief. Instead, they were filled with joy and with great anticipation for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
The Risen Lord empowers us to carry on his work
Jesus' last words to his apostles point to his saving mission and to their mission to be witnesses of his saving death and his glorious resurrection and to proclaim the good news of salvation to all the world. Their task is to proclaim the Gospel - the good news of salvation - not only to the people of Israel, but to all the nations as well. God's love and gift of salvation is not reserved for a few or for one nation alone, but it is for the whole world - for all who will accept it. The Gospel is the power of God, the power to release people from their burden of guilt, sin, and oppression, and the power to heal, restore, and make us whole. Do you believe in the power of the Gospel?
We are ambassadors for Jesus Christ
This is the great commission which the risen Christ gives to the whole church. All believers have been given a share in this task - to be heralds of the good news and ambassadors for Jesus Christ, the only savior of the world. We have not been left alone in this task, for the risen Lord works in and through us by the power of his Holy Spirit. Today we witness a new Pentecost as the Lord pours out his Holy Spirit upon his people to renew and strengthen the body of Christ and to equip it for effective ministry and mission world-wide. Do you witness to others the joy of the Gospel and the hope of the resurrection?
Lord Jesus, through the gift of your Holy Spirit, you fill us with an indomitable spirit of praise and joy which no earthly trial can subdue. Fill me with your resurrection joy and help me to live a life of praise and thanksgiving for your glory. May I witness to those around me the joy of the Gospel and the reality of your great victory over sin and death.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Jesus ascends to heaven in his body - divine and human nature, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"You heard what came to our ears just now from the Gospel: 'Lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And it happened, while he was blessing them he withdrew from them, and was carried up to heaven.' Who was carried up to heaven? The Lord Christ was. Who is the Lord Christ? He is the Lord Jesus. What is this? Are you going to separate the human from the divine and make one person of God, another of the man, so that there is no longer a trinity of three but a quaternary of four? Just as you, a human being, are soul and body, so the Lord Christ is Word, soul and body. The Word did not depart from the Father. He both came to us and did not forsake the Father. He both took flesh in the womb and continued to govern the universe. What was lifted up into heaven, if not what had been taken from earth? That is to say, the very flesh, the very body, about which he was speaking when he said to the disciples, 'Feel, and see that a spirit does not have bones and flesh, as you can see that I have' (Luke 24:39). Let us believe this, brothers and sisters, and if we have difficulty in meeting the arguments of the philosophers, let us hold on to what was demonstrated in the Lord's case without any difficulty of faith. Let them chatter, but let us believe." (excerpt from Sermon 242,6)
THE INCARNATION AND THE CHURCH
“No sooner had He said this than He was lifted up before their eyes in a cloud which took Him from their sight.” —Acts 1:9
Jesus’ Ascension seemed to have ended our time to benefit from His Incarnation. We could no longer see God face-to-face, hear Him, and touch Him. However, Jesus had promised that He would not leave us orphaned (Jn 14:18). He would be with us always (Mt 28:20), and it is better for us that He go (Jn 16:7).
Jesus knew that His apostles would not understand His Ascension, so He told them to remain in Jerusalem. Within a few days, they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). They obeyed the Lord after His Ascension and “returned to Jerusalem filled with joy. There they were to be found in the temple constantly, speaking the praises of God” (Lk 24:52-53). “Together they devoted themselves to constant prayer” (Acts 1:14).
After nine days of prayer, 120 of Jesus’ disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:15; 2:4). They baptized 3,000 people that day (Acts 2:41), and the Church was born. This newborn Church eventually came to be recognized as the body of Christ, the continuation and development of Jesus’ Incarnation (e.g. 1 Cor 12:12; Eph 1:23).
Pray the Pentecost Novena for the Holy Spirit to come and guide you to all truth (Jn 16:13), especially the truth about His Incarnation and the Church.
Prayer: Father, I accept Your grace to pray the Pentecost Novena. Come, Holy Spirit! “He has put all things under Christ’s feet and has made Him, thus exalted, Head of the Church, which is His body: the fullness of Him Who fills the universe in all its parts.” —Eph 1:22-23. Alleluia! Jesus is risen, ascended, and glorified! Praise God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!
The personal action for today: In what ways am I like the apostles in my standing around looking up to heaven, wondering what is happening without my doing anything? To whom in my life is it most difficult to be sent and to minister? Which gift/fruit of the Holy Spirit (knowledge, wisdom, understanding, peace, joy, discernment, hope, faith, love, endurance, being in awe of GOD) do I need the most at this moment in my life? How can I more faithfully proclaim the GOoD News to those to whom I am sent?