Ascension
This weekend we celebrate the ascension. In this feast we celebrate Christ ascending into heaven and then taking his seat at the right hand of the Father. Our lives are made up of so many different times and places of leave-taking and that is what Ascension is really about Jesus leaving the Apostles to return to the Father. Jesus has called the ragged, group of disciples, scattered after his crucifixion, back to himself to form them, fragile and doubtful as they were, into a community for mission to go out into the world in the name of God.
The Apostles must have felt awful as Jesus was leaving them even though he told them that I am with you yes to the end of time. In the First Reading Jesus instructed the apostles to wait for the Holy Spirit the paraclete and then ascended to heaven to the right hand of the father. In the Second Reading : we are told that Christ entered heaven to appear before God for us, sacrificing himself once to remove sin. We are called to trust and approach God with sincere hearts, holding firmly to the hope that is within us. This Gospel reading is all about the past the present and the future. Jesus has little to say, but he is definite about what he has to say when he speaks. The disciples did what he told them to do. He asked them to meet him on the mountain, and they did that. Like any gathering of people, their feelings were varied. Some of them worshipped him, while some of them still doubted.
Jesus didn’t seem to have any great problem with that, because he knew that, when the Spirit came, all of those doubts would be ended. The redemption and salvation off the world was to begin at Pentecost and continue through the generations, until the end of time. It would seem, that he was in a hurry to take his leave of them, so that his plan for our salvation could get underway. The mission of the apostles was simple to understand; difficult to carry out. It was to teach others all that Jesus had taught them. Just as he asked his disciples to follow him, they were to ask that others should follow him as well which was so hard then and especially hard in the world of today. Over the years so many things have changed in the Church and society. However two things that have not changed are the person of Jesus himself and his message as they are ever old and always new.
At Easter and in the weeks since we have been remembering the great events that have brought salvation to the world as we proclaim that Jesus is alive and with us where we are in 2025. The feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost help us to realize that we are part of a long tradition of faithful faith filled disciples. All of us have our faults and failings, but our call is to be faithful witnesses to Jesus and what he teaches us. As a result of the actions we take and the things we say the people around us will know that we are followers of Jesus who are called to be the hope filled presence of God in the world today.
Fullerton T 