BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 27)
Ascension of the Lord, Year B – May 29/June 1, 2003
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 1:1-11 // Eph 4:1-13 or Eph 1:17-23 // Mk 16:15-20
One of my most unforgettable experiences was my visit to Madras, India when I made a pilgrimage to St. Thomas Cathedral where, according to local tradition, the body of the apostle Thomas is buried. I also visited the cave perched on a desolate mountain where he made water gush forth to slake the thirst of the people to whom he had been preaching the Good News of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Our guide drew water from the well-spring of St. Thomas and offered it to the pilgrims to drink. The limpid water tasted fresh and sweet. Indeed, Christianity had reached India during the apostolic times, with St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew sowing the seeds of faith, in obedience to the apostolic mandate of the Risen Lord ascended into heaven. Today’s Syro-Malabar Christian communities in India, who trace their origin to the preaching of St. Thomas, testify to the extent of the zeal and ardor of the first apostles commissioned by Jesus Christ, ascended into heaven, to go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15).
Today we commemorate the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven. Christians have always believed that Jesus, having completed his earthly mission of salvation, returned to God who has sent him, and now takes up his continuing saving role as priest, prophet and king. According to Mk 16:19: “The Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.” The image of Jesus “sitting at the right hand of God” is not a static symbol, but an indication of power and authority. It symbolizes Jesus’ close relationship to God and his role as God’s agent. According to Harold Buetow: “When he was visibly present on earth, Jesus was limited by time and space. By his ascension, Jesus is no longer limited to the dimensions of earth. Jesus’ enthronement signifies that Jesus in his humanity has now reached a position of equality and association with the Father where all God’s power can act through him.” The ascension of Jesus into heaven, “who took his seat at the right hand of God” is a celebration of Christ’s glorified humanity.
The feast of the Lord’s ascension, moreover, is a celebration of his new and enduring presence. No longer present in his earthly reality, the glorified form of Jesus is present to us profoundly and intimately by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is present in the living Word proclaimed, prayed and lived. He is present in the worshipping assembly gathered in his name. He is present in the Eucharist and in the other sacraments. He is with us in the saving work of bringing the dispersed sheep into his fold. Through his ascension, Jesus ceases to be present to the Church in one way in order to be present in another. According to Aelred Rossner: “We celebrate today the Risen Lord’s appearance among us in a new and wonderful way, far beyond the power of the human eye, but well within the loving grasp of the believing heart.”
The continuing presence of the Risen Lord ascended into heaven, in the lives of his apostles and disciples, confirms them in the missionary mandate: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). Today’s Gospel passage is derived from what is called the “longer ending” (Mk 16:9-20). The original form of Mark’s Gospel almost certainly ended at the empty tomb (v. 8). According to the Collegeville Biblical Commentary: “Although the Church has recognized the added endings as worthy of inclusion in the inspired text, none of them is as inspiring and involving as Mark’s own. Mark’s abrupt ending leaves it up to his readers to complete his Gospel in their lives.” The canonical finale (vv. 9-20) that has been added includes the appearances of the Risen Jesus to Mary Magdalene and to the disciples. The Collegeville Biblical Commentary further explains: “These visions were meant to inspire the early missionary Church to go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature (v. 15). The Church’s missionaries had nothing to fear, because the ascended Lord (v. 19) was with them in their preaching (v. 20) and would confirm their message with special signs of his protection and power (vv. 17-18).” Indeed, our celebration of the Lord’s ascension is a call to actively spread the Gospel. The “Gospel” to be proclaimed to every creature refers not to a doctrine, but to the very person of Jesus. With the Risen Lord Jesus as the content of the proclamation, the apostles went everywhere promptly and unhesitatingly.
The witnessing Church in mission was powered by an energy that came from on high in accordance with the Risen Lord’s assurance: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit, the vitalizing power of the Church’s mission, is the ultimate and enduring manifestation of the risen Lord’s presence in the world. In the Acts of the Apostles, the evangelist Luke presents the Spirit uniquely as the divine energy communicated to the witnesses of Christ in view of the tasks they are to perform. The believer whom the Risen One encounters lives henceforth by his Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the source of various charisms that build up the Church and the principle of continued existence in the sacred era of the Church’s mission.
According to St. Paul, the Church, whose head is the One seated at the right hand in the heavens, is the fullness of Jesus (Eph 1:23). Just as Jesus is the fullness of the Father, so the Church is the fullness of Jesus. Each one of us, as members of the Church, is called to attain the full stature of Christ (Eph 4:13) and his fullness. According to Jean Corbon: “The ascension is progressive until we all form the perfect Man fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself. The movement of the ascension will be complete only when all the members of his body have been drawn to the Father and brought to life by his Spirit … The ascension is the activation of the paschal energy of Christ who fills all things. It is the ever-new moment of his coming.” Indeed, the feast of the Lord’s ascension into heaven is an invitation to attain personally to the full stature of Christ and a renewed mandate to proclaim the Gospel to every creature, so as to achieve the cosmic fullness willed by God and hoped for by us.
A. Do I believe that Jesus’ ascension doesn’t mean that he has departed from us and that he is truly present to us in a new and wonderful way through the power of the Holy Spirit?B. What do I do concretely to respond to the missionary mandate of the Risen Lord ascended into heaven: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature”?
C. Does the quality of my service promote a person’s growth in the full stature of Christ and help achieve his fullness in all creation?
(From the Liturgy of the Hours, Feast of the Lord’s Ascension)
Leader: The Lord has been lifted high above the earth and draws all things to himself. Let us cry out to him in our joy:
(R.) LORD JESUS, YOU ARE THE KING OF GLORY.
1. Lord Jesus, King of glory, you were offered once as the victim for sins, and ascended to the right hand of the Father: make perfect for all time those whom you sanctify. (R.)
2. Eternal Priest and minister of the new Covenant, you live forever to make intercession for us: save the people that pray to you. (R.)
3. You showed yourself alive after your passion and appeared to the disciples for forty days: confirm our faith today. (R.)
4.Today you promised the Spirit to your apostles, to make them your witnesses to the ends of the earth: by the power of the Spirit strengthen our own witness. (R.)
Leader: God our Father, make us joyful in the ascension of your Son Jesus Christ. May we follow him into the new creation, for his ascension is our glory and our hope. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“They went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them.” (Mk 16:20)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Using a map or a globe, pray for the Church’s mission to spread the Good News to all creatures.
B. ACTION PLAN: In a context of prayer, view a good film on Christians who have fully responded to the Christian mandate of proclaiming the Gospel, e.g. “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness”, “Damien, the Leper”, etc.