SASCENSION, CYCLE A

Readings First: Acts 1:1-11; Second: Eph 1:17-23; Gospel: Mt 28:16-20.

Connection between the readings

The ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven marks the end of his historical presence in the world, but even more, it emphasizes the power and sovereignty he exercises from heaven as Lord of history and of the universe. When the risen Jesus takes his leave, he addresses his disciples with these words: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Gospel). At the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples ask Jesus if he is going to restore the kingdom to Israel. Jesus replies: "It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you¡¦" (first reading). In the Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul asks God to grant us a revelation that will bring us to full knowledge of him, that will enable us to know the risen Christ who "sits at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination ¡¦ and that [God] has put all things under his feet" (second reading).

Doctrinal message

The ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven is a mystery of our faith, utterly foreign to our physical and earthly experience. But for God nothing is impossible. This is why the readings of the liturgy, on various occasions, mention the power, force, and authority of God. Anyone contemplating the history of salvation, as it is narrated in the Old and New Testaments, can see God¡¯s powerful action deployed in the people of Israel and the disciples of Jesus. He will keep his mind and heart more open to this mystery in which, together with the resurrection, God¡¯s power reaches the most sublime peaks. When he had ascended into heaven, the Father seated Jesus at his right hand, that is, he inaugurated the messianic kingdom, fulfilling the Prophet Daniel¡¯s vision: "On him was conferred sovereignty, glory and kingship, and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants. His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire ever be destroyed" (Dan 7:14) and thus showing his power and strength.

In this way the Father communicates his power to the Son, to Jesus Christ in glory. Christ¡¯s power is a universal power that embraces all the realities and beings of heaven and earth. It is a power of salvation, never condemnation. His name, by antonomasia, is redeemer, savior. Thus he says to his disciples: "Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Gospel). It is a power that he exercises in history, not directly but through the power of the Spirit, which the disciples receive in order to be "[his] witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth" (first reading).

Jesus Christ¡¯s redemptive and salvific power is expressed above all in the Church, "his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation" (second reading). In the Church and for the Church, Jesus Christ in glory continues to exercise it among men in order to save them. For this reason Christ¡¯s kingdom is already active in the Church and possesses the dynamism of hope for the definitive and eternal kingdom, at the end of time.

Pastoral suggestions

In Christian life one must be wary of two possible deviations. One, which I will call Pelagian, is to think and act as if man had the "power" to conquer heaven for himself; the other, Lutheran, consists in being convinced that "deeds do not count," and that everything depends totally on abandonment to God¡¯s power. We Christians must keep the difficult balance between the two tendencies that we perhaps find in our own hearts. If this balance is upset, Christian life itself is also upset. Either we will place our trust in our own "strength," considering holiness as a titanic undertaking – and therefore for the very few privileged – and seeing heaven as a deserved reward for our gigantic effort; or, on the contrary, we will totally mistrust our own strengths and efforts because of our congenital powerlessness, and will consequently "oblige" God to manifest his power in us, imagining heaven as a "gift" of God, unrelated to our will and moral conduct.

The priest is teacher, educator, and witness. As a teacher he must teach the faithful the ways of faith and morals, the ways of holiness, the ways that lead to the Father of heaven. As educator, with patience and respect, he should speak to men and women of heaven as their destiny. He should enlighten their consciences in order not to deflect them. He should accompany them in their daily difficulties and struggles on their way toward the Father¡¯s house. He should always be available for those who need God¡¯s mercy and spiritual guidance. As a witness, he should make others feel, by his life and conduct, that "his true homeland is heaven." He should proclaim and confess with his actions what he really feels in his heart. He should live detached from earthly ambitions, over materialistic compensations and notably worldly behavior, which do not help the faithful to raise their gaze to heaven and to God.

Source: http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2004-05/21-13/CICLOC.html by P. ANTONIO IZQUIERDO L.C. (1948-2013)

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