18 May 2023 – The Ascension of the Lord (Year A)

by Fr Fabian Dicom

A day of obligation. And in the days of old it was very serious, fulfilling all the obligations of the church. Now it sounds a bit forceful when you think of the days, the holy days in the Catholic church that it becomes days of obligation. And one only thinks about ‘you must attend Mass if not…‘

I think in the wisdom of the church, the days of obligation was set aside more than just forcing us to go to church. It was a day set aside for a bit more prayer and reflection because these feasts were very important, both theologically and spiritually. The church felt that through these celebrations and reliving of these events in the life of Jesus Christ, our faith will be nourished. So having said that, we look forward to such days in the seminary because no lectures. And lunch was extra special……and we had ice cream.

But seriously, seriously as a rule, Ascension is hardly remembered. There is no special holiday to mark the occasion. It was work as usual for most of us today. I dare say that not even many Christians remembered Christ’s ascension to heaven as they went about their busy lives. We don’t even talk about Jesus ascending to heaven very much because the modern mind cannot quite fathom a man suddenly lifting off the ground and disappearing behind the clouds.

And more than that, it is just like Jesus upped and left, kind of abandoned us. And also, in more recent times, the focus has been on Pentecost. There seems to be a bit more drama and excitement. You know what I am talking about. It is also the feast of your parish and you have got activities, programs (very good programs) until the day of Pentecost.

Yet we are here on Ascension Thursday. Yet the Ascension of Jesus is the central element in the Christian tradition. It is included in two classic Christian Creeds, both the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed which we will proclaim that affirm that Jesus ascended into heaven.

In the New Testament, the story of Jesus’ ascension is found in like the First Reading of today and it is also in the Gospel of Luke, both written by the same author. Now the classic text that we heard and especially verses from Acts 1:9-11. After the Risen Christ had spoken his final words to his followers, we are told as they were watching, Jesus was lifted up and a cloud took him out of sight. The text then refers to them staring up towards the sky while he was going.

Now what is the story about? What is the story about? It’s meanings are rich and important. Even as it is one of the stories in the New Testament that most obviously requires a non-literal reading. I mean not to take this in the literal sense. Hold on. I’ll just try to explain this.

In the First Reading you hear forty days, forty days. And symbolically 40 days means a long period as opposed to three days, a short time. And then we hear if we heard the Luke’s Gospel, if you just check it up. The last chapter of the Gospel of Luke ends with the story of Jesus also ascending into heaven. If you follow the chronology of that chapter carefully, the Ascension apparently happened on the night following Easter day. Now what is going on here? Are we saying that the author, the same author, is unaware of the contradiction – 40 days here and the next day there? Or is this a clear indication that the author does not intend this story to be understood literally?

And a further reason the story cannot be taken literally. Now whether we take it literally or not is not going to scandalize us or affect our faith, you know, this issue. I mean we cannot imagining it happening. The issue is not whether miraculous events happened. The issue is the three story or three levels of the universe which pre-supposed the story. And the ancient people believed in that. That was the ancient world view that heaven is up above us, earth is in the middle and hell is down below. That is how they imagined it. Of course now we know that the world, the earth is round. So if you point down, you are pointing to somebody else somewhere there, you know. So that kind of tells you not to take this literally.

They were sophisticated authors and many scholars think that they intended some stories to be understood non-literally. What we do know of course that heaven is not literally up. Therefore we legitimately cannot imagine Jesus literally moving upward into the sky. Okay. Nevermind about that.

What is Ascension then? Now Ascension is not the celebration of a particular event in a particular place at a specific moment in history. I confess that 20 years ago when I was in the Holy Land, I touched the place where they claimed Jesus ascended, and kissed it as well. Okay? It does not matter. The disciples would not have been able to record the event with their cell phones. Something else must be meant by the story.

Why are you standing there looking at the sky? That is the question they were asked. It is meant for us. And the question is both literally and spiritually. So something else must be meant. And so I turned to the rich metaphorical and symbolic meanings of the story of Jesus’ ascension.

For Christians in the past and now, it meant and it means that Jesus is now with God. Indeed at God’s right hand and one with God. Basically when He ascended, what the authors were trying to say is He is in heaven with God. Does not matter what direction. These affirmations have two primary dimensions or meaning. LIke the tradition of ancient Israel and Judaism. They are religious and political, spiritual and social.

First, Ascension Day proclaims the Lordship of Christ. And there is to say as we heard in the Second Reading from Ephesians that the Risen and Ascended Jesus, it is at God’s right hand, a position of honour and authority. And it means Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord.

In the first century when kings and emperors claimed to be Lords, the claims had not only religious but political meaning. But to say Jesus is Lord meant and means that the Herods and the Caesars of this world and our time were not the Lords, are not the Lords. Only Jesus is.

The second point is because the Risen and Ascended Jesus is one with God, He, like God, can be experienced anywhere. Jesus is no longer restricted or confined to time and space. And even here he is not only confined to church. So he is not confined to time and space as he was during his historical lifetime. Rather like the God whom He knew from his own experience, He continues to be known in the experience of His followers. And I am sure all of us have had that experience. So to use the language form Matthew’s Gospel itself, for Christians, the Risen and Ascended Christ is Emmanuel, God with us.

So what does it mean for our lives? What does it really mean? To sum up, the story of Ascension is symbolic and metaphorical, we repeated that. Though often overlooked, the Ascension completes Jesus’ earthly mission and signifies his enthronement as the Heavenly King. Jesus has completed the Father’s mission and He now rules with all authority and intercedes as our mediator and High Priest.

He is Lord. He is Lord, He is Emmanuel. With that He commissions each and every one of us to continue His mission. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations.

And to do that, my dear brothers and sisters, I would like to close with four implications of Jesus’ ascension for our lives:-

1. Consciousness. Consciousness or if you don’t want to use the word, mindfulness of the presence of Jesus. We must remember Jesus remains active and engaged in our world and in our lives. This has a tremendous effect on our lives. Just knowing that, being aware of that. What would Jesus do? We ask. What would He say? That should be the questions constantly in our lives. It helps us lead a guaranteed, a beautiful life. You know it. You know it. We have had glimpses of that in our lives.
2. Embracing Jesus as our Lord. It is an affirmation that we who have chosen Him to be our Lord are on the right track. On the right track. Therefore we must be empowered to live boldly, confidently and wisely as servants, as disciples of the Lord of love, of mercy, of integrity, of justice, of peace and forgiveness. In 1 Corinthians 15:58, Know that your labours in the Lord Jesus are not in vain. Are not in vain.
3. Be encouraged that Jesus is not indifferent to our struggles. He has endured great suffering and is tasked with the most merciful and sympathetic counselor, mediator and healer. He is always responding to us directly and through the people. Many people have reached out and are still reaching out to us.
4. And finally, embrace hope. We live this commission to go out when we embrace that hope because of the Ascension, the resurrection and the descend of teh Holy Spirit, we embrace hope whith empowers us to live this great commission. The Ascension points to glorious future. He will abolish injustice, end the suffering, destroy death and set up His kingdom of truth. The scriptures assure us of that. Righteousness and love. And we will be with Him forever.

With that assurance, my dear brothers and sisters, the Ascension reminds us that we who follow Christ are called to look outwards, and go outwards. To leave our comfort zones and plant the seeds of the Gospel in the not-so-fertile soil of this world. Soil that is often hostile to the Gospel or at least painfully indifferent to it. We are called as church to go places where we are not very welcome. To proclaim the Good News that does not always sound very good. And it is also about taking the Gospel to the streets, preaching it by the love we give. By the love we give. The stance we take, the stance of righteousness, of integrity, the poor we serve, the justice we promote.

Some words of Saint Francis of Assisi comes to mind:

Preach the Gospel at all times (he said). Using words only if necessary.

We do this, my dear brothers and sisters in hope and confidence for He assures us. And know that I am with you always, yes, to the end of time.

Click below to listen to homily and watch video:-

Click to live-stream Mass on 18 May 2023