ASCENSION OF OUR LORD (B)
(Acts 1:1-11; Eph. 1:17-23; Mark
16:15-20)
In our second reading Saint Paul said that, having heard
of the Ephesians’ faith in the Lord Jesus and of their love for the saints, he
had not stopped giving thanks for them and was constantly asking God to bless
them with the Gift of the Holy Spirit so that:
The eyes of (your) hearts may be enlightened, that you
may know what is the hope that belongs to His call, what are the riches of glory
in His inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of
His power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of His great
might, which He worked in Christ, raising Him from the dead and
seating Him at His right hand in the heavens.
Today’s celebration makes clear just what St. Paul had
in mind when he prayed that they might know
what is the hope that belongs to the call they had received, for surely
the holy Apostles exemplified that hope when:
They were looking intently at the sky as He was going,
(when) suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you
standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus Who has been taken up from you
into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen Him going into
heaven.”
Their hope was clear indeed, to follow Jesus to heaven:
to finally leave behind this world where beauty does indeed abound, but not
without the ugliness of sin, suffering,
and death; where human knowledge, though ever increasing, can never be
comprehensive, and thus, being under constant threat from our native ignorance,
fallibility and pride, does not always or necessarily lead us to peace or
wisdom; and where, consequently, though much is promised and envisaged, true
fulfilment is rarely close at hand.
And so, the disciples must wait, perhaps long years, and
experience many trials, before they are called to follow the Lord Jesus
heavenward. What, therefore, are they to
do, above all how are they to live, in the meantime? Let us turn back to Saint Paul’s
words:
That you may know what are the riches of glory in His
inheritance among the holy ones.
Yes indeed, our hope is not only to ultimately leave
behind and below our sinful selves and this sin-scarred world, but also -- and
much more urgently -- to know how the riches of God’s glory may become active
and fruitful in our earthly lives as
they have been so wonderfully displayed in the lives of His saints in Mother
Church. We have some knowledge and
awareness of God’s inheritance among the Saints here on earth: saints now
glorious in the heavenly kingdom and in the memory of Mother Church for their
courage under persecution and torture; saints both strong and faithful despite
being, at times, but slight in body and tender in years; saints whose
perseverance was not sustained by hatred or bravado but characterized by
humility and forgiveness; saints whose goodness towards the poor and needy, the
homeless and sick, those outcast and despised, has inspired countless followers
over centuries of darkness and cruelty; saints whose wisdom has been such as to
enlighten both their world and ours; and again, others whose simplicity and
artlessness proclaimed and still proclaims them -- to our great delight -- as
true children of God.
Yes, we know something of God’s glorious inheritance
among His and Mother Church’s saints here on earth; and we most ardently praise
Him, congratulate her, and admire them!
But how can our life and death come to be so resplendent with God’s glory
as was theirs! We admire them; but they
do embarrass us, perhaps even frighten us!!
For they remind us of those words of Saint Paul:
If (we are) children, then heirs – heirs of God and
fellow-heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also
be glorified with Him. (Romans 8:17)
And how can we – so faithless and full of self-love --
hope to be able to suffer with Him as they did, in order that we –with them --
may also be glorified with Him?
Ah, that is what the Apostle finally prayed for us in
our second reading today:
May the eyes of (your) hearts be enlightened, that you
may know what is the surpassing greatness of His power for us who
believe, in accord with the exercise of His great might, which He
worked in Christ, raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in
the heavens.
In Mother Church our eyes are nowadays enlightened to
know that the Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead up to the right hand of the
Father in heaven has been shared with us, sent to us from the right hand of the
Father by Jesus. He is the Spirit of the
Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord, and has become for us, in Mother Church,
the Gift of Pentecost and the shared Spirit of our Eucharistic Lord, sent to
fill our minds and hearts with joy, hope and confidence, even in our present
times of growing public opposition, opprobrium, and persecution. Above all,
however, He is the Spirit Who will work at Jesus’ behest throughout our lives to
form us -- according to the measure of our willingness and co-operation -- in
the likeness of Jesus for the Father, so that we may be able to celebrate with
ever greater love, compassion, and contrition, the Lord’s Passion and Death both
in the liturgy of Mother Church, and in our response to life as coming to us
daily from the hands of the Father.
What are the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the
Saints? They are indeed some
participation in the glory which He won for us when One with us, and in the
glory which He had with the Father before the world began; for He has raised our
humanity up far beyond our native state and above all the angelic choirs. We do not know what our personal share of
that glory, of such an inheritance, will be, for even St. John the beloved
disciple could only promise:
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has
not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone
who has this hope based on Him makes himself pure, as He is pure.
We shall see Him as we have come to know Him -- and be
known by Him -- through our faithfulness, love, and perseverance here on
earth.
Therefore, as today we celebrate the Ascension of Our
Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we look forward in anticipation to next
week’s celebration of Pentecost, calling to mind once again and cherishing yet
more deeply in our hearts the words of the Apostle’s prayer:
May the eyes of (your) hearts be enlightened, that you
may know what is the hope that belongs to His call, what are the riches of glory
in His inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of
His power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of His great
might, which He worked in Christ, raising Him from the dead and
seating Him at His right hand in the heavens.
