THE SON OF MAN ASCENDS IN GLORY


THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD

Act 1:1-11; Ps 47:2-3,6-9; Eph 1:17-23; Lk 24:46-53

The Ascension of the Lord into Heaven

According to Saint Leo the Great in his homily, the forty days that passed between the resurrection of the Lord and his ascension into heaven were moments of enactment of the mysteries of Jesus Christ in the minds of the apostles and disciples of the Lord. At his various appearances to them, he blessed and opened their minds to understand the mysteries as the scriptures foretold them. The understanding of these mysteries or faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for the reception of the Holy Spirit and their incorporation into the mystical body of Christ. The risen Lord merely laid the foundation of these mysteries, for their depth is profound, and promised that the Holy Spirit will guide them into complete knowledge. The question they put to him as he was about to ascend to heaven showed they were still far from understanding the import of the mysteries and what they stand for us humans. “Now having met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth.’” They asked about the kingdom of Israel, but the Lord speaks of the kingdom of heaven.

We still suffer the ignorance the apostles and disciples demonstrated above. Many of us are still preoccupied with our love for ethnic, national, and earthly kingdoms and what we are to gain. We are not able to read the signs of the time indicating the presence of the kingdom of heaven. The ignorance is rooted in our ignorance of the meaning of the resurrection and ascension of the Lord. We lack a deep understanding of the mysteries of the Son of Man. By the resurrection and ascension of the Son of Man, humanity has transcended our usual tribal and ethnic divisions and sentiments. God calls all peoples and nations to the same earthly and heavenly inheritance. By earthly, we do not mean material goods but the inheritance of a renewed earth as promised to the meek and humble in the Beatitudes. These divine gifts to man define the mission of the Church or the body of Christ as given by the ascending Lord. As we mentioned yesterday, the Lord understands the depth of these mysteries and promises the Holy Spirit to guide each of us and the Church into the deepest part of the mysteries. “And now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.” The power of the Holy Spirit is to guide and bring all peoples and nations into their inheritance in Jesus Christ.

Saint Paul prayed for the same grace for us all in the second reading. “May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him.” The opening of our minds to these mysteries and the gift of glory bestowed on us through our faith in Jesus Christ is possible only through constant and frequent meditation and contemplation of the word of God and the mysteries of the Son of Man contained therein. A mind engaged with the material, ethnic, and national inheritance cannot freely sacrifice himself to bring the Good News to other people and nations Jesus commanded his disciples. The apostles and Jewish disciples suffered this closed mind until the Lord used persecutions, trials, suffering, and destruction of Jerusalem to liberate their minds from tribal, ethnic, and national ties. As the Lord also foretold, the Father will use trials, sufferings, persecutions, wars, and other natural disasters as signs to help Christians free their minds from earthly ties and possessions. The solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension invites us to lift our minds to the heights of heaven, the right hand of God the Father, where our nature is exalted. “He has put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation.” We are to contemplate the great love the Father has lavished on us and the promise of heavenly inheritance made to us in Jesus Christ and praise him with all our hearts and minds.

Let us pray: Gladden us with holy joys, almighty God, and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving, for the Ascension of Christ your Son is our exaltation, and, where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is called to follow in hope. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.  

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