Sunday: Ascension of the Lord Date: June 1, 2003 Year: B The readings: [Acts 1:1-11; Ephes. 4:1-13 (Or Ephes. 4:1-7, 11-13; Mk. 16:15-20] The message: Proclaim the Good News to the whole creation. Prepared by: CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY Total words: 2000 |
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My brothers and sisters in Jesus, children of the Lord who is abounding in steadfast love, welcome to today's celebration of the Holy Mass. I pray that the love and grace of Jesus dwells within all of you on this beautiful spiritual day.
Today, we are celebrating the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. This Feast commemorates the elevation of Christ into Heaven by His own power in the presence of His disciples on the fortieth day after His glorious Resurrection.
The Ascension of Jesus into Heaven completed His earthly work of our redemption. Through His numerous apparitions to hundreds of people between the Day of His glorious Resurrection and the Day of His Ascension, Jesus proved two things. First of all, He proved that He was the promised Messiah. Secondly, He proved that through He Who overcame death, those who persevere in their living faith shall also overcome death and inherit the Kingdom of God.
Based on the writings of St. Augustine, the Catholic Church believes that the observance of the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus is of Apostolic origin. During the 5 th century, St. Augustine wrote that this Feast was of universal observance within the Church far long before his time.
During today's First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles that spiritually enriched us with the Word of God, we heard the words that were written in the beginning of the second book of St. Luke to Theophilus. In his first book, the Gospel According to Luke, St. Luke wrote an orderly account about what Jesus had done and taught from the beginning of His ministry until the day when He was taken up to Heaven after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. Now, St. Luke was writing about what took place following those days.
For forty days, Jesus had appeared to His disciples, presenting Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs. While speaking about the Kingdom of God, Jesus explained the Scriptures to His disciples. He ate and drank with them. He walked on the Road to Emmaus with some. He allowed some to touch Him to prove that He had a physical body.
Having done these things, Jesus commanded the disciples not to leave Jerusalem until such time as they had been baptized with the Holy Spirit in fulfillment of the promise of the Father. While John the Baptist baptized with water for the repentance of sins, Jesus would baptize His disciples with the Holy Spirit.
Through His actions, Jesus was opening the eyes of His disciples as to what was to come. In seeking to understand what was to come, some asked Jesus, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?" Jesus answered, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority." Failing to perceive the unmeasurable greatness of the mystery of God that was unravelling itself before their eyes, some of the disciples still longed for a worldly kingdom, a time when the enemies of the Jewish people would be destroyed. Had the disciples forgotten the past teachings of Jesus when He had told them not to believe in those who would say that the kingdom of God is here or there because it is within?
Jesus said to His disciples, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the eyes of the disciples would be opened. They would embrace a spiritual heart that would open their minds to the fact that the spiritual Kingdom of God has come on earth as it is in Heaven. They would perceive that the spiritual Kingdom of God embraces all the saints of the past, present and future who are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. For it is living faith in Christ and the Sacrament of Baptism that one is born again and qualifies to receive salvation and eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
When Jesus had finished telling His disciples what they needed to know, He was lifted up and a cloud took Him out of their sight. When we say that Jesus was lifted up into Heaven, it is not meant that to the height of the clouds is Heaven. It simply means that Jesus disappeared from their view. He was raised up and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
After Jesus was lifted up and the cloud took Him out of the sight of the disciples, they kept gazing towards heaven. Suddenly, two men in white robes stood by them and asked them why they were looking up towards heaven. They told the disciples that Jesus shall return in the same way that He was taken up into Heaven.
Contrary to the false teachings that we hear around us, Jesus shall not return to this world through a second physical birth. Nor shall He return to come and get 144,000 chosen ones to raise them to Heaven. When He returns, it will be at the end of this age when this physical world shall come to its end. It shall be at the resurrection of the bodies, at the moment before the final judgment of all.
While awaiting that moment, St. Paul tells us through today's Second Reading from the Letter to the Ephesians that we should lead a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
We are reminded that there is One Body of Christ and one Spirit of God. The Body of Christ is the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church that Jesus has instituted on earth. To this Body and Spirit, we have been called to the one hope of our calling, to one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
Contrary to the false circulating teachings of many, there is no salvation outside the one Body of Christ. Not all or many Churches lead to Christ and to salvation. Not all Churches in this world have the same Lord, the same faith, the same baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. Each Church has its own doctrines. Only one Church has the true doctrine, the truth that Jesus taught to His followers. Jesus instituted only one Church on earth. All other Churches have been instituted by men. And the true Church is the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church that has its seat in Rome under our spiritual father and Vicar of Christ, Pope John-Paul II. Just as the human body without a spirit is dead, [Jas. 2:26] the bodies of the false Churches without the Spirit of Christ are dead!
Before the coming of Christ on earth, man was a slave to sin. He was a captive within the kingdom of Satan who was the prince of this world. Since the glorious Resurrection of Jesus, God reclaimed His Kingdom, making captivity itself a captive. Through Christ, the captives of Satan become the captives of Jesus. To Jesus, we are indebted for our freedom from the slavery of sin.
Over and above Jesus making captives out of His people, He gave them gifts. To each was given grace according to what Jesus determined was needed for the spiritual growth of His Body. Some were called to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and some teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the Body of Christ, until all have come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.
"In Romans 12:3-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, there are similar lists of gifts. However, there are some striking differences. In Ephesians, it is a question of the universal Church and not particular communities. The gifts are concentrated in certain "offices" within the Church. No mention is made of individual charismatic gifts of tongues, healing, etc... as in 1 Corinthians." (The Jerome Biblical Commentary, p. 347)
During today's Second Reading, we heard St. Paul asking what it meant that Jesus had ascended. Did it mean that He had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? No! In this passage, it meant that He who descended from Heaven, who had been sent by the Father, is the same One who ascended far above all the heavens. Jesus has returned to Heaven from where He came from.
Today's spiritual message is found in the Gospel Reading that we heard earlier. When Jesus appeared to the eleven, He said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved: but the one who does not believe will be condemned." In other words, those who do not believe and refuse the Sacrament of Baptism will be condemned. It is absolutely necessary that one be baptised of water and Spirit in order to enter the Kingdom of God.
To those who believe, Jesus promised to bless them with spiritual signs. In His Name, they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.
Again, I must emphasize that these gifts are not the same as the gifts that are found in Romans and 1 Corinthians. Some of these gifts were given to the disciples of Christ in the early days of the founding of the Catholic Church for the benefit of the universal Church. As such, I do not recommend that anyone should go out and play with snakes and poison to test the Word of God. In all likelihood, unless prevented by the grace of God as part of His mysterious Divine Plan, they will be bitten and they will be poisoned.
Having said this, after being taken up into Heaven, the disciples went out and proclaimed the Good News everywhere. Today, we see the fruit of their work because Jesus worked with them and confirmed the messages by the signs that accompanied the Gospel.
For two thousand years, the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church has valiantly persisted by the grace of God the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit in the Most Holy Name of Jesus. For two thousand years, the Catholic Church has proclaimed the Good News to the whole creation, generation after generation. For two thousands years, the Ascension of the Lord has been commemorated in thoughts, in words and in actions.
My brothers and sisters, as you reflect upon the Ascension of the Lord Jesus during the coming week, remember that while Jesus has ascended into Heaven, He is here with us today. He is present in our hearts. He is present in His apostolic Church. He is physically present in the Holy Eucharist and in the Sacred Tabernacle. As mysterious as it appears, while He has ascended, our faith affirms to us that He is still here with us.
May Jesus always be with each and everyone of you as you are moved by His Spirit to proclaim the Good News to those around you.
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The readings...
[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]
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First Reading...
"In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. 'This,' he said, 'is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'
So when they had come together, they asked him, 'Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?' He replied, 'It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.'" [Acts 1:1-11]
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Second Reading...
"I, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Therefore it is said, 'When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.'
When it says, 'He ascended,' what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.
The gift he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ." [Ephes. 4:1-13]
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Gospel Reading...
"Jesus appeared to the eleven, and he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved: but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.'
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it." [Mk. 16:15-20]
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