YEAR B: HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD (2)

YEAR B: HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD

THEME: WAIT FOR THE HOLY GHOST BAPTSM

BY: Rev Fr Utazi Prince Marie Benignus Zereuwa

HOMILY: Acts 1: 1-11; Psalm 47: 2-3, 6-7, 8-9; Ephesians 1:17-23 or Ephesians 4:1-13 Mark 16:15-20

I pray for you: May you be willing to do whatever is necessary to further the spread of the Good News to others! AMEN

I am impressed by missionaries, whether they are priests, religious, or lay people. I am even impressed by missionaries from other religious organizations. It is not just what they say, but also the fact that they are willing to proclaim the Good News to others. Some leave their families and friends and travel great distances as they share what they believe with people who may not have heard the Gospel of Jesus. All the same, we all are called to be missionaries, that is, people who are “sent” to give witness to the Good News by the way we live our lives. Jesus purposely chose to stay on earth only a relative short period of time (33 years). His public ministry was no more than three years. And after His death and resurrection, He stayed only 40 days with His followers. Yes, He empowered His disciples to continue His work and gifted them with the Holy Spirit. We, His disciples in this space and time, are commissioned to continue that ministry of spreading the faith.

Jesus remained with His disciples only a relatively short period of time after His resurrection. In the passage from the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke says it was forty days. The other gospels accounts relate that Jesus only was with His followers on some occasions during those forty days, not consistently day after day. Today, we have a couple accounts of Jesus’ last words to His disciples before He returned to His Father in heaven. The question for us is: what is the meaning of the Ascension? Or more practically, how am I going to live my life differently because of the Lord’s Ascension? To be able to answer that, we need to look more closely at the readings for today.

In the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke remarks that after Jesus had spent forty days presenting Himself to the disciples, He promised them that they would be “baptized with the Holy Spirit” and be His witnesses starting in Jerusalem and spreading throughout the world. As Jesus ascends into heaven, the disciples stare into the skies, shocked and perplexed until two white-clothed individuals ask them the questions, “Why are you standing there looking into the sky?”

The first choice of passages from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians proclaims that God is giving a Spirit of wisdom and revelation to believers so that they can have fuller knowledge of Jesus and they can realize the hope to which they are called – a hope in the inheritance with Jesus, a share in His glory in heaven, and a part in His Body, which is the Church. The other choice for the second reading remarks that we are called to live out the one faith we have in Jesus, Who descended to earth to save us and has ascended back to His rightful place in heaven. But Jesus has commissioned (“shared the mission with”) His followers to carry on His work.

In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of empowering His disciples with signs which they would use in the exercise of the their ministry so that they can go out to all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, that is “plunging” them into Christ and His mission and ministry. In some of the other accounts of Jesus’ ascension, Jesus also promises that He will be with His followers always, even until the end of time (cf. Matthew 28: 16-20 – The Great Commission).

Dear Sisters and Brothers, what this says to me is that we are called and empowered to continue the work of Jesus. This is not just the call of the ordained clergy or pastoral staff. It is the call of each follower of Jesus. Each of us, as a disciple of the Master, is given the ability, and responsibility, to further the spread of the Good News. As members of the Body of Christ (the church), we are gifted with what we need to further the mission of Jesus. We often ask, “How can I serve in the proclamation of the Gospel?” We think that because we have not been trained or because we have not dedicated our lives to missionary work that we are not going to be responsible for the ministry of spreading the faith. In some ways we are like the disciples who today look up in the heaven as Jesus is taken from their sight. We are awestruck by what we have experienced. We often just spend time looking up to the sky with our mouths wide open. Maybe we need beings dressed in white appearing to us saying, “Why are you standing there looking up into the sky?” We need to be challenged to quit standing around, doing nothing, and to get to work spreading the Good News. We can take a little consolation in the fact that it took the disciples at least ten days to get motivated. And it was only after they received the further outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost that they were able to get moving in their mission of furthering the Gospel. What we need to do is to continue to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives. The coming of the Holy Spirit, by the way, is not just a one time thing. It is an on-going process. The more we are open to the Spirit’s presence in our lives, the more we will be empowered to be Spirit-filled individuals and become the missionaries whom we are called to be.

This is why we need to keep turning to the Lord and praying, “Send us Your Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of us who are trying to be faithful. Inflame in our hearts the fire of Your love.” What can help us is the realization that we have been given, and are continuing to be given, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation which enlightens us to the hope of the call which Jesus has given us (see the Second Reading). If we strive to live out our missionary call, especially to those whom we encounter each and every day, then Jesus promises us a share in His inheritance, with the other holy ones, and the surpassing greatness of His power. We will share in His ascension at the end of our earthly life and even more so at the end of time when we will be raised up with our bodies to be with Him in glory.

MEDITATION In what ways am I like the apostles in my standing around looking up to heaven, wondering what is happening without our doing anything? To whom in my life is it most difficult to be sent and to minister? Which gift/fruit of the Holy Spirit (knowledge, wisdom, understanding, peace, joy, discernment, hope, faith, love, endurance, being in awe of God) do I need the most at this moment in my life? How can I more faithfully proclaim the Good News to those to whom I am sent?

PRAYER Lord God, You promise to enable us and empower us by the continually outpouring of Your Holy Spirit. We come into Your presence today and pray, “Come, Holy Spirit! Come with Your gifts of knowledge and wisdom, discernment and right judgement, with strength and humility.” We need to be inspired (“in Spirited”) and made enthusiastic (“in God”) so we can proclaim the values of the Gospel by our living Gospel lives. Give us the ability to be faithful to the Good News, especially as we proclaim it to those in our families, in our workplace, and wherever You lead us. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen. Alleluia!

O DIVINE WORD WHO TOOK FLESH FOR HUMAN SAKE, REDEEM US IN OUR SITUATION

DAY 13 OF OUR 31 DAYS JOURNEY WITH MAMA MARIA