Good Shepherd Catholic Parish

The Ascension of the Lord, Year C

          Peace be with you, and welcome as we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord.  Now, most of you folks know that if you count 40 days after Easter, like the Bible says, the Ascension of the Lord was last Thursday.  In 1999 however, the Church allowed celebration of the Ascension on the Sunday before Pentecost.  Today, there are only about six dioceses in America left, that currently recognize last Thursday as a Holy Day of Obligation and celebrate the Ascension on that day.  In my humble opinion, the move from Thursday to Sunday was a good idea for a couple of reasons.  First, the Ascension is such an important event in our Catholic Christian Faith, if we celebrate it on a weekday, I’m sorry to say, there probably would be far less people listening about this event’s importance.  And second, the Ascension and Pentecost really do go hand-in-hand and celebrating them on consecutive Sundays, liturgically, helps tell the whole story in sequence.  

So, most of you also probably know, scholars often call next Sunday, which is Pentecost, the birthday of the Church.  And if that’s the birthday, I like to say, the labor pains start today with the Ascension of the Lord.  Our first reading from Acts and our Gospel reading both describe Jesus’ Ascension.  And even though Saint Luke wrote both, his description is more vivid in Acts.  In fact, as a literary technique, Luke’s narration in Acts contains, what I call, the dumbest question in the whole Bible.  We’re told Jesus’ Apostles had literally watched their physical Lord rise and disappear into the bottom of a cloud when suddenly two men dressed in white garments appear and ask; “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?”  Now you gotta wonder, was Peter thinking, “Really, are you kidding me?  Did you guys see what just happened?  We just watched the bottom of the Jesus’ Birkenstocks disappear into that cloud.”  Well, let’s not worry about this awkward question right away; let’s look for today’s real spiritual messages as we celebrate Jesus’ Ascension.  Let’s find something we should take home today and possibly even meditate on for a while.

Acts of the Apostles is one of the few books in the Bible that reads almost like a real adventure story, which maybe makes it a little easier to identify with.  It’s about our early Church after Jesus’ Ascension.

So, today we just heard the first eleven verses from Acts of the Apostles and the last eight verses from Luke’s Gospel.  A new story begins with those labor pains I just mentioned to give birth to our new Church.  Jesus Ascends into heaven and leaves an unlikely bunch in charge to spread the Good News.  There is an important fact here you should never forget.  These guys we hear about every Sunday like; Peter, Paul, James, John, Matthew, or Stephen are not people mentioned in other secular history books.  They are not well known political, military, or religious leaders of their time.  Nor, would it seem, are any of them wealthy.  For the most part, they are just simple dirty knuckle working class folks who no one important even knew.  Add to that, the man they’d followed was just brutally executed as a criminal in some backwater province of the Roman Empire.  And now, their whole religious movement is going to start suffering centuries of murderous persecution, beginning with most of the Apostles becoming martyrs.  Yet here we are, some 2000 years later and there are over 2 billion of us who call ourselves Christian.  So, call it what you want Mr. non-believer, that is a miracle.

OK, so how do we people of faith explain the miracle?  It started right in the second verse of Acts where Jesus gave “instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.”  He also told them to stay in Jerusalem after his ascension until the Holy Spirit baptized them.  Now, we’ll hear all about that baptism in the Holy Spirit next weekend so be sure to come back.  Regardless, it is obvious the Holy Spirit played a major role in the growth and success of our Church after Jesus’ ascension.  This journey of our new Church and her first disciples, under some pretty ugly circumstances, with the power, guidance, and protection of the Holy Spirit is what Acts of the Apostles is all about and that’s why it is such a great story to read.

By the way, Saint Luke’s technique of asking that dumb question when the answer was obvious, had a definite purpose.  It really wasn’t a dumb question at all.  It was a sarcastic poke in the eye.  It was really a statement; “Apostles of Jesus, He has given you a mission to accomplish, so don’t just stand around staring at the sky wishing he were here to hold your hands.  It’s time to get on with it.  Now move out!” 

Oh my, oh my, but Jesus wasn’t there.  Their spiritual leader who had all the answers, was gone.  Now again, as we sit here 2000 years later, we know the rest of the story.  We know what happens on Pentecost but, at Jesus’ Ascension, the Apostles must have felt maybe – abandoned but certainly, scared.  Hence, I used the metaphor of the labor pains started there and then.  And here is what you should take home to meditate on.  This sense of pain and spiritual loneliness is one we all feel at times, isn’t it?  The Apostles must have initially felt Jesus had gone to heaven, somewhere out there with God, completely separated from them, now alone on earth.  They were not alone however, and you know what else,,, neither are we ever alone.  The historical human Jesus was gone but the Divine Jesus was still with them, just as he promised to be, and the confidence and courage would come when the Holy Spirit enflames their souls at Pentecost.  Now for everyone here today, who is baptized, that same flame is burning in us also, we just must open our hearts and embrace it.  Jesus’ disciples are about to bravely travel and spread the Good News throughout the known world.  His ascension into heaven, to sit at the right hand of God as the eternal Divine Jesus ensured he could be with them forever, wherever they go, and strengthen them through the power of the Holy Spirit, no matter what the pain or circumstances.  And with confidence, we can know the Divine Jesus Christ is with us today and forever.  This is the powerful message of Jesus’ physically human ascension.