Glorious Task!

Sunday, May 12, 2024

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Acts 1:1-11; Eph 1:17-23; Mk 16:15-20

The solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord is an important celebration for Christians because it is the climax and crowning of Jesus’ earthly life. The celebration symbolizes the final seal on Christ’s victory over sin and death and constitutes him as the Lord. 

The celebration means that Jesus, after his resurrection, showed himself to the apostles and disciples over a period of forty days, building up their faith and equipping them to be his witnesses. 

How do we understand the presence of Jesus after his ascension? 

Ascension does not mean that Jesus is no longer in the world. On the contrary, he is more involved in the world that, as its Lord and Master, he is guiding its destiny. It also means that his presence now belongs to another order. Christ’s presence and power are made evident in and through his mystical body – the Church, his disciples, and his followers.

The fact that Jesus is now called the ‘Lord’ has an interesting history behind it. 

Wanting to confess the unique power and glory conferred on Jesus by God, the Father, the early Christians ascribed to him the title Lord, in preference to any other title. In acclaiming Jesus Christ as the ‘Lord,’ they had in mind the Emperor of Rome, whose power extended through a greater part of the world in those days. Hence, though the title ‘Lord’ was reserved by law for the Emperor of Rome, early Christians gladly broke the rule to signify that Christ’s power and glory far exceed any other worldly power and glory. 

Moreover, Jesus is the ‘Only Lord’ by means of his supreme sacrifice on the cross, in sharp contrast to the lordship of other earthly rulers, whose interests are often selfish. Jesus is the ‘Lord of All’ because he is the ‘Savior of All.’ 

It is our faith that the Lord, who died for us on the cross, will now keep the heavenly doors wide open for all of us to enter. As such, the purpose of the feast of the Ascension is not only to celebrate Christ’s entrance into his heavenly glory but also to celebrate the fact that such privilege is now extended to the believing community to share the same. 

Hence, though the feast of the Ascension highlights the apparent departure of Jesus, it indicates his abiding presence in our midst. 

We should never forget that the feast of the Ascension comes with the mandate of evangelization. Having been made sharers of Christ’s privilege and glory, Christians are called to share the joy and Good News with the rest of the world in order to give it a taste of what we cherish. 

Not A Human Task: In the mission of evangelizing the world, we are called to understand that it is not a human task. As such, we don’t rely on human ability alone. Rather, real evangelization calls for manifesting God’s power at work in us, just like the apostles, who relied on God’s power to spread the Good News of God. 

Entire World: The target audience of such evangelization is ‘the whole world.’ The great commission means that everyone is to be brought to the knowledge of Christ, and until then, our mission of evangelization should continue. In accepting such a task, we are not ambitious but act from a realistic understanding that only Jesus Christ can offer the world what it needs most. 

Christ’s Abiding Presence: In evangelizing the world, we are not alone. We are invited to proclaim the Good News with the strength of the Lord’s continuing presence in us through thick and thin. The humble Galileans achieved the mammoth task only by relying on the encouraging presence of the Lord and Master within them. 

The glory of the Ascension reminds us of the task of evangelization.  

How prepared are we for the ‘glorious task’?

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar