HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: Divine Attraction
By: Fr. Unachukwu Cyril CCE
HOMILY:
God is always attracting us to Himself, for only in Him does men and women truly realize themselves. The Ascension is a glimpse of where this Divine Attraction leads to, to God, to our heavenly homeland where we truly belong and to mission.
May God keep you firm in responding to this force of attraction from the Creator of us all; Amen.
Today marks exactly 40 days after the solemn celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection and on this day the Church celebrates the memorial of that day when our Lord ascended into heaven and also as we look forward to celebrating the Feast of Pentecost 10 days after (Acts 1:1-11).
The Feast of Ascension is one of the Holy Days of Obligation. It is very central to our faith as Christians, for through this Feast our Lord points our attention to where we truly belong. The world and all its glamour and glories are very transient. Indeed, a brief reflective look into history shows us how brief and quick the glories of this world pass-by. What remains are the many good things we are able to achieve with these opportunities and transitories. Every worldly good around us must point and lead us to our true homeland, to take possession of the kingdom prepared for us by God from time immemorial (Mt 25:34).
This is a central message in the Ascension Event.
In this time of these tremendous distractions by the passing world and the destructive and misleading misrepresentation of the sensual, Jesus attracts us like the disciples “as they were looking on, he was lifted up…while they were gazing into heaven.” A gaze above like the disciples truly opens our minds to the true meaning, purpose and value of the things around us. This gaze brings about a change in understanding and appreciation of the divine plan of God in the world. This change is the invitation and the necessary force within us for mission as mandated by the Lord in the Gospel of today (Mt 28:16-20).
Every one of us is seriously in need of this gaze above and this Feast is another opportunity to look up. The light we receive from this unique gaze directs our path in this life and systematically leads us to where our Master is. This gaze reinforces us to key into the summons of the Church to New Evangelization, a process of renewal and rediscovery of the richness of the Christian faith.
As the Lord Ascended, may you also ascend beyond all the ungodly forces that want to keep us perpetually at the level of matter and transients, Amen.
Happy Feast Ascension.
Fr. Unachukwu Cyril CCE
