by Fr Francis Anthony
Acts 1:11-11
Psalm 46:2-3,6-9
Hebrews 9:24-28,10:19-23
Luke 24:46-53
Theme: Let Us Be His Witnesses
If we were to speak of The Ascension just as it is, we are going to go into another mystery of faith. How is it a person who was born died, rose and he just went up to heaven? If we are just going to dwell with that mystery of the birth, the resurrection and the ascension, we would not go far.
The readings themselves give us a clue of what is this Ascension all about. In a small way, if I were to divide the scriptures, I will put the Old Testament with the dealing of God the Father to people of Israel. And in that section of the Old Testament through the Prophets, we have an inkling of a Messiah is going to come to save us.
If we take the Gospel, then it is compact, exclusively for the birth, the life, the passion, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. It is just that.
And if you look into the First Reading that we had, and again in the Gospel text and glimpses of it in the Second Reading, a new situation is being created. The situation is no more God the Father, it is no more Jesus the Messiah, the Lord but it is going to be the era of the Holy Spirit. And the era of the Holy Spirit transforming the apostles and all the leaders of the church to make real the working of God the Father of the Old Testament and the working of Jesus in the Gospel text.
And that is what we have in the First Reading where the apostles (as usual they were very excited; they have been following Jesus for the last three years; then they witnessed his torturous death and they were a bit surprised about his resurrection and he told them he is going to go) and what were the apostles very keen about then?
Now, are you going to establish the kingdom now? Tell us.
So even at that moment, the apostles were not truly aware of the role of Jesus in the salvation of mankind. For them, it was a kingdom to be established and the apostles (if you read the text), they asked:-
Are you going to establish the kingdom now?
Jesus tells them ‘No. It is the Father’s role but for you‘ he tells them:-
You be my witnesses in Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
That is your role. Not to sit down and to say ‘When is the kingdom coming?’ and to speculate it. “I want you to be my apostles and disciples. Go out” and those are the words (it is not in today’s reading):-
Go make disciples.
And very nicely in the First Reading, Jesus went up and the apostles were just waiting “oh come on, finished’. The angel appeared ‘Why are you looking up to heaven? Go and stay in the city‘. And back to the Last Supper room where they received the Holy Spirit.
So in the mystery of the Ascension, it is a new era in the dynamism of Jesus of the bible story. Now, the same thing is being addressed to us. Do not look up to heaven and waiting for the Kingdom to be established. You, each one of us (I am not recalling what Jesus said to the apostles)
You go and be my witnesses (and if I put into Malaysian context) in Penang, in Kuala Lumpur and to the ends of the earth.
There is no limit for your role to be my disciple and when you look into this, the Ascension brings about a new dimension into the history of salvation. The dimension of the working of the Holy Spirit on the people. They, inspired by the Spirit, are able to bring to the world the message of God’s love, the message of Christ’s love, as recorded in the whole bible. And it is we. Our story is not in the bible. We have to read up into the life of Saints and so forth. But, look, through the Ascension, Jesus went back to the Father (as it says in Saint John’s Gospel) and he sent the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, to make plain to you, everything I said to you.
And as we are in the post-Ascension period, we are celebrating God’s love, Christ’s love for us. We are celebrating the gift of the Holy Spirit and we are celebrating (let us not be shy to say that) our achievement. Yes, if the church has grown to such a number and places in the world today, it is the human effort with the Holy Spirit guiding them.
And now, let us ask God “what about us today, so comfortably seated here in this air-conditioned church?”
What is God telling me?
Is He telling me “Stop looking into the sky. You go and wait for the Holy Spirit.”
Is He telling me “Be my witnesses, in Penang, in Kuala Lumpur to the ends of the earth?”
Is He telling me to be His apostle and to make the love of God real?
The period of Christ is over. Jesus went back to the Father. The end of the story of the Paschal Mystery, from God to God. And now, it is us. So we beg of Him to give us the strength, to be like the apostles to make Jesus, God the Father, known through the help of the Holy Spirit.
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