Sunday, May 23, 2004
Ascension Sunday

1st Reading: Acts 1:1-11

In the first part of my work, Theophilus, I wrote of all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he ascended to heaven.

But first he had instructed through the Holy Spirit the apostles he had chosen. After his passion, he presented himself to them, giving many signs that he was alive; over a period of forty days he appeared to them and taught them concerning the kingdom of God. Once when he had been eating with them, he told them, "Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the fulfillment of the Father's promise about which I have spoken to you: John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit within a few days."

When they had come together, they asked him, "Is it now that you will restore the Kingdom of Israel?" And he answered, "It is not for you to know the time and the steps that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the earth."

After Jesus said this, he was taken up before their eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight. While they were still looking up to heaven where he went, suddenly, two men dressed in white stood beside them and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will return in the same way as you have seen him go there."

2nd Reading: Heb 9:24-28; 10:19-23

Christ did not enter some sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself. He is now in the presence of God on our behalf. He had not to offer himself many times, as the High Priest does: he who may return every year, because the blood is not his own. Otherwise he would have suffered many times from the creation of the world. But no; he manifested himself only now at the end of the ages, to take away sin by sacrifice, and, as humans die only once and afterwards are judged, in the same way Christ sacrificed himself once to take away the sins of the multitude. There will be no further question of sin when he comes again to save those waiting for him.

So, my friends, we are assured of entering the Sanctuary by the blood of Jesus who opened for us this new and living way passing through the curtain, that is, his body. Because we have a high priest in charge of the House of God, let us approach with a sincere heart, with full faith, interiorly cleansed from a bad conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast to our hope without wavering, because he who promised is faithful.

Gospel: Lk 24:46-53

Jesus said to the eleven, "You see what was written: the Messiah had to suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. Then repentance and forgiveness in his name would be proclaimed to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Now you shall be witnesses to this. And this is why I will send you what my Father promised. So remain in the city until you are invested with power from above."
Jesus led them almost as far as Bethany; then he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And as he blessed them, he withdrew (and was taken to heaven. They worshiped him). They returned to Jerusalem full of joy and were continually in the Temple praising God.

Commentary

"REMAIN in the city until you are invested with power from above." In other words, learn patience, learn how to wait; and unlearn the tendency to leap in, feet first. There is an urgency about the Gospel, but it is the part of wisdom to wait till the right time. Nowadays it's hard to wait. There are sects in which the "Elders" are not necessarily out of their teens! The Gospel is badly served by someone who is just restless or ambitious, or merely brainless. When there is no wisdom there are only advertising techniques.

Within oneself too there is a need to learn how to wait and not jump in with ready answers. Julian of Norwich, deeply immersed in a difficult question, wrote, "I decided to stop puzzling over this, and to look to the Lord, and see what he would show me."

There are two kinds of useless answer: to a question that has not arisen, and to a question that cannot be answered. Religious people, unfortunately, are ever ready with both kinds of answer. We pray today that the Holy Spirit, who so often drives people into very vocal prayer (see the end of today's reading), may also drive us sometimes, as Jesus was driven, into the desert-the place of silence and solitude.

Read also Sundays Into Silence: Did Christ Leave Us or Stay with Us?

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