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Depending on where you live, you may have celebrated the Solemnity of the Ascension yesterday or you may celebrate it on Sunday. But regardless of the day of commemoration, we are called to incorporate its grace and meaning into our everyday lives. We hear in the gospel for the day that Jesus raises his hands, blesses the disciples, and then ascends into heaven, which may remind us of the end of Mass-which is appropriate.  A statue of Christ is displayed in the garden at Jesus the Good Shepherd Church in Dunkirk, Md., April 28, 2022. (CNS photo/Bob Roller) |
Essentially, the Mass brings us into contact with Jesus' life, which never ends: his saving words and deeds, his flesh and blood, soul and divinity are ours to receive. And as he says to the disciples, he says to us: you are my witnesses; go out unto the ends of the earth and share what you have received. The disciples were privileged to receive Jesus in the unique manner of his life here on earth, as he walked and talked in Palestine and the surrounding areas. They benefited from the grace that flowed from contact with him, and all of this took place in history, minute by minute, day by day. So, naturally, there also would be an end day - in time - and we call that day the Ascension, when Jesus departed from the earth and sent his followers into the world. But St. Luke in his gospel strains to convey to us that Jesus' departure does not mean his absence from our lives, nor an abandonment of his mission. Quite the contrary, Jesus' presence remains through the Holy Spirit and the sacraments, and-again-his mission continues through us. We do not receive a different Jesus at Mass. We receive the same Christ - his real presence. If we want, we might say that we receive Jesus "in concentrate:" his entire being offered to us in a period of 60 minutes, carried to us via human languages that place his words and meanings into our minds and hearts; and the fruits of the earth, bread and wine, that are transformed miraculously into his body and blood that incorporate us into his mystical body. So at the end of Mass - just like on the day of the Ascension - Jesus directs us, through the ministry of the priest, to be a leaven for society, to bring the world under God's reign, to work for peace and justice. In short, to anticipate the kingdom of heaven. The reason the disciples returned from the Ascension to Jerusalem with great joy is that they knew with confidence that Jesus was not simply leaving them. Even the inevitable sufferings and trials of this life that the disciples understood they would still undergo were not greater than the truth they had received: Jesus came to the earth to save all men and women, he redeemed humanity by becoming one with humanity, and death - man's greatest enemy - was defeated through the resurrection. He remained with them in a new way, but they would also see him again. It's the same truth that can direct us to spend our lives in service to God and neighbor, for we also know by faith that Jesus remains with us and that when we pass through the gates of death life is changed, not ended. |
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