HOMILY FOR ASCENSION SUNDAY YEAR C (1)

HOMILY FOR ASCENSION SUNDAY YEAR C

THEME: WE ALWAYS NEED A DIVINE ADVOCATE!

Fr. Augustine Ikechukwu Opara

HOMILY FOR SUNDAY MAY 29 2022

(ACTS 1:1-11, HEBREWS 9:24-28;10:19-23, LUKE 24:46-53)

On this seventh Sunday of Easter, we celebrate the solemnity of Ascension. It is an important solemnity that marks the

HOMILY FOR ASCENSION SUNDAY YEAR C

THEME: WE ALWAYS NEED A DIVINE ADVOCATE!

Fr. Augustine Ikechukwu Opara

HOMILY FOR SUNDAY MAY 29 2022

 

(ACTS 1:1-11, HEBREWS 9:24-28;10:19-23, LUKE 24:46-53)

On this seventh Sunday of Easter, we celebrate the solemnity of Ascension. It is an important solemnity that marks the return of Jesus to the Father. Together with the Resurrection, it is a manifestation of the victory of Christ. Today is the day we commemorate Jesus leaving His Apostles in bodily form. We would think that they would be weeping yet today it says they went home rejoicing. They waited in Jerusalem for the coming feast of Pentecost. It seems that in life we will have to go through many such leavings but the call from God is not to merely mourn but to rejoice as well because it means we have entered on a new path and new light will be shed on our path. Ascension is a solemnity that sustains the hope of Christians that one day we shall be where Christ is.
Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:3) that Jesus was seen in his risen form for forty days. After those forty days, Jesus was no more seen in his risen body. The feast of today marks this stage of transition in the story of incarnation and resurrection. Luke describes this “withdrawal” of Jesus (Lk 24:51) in terms of being “lifted up” (Acts 1:9). However, with our modern familiarity with rocket science, we should not be led to think of the feast of today in terms of a count down and then Jesus being shot up to heaven! That would deny this feast of its depth. So, our reflection is not going to be on the hydraulics or aerodynamics of the feast of today, but on the essence of God’s presence among his people.

These two mysteries, Ascension, and Pentecost are intimately linked. Jesus tells us that He must go away so that the Father will send the Spirit. Jesus tells us that He will still be with us, but no longer in the same way. It is important for us to recognize that the Lord Jesus is always with us in His Church, especially when we see the broken and sinful aspects of ourselves, who make up the Church. Imagine if Jesus would have stayed there with the apostles, would they have gone very far to bring the Good News to us? It is unlikely. However, there were many changes. At first, they stayed together, worshiped together in Jerusalem. Then they went forth, inspired by persecution, and brought many other souls and formed many other Christians with the message of salvation.

God allows all thing to happen and we, as Christians, must have the grace to ask ourselves where God is inviting us to grow. Of course, we can stay stuck and say, “This is not how I wanted it,” and become bitter. Yet, in each moment, the Lord is here to bring new light, new life. It is our closeness to the Lord that allows us to profit from these situations. Just as we sometimes feel abandoned and alone personally, so also there are times when the Church seems abandoned and desolate. In these dark nights, we are invited to believe and to trust that God’s salvation is still with us, that the Father is still giving us the Son and the Spirit and that we ourselves are loved by this divine God and that all shall be well. We wait for the power of the Spirit, as in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. We wait to be clothed with power from on high as in today’s Gospel from Saint Luke.

My brothers and sisters, as we celebrate the solemnity of Ascension today, Jesus reminds us that irrespective of our knowledge and human capabilities we need a divine help to succeed. This divine help will come from the Holy Spirit to whom we must pay attention to all the time. So, as we expect the fulfilment of His promise on Pentecost Sunday, let us pray: “Sent forth your spirit O Lord and renew the face of the earth. “This week is dedicated to the Holy Spirit. There is a novena to the Holy Spirit that you can pray to get ready for Pentecost. You are two days late because it started on Friday, but I encourage you to pray it anyway to ask the Lord what your part is in this church of resurrection.
Happy feast day!

Fr. Augustine Ikechukwu Opara

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