Martin Jumbam
Mother Church celebrates Thursday, May 05, 2016 as the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord to heaven. It is one of the great solemnities in the Christian liturgical calendar and commemorates the bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven. Ascension Day is traditionally celebrated on a Thursday, the fortieth day of Easter. The Latin term used for the feast, ascensio, signifies that Christ was raised up by his own powers, and it is from these terms that this holy day gets its name.
Saint Augustine says that the Ascension is to be seen with the eyes of faith which looks toward the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. “On this day therefore, that is, the fortieth after His Resurrection, the Lord ascended into heaven. We have not seen, but we believe. They who beheld Him proclaimed what they saw, and they have filled the whole earth: There are no speeches nor languages where their voices are not heard. Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world (Ps. xviii. 4, 5). And so they have reached even unto us, and awakened us from sleep. And lo! this death is celebrated throughout the world” (Saint Augustine, PL 38, Semo. 262. In die Ascensionis Domini IV).
In the Eastern Church, this feast is known in Greek as Analepsis, that is, the "taking up", the "salvation from on high", denoting that by ascending into his glory Christ completed the work of our redemption. Ascension is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Orthodox liturgical year.
It is observed as a public holiday in some countries, notably Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany and Cameroon.
In the entrance antiphon of this day’s Mass we pray: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking in the sky? The Lord will return, just as you have seen him ascend, alleluia.”
In the first reading, from Acts of the Apostles, Saint Luke begins by giving his plan and purpose for writing the Acts of the Apostles. He emphasizes two main theological themes: the role of the Holy Spirit in the spread of the Gospel and the central place of Jerusalem from where Christ’s message leaves before spreading throughout Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit is to guide the Church on her world-wide expansion program as he empowers the disciples to take Christ’s word to the ends of the earth. Christ’s ascension to his Father’s glory is therefore not the end but rather a new beginning for humanity. In the second reading, from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle of the Gentiles thanks God for the faith of his converts of Ephesus and prays fervently that God will give them spiritual insight into the mystery of his divine purpose. God is to bring all men and women into a single unity – the Church – of which Christ is the head. In the Gospel of Luke, Christ asks his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who will come down upon them and strengthen them for their mission to preach the Good News. For those who believe, this message will be for their salvation; for those who reject their word, it will bring them God’s condemnation.
As we share Christ’s word of salvation this day, let us ask for the grace and the courage to also carry Christ’s words of salvation to others. Christ’s injunction to bear witness was not only addressed to his disciples of old, it is also addressed to us, his disciples. Here now is the first reading.
First Reading: Acts of the Apostles, 1:1-11.
In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God. When he had been at table with them, he had told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised. ‘It is’ he had said, ‘what you have heard me speak about: John baptized with water but you, not many days from now, will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Now having met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Jerusalem and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth.’ As he said this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. They were still staring into the sky when two men in white were standing near them and they said, ‘Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky? Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, this same Jesus will come back in the same way as you have seen him go there.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment:
Saint Luke begins by giving his plan and purpose for writing the Acts of the Apostles. It is addressed to a man called Theophilus, a name that comes from Greek and means “one who loves God”. Luke’s intention is to explain all that Jesus taught until the day he was taken up to heaven.
In this passage, as it is the case throughout Acts of the Apostles, he highlights two important themes: the central role the Holy Spirit plays throughout the book, thus leading some people to consider Acts as the “Gospel of the Holy Spirit,” and the importance of Jerusalem, the birthplace of the Church, in the spread of the Gospel. The first Christian community was born there and the holy city remained for a long time the point of reference before persecution drove Christians to other parts of the Roman Empire. It was then that other cities, such as Antioch, Corinth, Ephesus and finally Rome also became great centers of Christianity. The Gospel had to spread from Jerusalem throughout Judea and Samaria to the ends of the world.
In this reading, we hear Christ asking his disciples to remain in Jerusalem until he sends them his Advocate, the Holy Spirit to strengthen their faith for the mission. It is the Holy Spirit to guide the Church as she expands throughout the world. The disciples are thus in an interim period between the resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Lord’s Advocate at Pentecost, ten days from today.
The disciples’ reaction indicates that they have still not clearly understood Christ’s mission on earth. They still believe Christ has come to chase away the Roman occupier and restore Israel’s independence. Some of them – like the sons of Zebedee, James and John – are still probably dreaming of occupying ministerial posts in the future government of Jesus. Christ therefore has to remind them, as he did Pilate, that his kingdom is not of this world (Jn 18: 36). His disciples will have to be fortified in their faith before they can understand him. That is what the Holy Spirit will do for them. He will make missionaries of them and send them preaching Christ’s message with boldness and authority, not only Jerusalem, but throughout Judea Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
The lesson to take from this reading, brothers and sisters, is that Christ’s ascension to his Father is not the end of his being with us on earth; it is, in fact, a new beginning, a promise and a hope for all of us because the Holy Spirit that Christ sent on his disciples is the same Holy Spirit that is present in his Church and that empowers us for our mission as well.
Let us say this prayer from the Byzantine liturgy: “Holy Spirit of truth, Sovereign Lord of the universe, guide and guardian of your people, present everywhere, overflowing all that exists. Come and dwell in us, cleanse us from all sin, pour out your blessings on us, give us fresh life, and in your gracious love bring us to salvation. We make our supplication through Christ, our Lord. Amen. Alleluia.”
(Music)
You’re listening to the Word Among us from your Christian radio, Radio Veritas, 96.9 FM. Let us now listen to the second reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, 1:17-23.
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers. This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power or Domination, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet, and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment:
Four of Saint Paul’s letters have always been distinguished as the “Captivity Epistles”. These are Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon. They were written when the Apostles to the Gentiles was in prison. Paul had suffered imprisonment in Ephesus, Caesarea and Rome where he was finally executed.
In Saint Paul’s days, Ephesus was the leading city in Asia Minor. It had been conquered by Alexander the Great in 334 BC and late came under the dominion of Rome in 133 BC. It became the administrative and religious center of the Roman province known as Asia.
Ephesus was notorious for magic and occult practices and its inhabitants were rigorously superstitious, with many magicians and soothsayers growing rich on the backs of credulous men and women; just what we see happening in many of our African cities today, even, and especially, among Christians.
Saint Paul stayed in Ephesus towards the end of his second apostolic journey, around the year 52 AD (Acts 18: 19ff), and went back there at the start of his third apostolic journey from 54-57 AD. He spent more than two years there and preached so successfully that the prominent Jews and Gentiles of the city incited the people against him and he had to leave.
Shortly before the passage of this day’s meditation, Saint Paul has been reflecting on the magnificence of God’s saving plan, even for the Gentiles. It is through the preaching of the Gospel that the Gentiles come to form part of the Church. God has now broken down the barrier that separates Jew from Gentile and has acquired his new people at the cost of his Son’s blood. He is a God who listens to all his children and fulfills their desires
What do we learn from this reading? Saint Paul tells us that God works wonders through his Son Jesus Christ, whose authority is supreme on earth as well as in heaven. We can only find salvation in his Church of which he is the head. No name surpasses the name of Jesus Christ and so we have to turn to him for assistance in whatever we do. Let us therefore turn to him whenever and wherever we may be because he alone holds the key to eternal life. Amen. Alleluia.
The Gospel: Luke 24: 46-53.
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this. ‘And now I am sending down what the Father has promised. Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.’ Then he took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God.
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Praise to you Lord, Jesus Christ.
Comment
Forty days after the Resurrection, Christ gathers his disciples around him and gives them his final instructions before going to his Father. They are not to leave the city of Jerusalem but wait there for the Holy Spirit whom he will be sending down as soon as he takes his place at the right hand of the Father. He has to go so the Holy Spirit can come and empower them for the mission he has assigned them, that of going out to the whole world and proclaiming the Gospel to the whole of creation (Mk 16: 15).
But the disciples are not yet ready for this mission. They cannot witness for Christ yet because they need the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit. They cannot rely on their own resources for success. They need the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, “the power from on high”, to give them the necessary strength for their mission.
Christ’s ascension therefore marks the end of his public appearances on earth. His earthly ministry is over but he remains present with us through the Sacraments he has given to his Church, particularly the Eucharist.
The Holy Spirit plays a vital role in our lives. At the beginning of his public ministry, Christ himself relied on the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. After John had baptized him, the Spirit came down like a dove from the sky and remained upon him (Jn 1: 32). Throughout his life on earth, Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit. Saint Luke tells us that he returns to his native Galilee “in the power of the Spirit” (Lk 4: 14).
If Christ relied on the Holy Spirit for the success of his earthly ministry, all the more reason why his disciples needed him more. It is when they receive the Holy Spirit that they too, like their Master, will be empowered to minister to others and exercise a new authority. This is the beginning of the Church, a beginning made possible only by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The same Spirit that came to Christ’s disciples and enabled them to found the Church continues to empower our Christian communities in the Archdiocese of Douala today. The power of the Holy Spirit, which came down on the disciples at Pentecost, a feast we will be celebrating in a few days’ time, is still active in our Church today and strengthening our faith.
No individual mission we may undertake in our community can succeed without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In his absence, our Christian community will die. With it, we have life and power.
On this Ascension day our Lord closes the chapter of his life on earth but opens a new chapter that is guided by the Holy Spirit. Christ remains present in his Church because he himself told his disciples, and us, that “I am with you always unto the end of the world” (Mt. 28:20). During this year dedicated to our faith, we pray that the Advocate from the Father, the Holy Spirit, should strengthen us for the mission our Lord has assigned to everyone of us, that of taking his word of salvation, first of all into our families, our neighbourhoods and then into the city of Douala as a whole. We make our supplication through Christ our Lord. Amen. Alleluia.
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