of the Ascension of the Lord
Acts 1: 1-11
May 28, 2017
Matt 28: 16-20
Holy Cross, Champaign, Ill.
“Wait
for the promise of the Father about which you heard me speak” (Acts 1: 4).
You’re
all familiar with sequels. Countless
successful movies have them, sometimes multiple parts like Star Wars; books too, like the Harry Potter series. Our 1st reading today is the opening lines of
St. Luke’s sequel to his Gospel. If you
wanted to, you could call it “The Good News of Jesus Christ, Part II.” On the other hand, it’s often called “The
Gospel of the Holy Spirit” because the Spirit is mentioned so many times in
this book (twice in the 11 verses we just read), often as a principal actor
driving the apostles’ actions.
Officially, of course, it’s titled “The Acts of the Apostles,” a
historical record—in parts an eyewitness account—of what Jesus’ closest
followers did and preached in the 1st years after his resurrection from the
dead.
 |
The Ascension of Jesus
Benjamin West
|
The
fundamental truths are these: Jesus was
truly raised from the dead and is physically alive, immortal, but also
transformed so that he can be seen bodily, be touched, be heard, eat; yet also
disappear at will, pass thru closed doors, etc.
Jesus in his risen body is now in heaven with his Father, ruling over
creation and interceding for the human race—our human ambassador at the divine
court, as it were, representing the interests of humanity, especially seeking
mercy for us. And Jesus will return at
the end of history to raise from the dead and lead into the glory of heaven all
of his disciples and to ratify the damnable choice made by anyone who has
refused his mercy and remained in sin.
As our Collect noted, “Where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body
[all of his disciples] is called to follow in hope.”
Before we follow our Lord Jesus into heavenly
glory, however, we have 2 commissions to carry out, 2 directives that he gave
his disciples before he left them.
The
1st is “to wait for the promise of the Father,” i.e., for “baptism with the
Holy Spirit” (1:4-5). To that he adds,
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (1:8).
The
2d command tells them what they’re to do with that power of the Holy
Spirit: “You will be my witnesses … to
the ends of the earth” (1:8), a commission confirmed in St. Matthew’s version
of the Ascension: “Go, therefore, and
make disciples of all nations, … teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you” (28:19-20).
When the Lord tells us that he will always
remain with us (e.g., Matt 28:20), he isn’t specific about how he’ll be
present. Certainly he’s present
sacramentally in the Eucharist. But the
scriptural stress today is on his presence thru the Holy Spirit.
The
apostles and the rest of the disciples—some 120 in all, according to Acts 1:15,
including Mary, the mother of Jesus (1:14)—had to wait for the Holy Spirit. It was only when the Spirit came down upon
them in wind and fire—as we’ll recall next Sunday, Pentecost—that they received
this wondrous baptism the Risen Lord speaks of—and were filled with courage,
strength, wisdom, and the other gifts they needed to become, in truth, apostles, men and women sent to spread
the Good News of Jesus, sent to be his witnesses.
In
one sense, you and I aren’t waiting for the Holy Spirit, my brothers and
sisters. He’s already been given to us
in Baptism and, for most of us, in Confirmation. We have already been given the power of the
Holy Spirit.
In
another sense, we’re still waiting on the Spirit. Or perhaps the Spirit is waiting on us. Have we invoked his sacred power? Have we called upon him to inspire us, give
us wisdom, give us courage, help us play our proper roles as witnesses of Jesus
Christ? If we want his power in our
lives, we have to ask him to come upon us, to fill our hearts and our minds, to
drive our wills.
Empowered
by the Spirit, the apostles began immediately to preach the resurrection of
Jesus, the forgiveness of sins, and mankind’s reconciliation with God. They began on that Pentecost day to convert
the world; Acts tells us that after Peter preached that day, “about 3,000
persons were added” to the number of believers (1:41). The apostles began “in Jerusalem” and then
moved on “thruout Judea and Samaria,” and as Acts narrates, into Syria, Cyprus,
Asia Minor, Greece, and as far as Rome, and eventually “to the ends of the
earth” (1:8). To study church history is
in part to study the steady expansion of Christianity to all 6 inhabited
continents. I’m sure there’s also a
Christian presence on the 7th continent, among the scientists and military
personnel living in Antarctica.
Jesus
Christ came for the redemption of the entire human race, and he sent his
Church—empowered his Church, which meant the apostles and all the disciples,
and now means us as well—to perpetuate his mission of redemption in every land
and in every age. Today there are about
2.4 billion Christians on this earth.
That sounds like a lot. Some of
course, are Christians only in name, aren’t really believers, and don’t
practice what they profess. E.g.,
supposedly more than 1,000 families belong to our parish; but on any given
Sunday, only 800 individuals come to give thanks to God for their salvation and
recharge themselves with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Apart
from that little matter, if there are about 7.3 billion people living on the
planet, what’s 2.4 billion?[1] 33%.
It’s a considerable shortfall, no?
The mission of Jesus is far from complete, sisters and brothers. We have a lot more witnessing to do—truly to
live our faith on Sundays and weekdays, to know who we are as followers of
Jesus, to speak and act constantly, consistently, courageously, humbly as
followers of Jesus amid our families and friends and co-workers and anyone with
whom we interact. We are empowered by
the Holy Spirit to be witnesses of Jesus in Champaign, thruout Illinois, and to
the ends of the earth. To us too Jesus
says, “Go and make disciples”—1st in our own families, and then as opportunity
presents itself, especially thru apostolic activity in our parish, e.g., in
pro-life action, St. Vincent de Paul, catechetical action, Eucharistic ministry,
youth ministry, music ministry. Not
least, pray for missionaries,
priests, and other apostolic workers; pray for the conversion of sinners,
always conscious that you, too, are a sinner still needing to turn fully to
Jesus. (Me too.) May the grace and power of the Holy Spirit
touch us all and lead us to fullness of life in Jesus Christ!
No comments:
Post a Comment