Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, BAV Chig. A. IV. 74, f. 116v

The Ascension is a liturgical Solemnity celebrated by all the Christian Churches. It falls on the fortieth day after Easter Sunday. Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Augustine make reference to it, but it was probably Saint Gregory of Nyssa who influenced the propagation of the feast. Since it falls on Thursday, in many countries, this Solemnity is transferred to the following Sunday. With his Ascension into heaven, the presence of the “historical Christ” comes to an end, and the presence of the Body of Christ, the Church, is inaugurated.

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt 28:16-20)

The Eleven

The Community of disciples, who gathered the “testimonies” about the proclamation of the Gospel, was a Community that was wounded due to the absence of one of their companions, Judas. Even though it was imperfect, it was to this specific and real Community that Jesus entrusted the task of becoming witnesses of his Gospel, of his proposal of love.

Galilee

The text precisely states that the mission the disciples received brought them back to the beginning of their experience with Jesus: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? (Acts 1:11, today’s First Reading). Galilee is where everything had begun. It was the place where they listened to Jesus, where the Community was formed, of daily life.

A new way of being

The text from Acts offers us some theological-spiritual coordinates to understand the mystery we are celebrating. The text says in Acts 1:11 that Jesus “was taken up”. It places emphasis that it was an action of God. A cloud “took him from their sight” (v. 9) recalls the image of the cloud on Mount Sinai (Ex. 24:15), the cloud above the ark of the covenant (Ex. 33:9), and lastly, the cloud on the Mount of the Transfiguration (Mk. 9:7). Jesus’s Ascension into heaven, therefore, is not a “separation” but a different way of being. He explains why the disciples were “filled with joy” (see Lk. 24:52). Because Jesus died, rose, and now ascended, the gates of Heaven are open, the gates of eternal life. The “cloud of faith” that envelops our lives today is not an obstacle, but a way through which we can have a living and true experience of Jesus, since we have the certainty that if he has risen and ascended into heaven, the same destiny awaits us, since he is the first fruit (see 1 Cor. 15:20).

Church on the move

We do not await the last day idly, nor do we close ourselves in our own homes. But, as Jesus reminds us, we await the last day dedicated to a mission that reaches the ends of the earth. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7ff). We are fortified by Jesus’s promise: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt. 28:19), where Jesus is our God, God-with-us (see Ex 3:12), Emmanuel (see Mt. 1:23; Is. 7:14).

And even if the disciples’ faithfulness failed at times, God’s faithfulness towards us never fails. This is why the journey of the community and of every disciple of the Risen Jesus is always open to new perspectives and possibilities, for nothing is impossible for God.

Lord, your ascension into heaven
fills me with joy
because the time for me to stand around looking
at what you are doing is over.
It’s time for me to be involved.
What you have entrusted to me
cracks the shell of my individualism
and of my standing around looking,
making me feel personally responsible
for the salvation of the world.
Lord, you have entrusted your Gospel to me
so that I might proclaim it on every street in the world.
Grant me the same strong faith
that your first apostles had
so that I might not be conquered by fear,
that difficulties might not stop me,
that misunderstanding might not dishearten me,
but that always and everywhere,
I might be your glad tidings,
that I might reveal your love,
just as the martyrs and saint did
throughout the history of all the peoples of the world.
(Dominican Fathers, Roman Province of Saint Catherine of Siena)

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
You who in your ascension
filled the Eleven with joy,
make us worthy of that same joy
through your prayer and your mercy.
Lord Jesus,
You who in your ascension
bore our fragile humanity into heaven
and opened for us the way that leads to Heaven,
fill us with the joy of serenity and peace.
Lord Jesus,
You who by ascending into heaven
clothed us with the gift of the Holy Spirit,
make us your witnesses in our daily lives
telling of the joy of your Mercy.
(Prayer by Father Andrea Vena)

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09 May

So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs. (Mk. 16:19-20).

A new orientation

The Gospel of Mark ends with this phrase. Jesus says farewell to his companions to return to his Father with whom he has inaugurated the Kingdom of God. This is a joyful guarantee that this is where we are headed on our journey. Jesus did not come only to give us a new way to live, but that this new way to live might find its orientation and goal. Thus, the things of this world might become our way to heaven, and that everything, even moments that are difficult and contradictory in life, might take on new meaning.

We like Him

The Ascension most certainly marks the completion of Jesus’s earthly life. But it is also a mystery of our own lives, it holds a truth about ourselves: just as He ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father, so we too are made for this same “ascension”, this return to the Father. All of creation, as Saint Paul recalls, “awaits with eager expectation…to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom. 8:19-21). Jesus’s Ascension in body and soul also tells us that our life, body included, is not an obstacle, but a way to reach Heaven. This is why we are called to make everything we are and do an “offering that is pleasing to God”.

A new way of being

The text from Acts offers us some theological-spiritual coordinates to understand the mystery we are celebrating. The text says in Acts 1:11 that Jesus “was taken up”. It places emphasis that it was an action of God. A cloud “took him from their sight” (v. 9) recalls the image of the cloud on Mount Sinai (Ex. 24:15), the cloud above the ark of the covenant (Ex. 33:9), and lastly, the cloud on the Mount of the Transfiguration (Mk. 9:7). Jesus’s Ascension into heaven, therefore, is not a “separation” but a different way of being. He explains why the disciples were “filled with joy” (see Lk. 24:52). Because Jesus died, rose, and now ascended, the gates of Heaven are open, the gates of eternal life. The “cloud of faith” that envelops our lives today is not an obstacle, but a way through which we can have a living and true experience of Jesus, since we have the certainty that if he has risen and ascended into heaven, the same destiny awaits us, since he is the first fruit (see 1 Cor. 15:20).

Church on the move

We do not await the last day idly, nor do we close ourselves in our own homes. But, as Jesus reminds us, we await the last day dedicated to a mission that reaches the ends of the earth. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7ff). We are fortified by Jesus’s promise: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt. 28:19), where Jesus is our God, God-with-us (see Ex 3:12), Emmanuel (see Mt. 1:23; Is. 7:14).

And even if the disciples’ faithfulness failed at times, God’s faithfulness towards us never fails. This is why the journey of the community and of every disciple of the Risen Jesus is always open to new perspectives and possibilities, for nothing is impossible for God.

Prayer

Christ has no hands,
he has only our hands
to do his work today.
Christ has no feet,
he has only our feet
to direct men and women
along his paths.
Christ has no lips,
he has only our lips
to tell the men and women living today
about him.
Christ has no means,
he has only the help we give him
to lead the men and women living today
to him.
We are the only Bible
that people still read,
we are the latest message from God
written in words and deeds.
(NB: This text is attributed by some to Raoul Follereau and by others to an Anonymous author from 14th-century Flanders)

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
You who in your ascension
filled the Eleven with joy,
make us worthy of that same joy
through your prayer and your mercy.
Lord Jesus,
You who in your ascension
bore our fragile humanity into heaven
and opened for us the way that leads to Heaven,
fill us with the joy of serenity and peace.
Lord Jesus,
You who by ascending into heaven
clothed us with the gift of the Holy Spirit,
make us your witnesses in our daily lives
telling of the joy of your Mercy.
(Prayer by Father Andrea Vena)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God. (Lk. 24:46-53)

He opened the Scriptures

It was Jesus himself who made himself an “Educator” for his disciples: “Thus it is written: that the Christ should suffer….” The disciples had just met the Risen Lord Jesus. They had eaten roasted fish with him. In the light of this Event, “he opens the disciples’ minds” to help them understand that what had happened was part of a plan of love, of the plan of salvation.

Clothed from on high

Jesus’s going away coincides with the gift of the Holy Spirit who will make the disciples capable of being witnesses to what they had seen and heard, and to do so with joy: they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.” The disciples abandoned the fear and timidity that had led them to distance themselves from the Cross. Now they found the courage to continue to make the marvelous works of the Lord Jesus present through their joy and courageous witness.

Conversion and forgiveness of sins

The content of their witness was the joy that God is love, he is Mercy. That is the force that can help us change direction, abandon a life of sin and orient ourselves toward a qualitatively better life.

Toward Bethany

The city of Bethany is located to the East of Jerusalem. It was there that the Glory of the Lord was expected to return (see Ez. 43:2; 11:23). Now, Jesus is preparing to ascend to the Father, but not before having led his disciples “outside”. This is a gesture that recalls the action of God when he liberated his people Israel. The evangelist Luke tries to make a connection to that episode, making us understand that everything finds it completion in Jesus.

A new way of being

The text from Acts offers us some theological-spiritual coordinates to understand the mystery we are celebrating. The text says in Acts 1:11 that Jesus “was taken up”. It places emphasis that it was an action of God. A cloud “took him from their sight” (v. 9) recalls the image of the cloud on Mount Sinai (Ex. 24:15), the cloud above the ark of the covenant (Ex. 33:9), and lastly, the cloud on the Mount of the Transfiguration (Mk. 9:7). Jesus’s Ascension into heaven, therefore, is not a “separation” but a different way of being. He explains why the disciples were “filled with joy” (see Lk. 24:52). Because Jesus died, rose, and now ascended, the gates of Heaven are open, the gates of eternal life. The “cloud of faith” that envelops our lives today is not an obstacle, but a way through which we can have a living and true experience of Jesus, since we have the certainty that if he has risen and ascended into heaven, the same destiny awaits us, since he is the first fruit (see 1 Cor. 15:20).

Church on the move

We do not await the last day idly, nor do we close ourselves in our own homes. But, as Jesus reminds us, we await the last day dedicated to a mission that reaches the ends of the earth. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7ff). We are fortified by Jesus’s promise: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt. 28:19), where Jesus is our God, God-with-us (see Ex 3:12), Emmanuel (see Mt. 1:23; Is. 7:14).

And even if the disciples’ faithfulness failed at times, God’s faithfulness towards us never fails. This is why the journey of the community and of every disciple of the Risen Jesus is always open to new perspectives and possibilities, for nothing is impossible for God.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
You who in your ascension
filled the Eleven with joy,
make us worthy of that same joy
through your prayer and your mercy.
Lord Jesus,
You who in your ascension
bore our fragile humanity into heaven
and opened for us the way that leads to Heaven,
fill us with the joy of serenity and peace.
Lord Jesus,
You who by ascending into heaven
clothed us with the gift of the Holy Spirit,
make us your witnesses in our daily lives
telling of the joy of your Mercy.
(Prayer by Father Andrea Vena)