Homily for Solemnity of Ascension

Homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension

May 29, 2025
Acts 1: 1-11
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

The Ascension (Rembrandt)

“Jesus … was taken up after giving instructions thru the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1: 2).

In all the years I’ve been reading the New Testament—since I was in high school, if not sooner—I never really noticed that line before this week.  I knew, of course, that Jesus had lingered with his disciples for 40 days, according to Luke’s timeframe, appearing to them now and again and speaking with them.

But what does “he instructed them thru the Holy Spirit” mean?  I suppose, in part, that he continued what he’d done during his public ministry, following the Spirit’s coming upon him at his baptism (Luke 3:22).  I suppose it also means that at this post-resurrection time he explained further why Christ had to suffer and how he fulfilled the prophecies, as he explained to the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32).  All the disciples needed light from the Holy Spirit to grasp what Jesus’ life, teachings, passion, and resurrection meant.

St. Luke also tells us that they were to “wait for the promise of the Father,” waiting to “be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4-5).  That Jesus himself was Spirit-inspired was insufficient for his paschal mystery’s full impact on them and for their ability to carry out the commission he was giving them.  Luke here is in synch with John’s account of the Lord’s promise at the Last Supper to send them the “Advocate” (e.g., 14:16,26; 16:7-15) after he has departed from them, not leaving them orphans but remaining with them in a different presence (14:18).

His new presence will present them with a power they haven’t imagined—not the restoration of the kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6) with them as his vice regents (cf. Luke 22:30), but with the power of the Holy Spirit for their mission of being Jesus’ witnesses in Israel and “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  For that mission, they’ll need the wisdom, courage, and fortitude that they so evidently have lacked until this point.  How they were changed by the Spirit gives us hope.

The Acts of the Apostles will tell us—it’s been telling us thruout the Easter season—what the Spirit enabled the 12, the deacons Stephen and Philip, and other apostles to do to carry out their commission from Jesus.  Inspired ourselves with the gift of the Holy Spirit and the apostolic preaching handed down to us, we celebrate the sacred mysteries of the Lord’s passover and do our best to live as Jesus teaches and to hand on his Gospel of salvation.