Ascension Kicks Off The Mission

𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟐𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐀𝐜 𝟏:𝟏-𝟏𝟏

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟒𝟕:𝟐-𝟑, 𝟔-𝟗 “𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐣𝐨𝐲, 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.”

𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟏:𝟏𝟕-𝟐𝟑

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟐𝟒:𝟒𝟔-𝟓𝟑

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔.: (𝒗.48) 

         Today we celebrate one of the most important solemnities in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church – the Solemnity of the Ascension for the simple reason that this biblical event finally puts a cap on the questions that non-believers have raised with regards the coming back to life of Jesus Christ and his ascension into heaven.

         The other reason which is also important is the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ marks the beginning of the mission of the church that he has established which has been tasked to proclaim the gospel of love the ends of the world.

         This passage in a way is somewhat similar to the Great Commission described in Matthew’s gospel regarding the marching orders given to the Apostles at the end of Matthew’s Gospel was to baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Church must have seen this gospel reading as appropriate for today’s celebration since this is one of two Scripture passages where Jesus has explicitly given specific orders on what his Apostles are to do.

         Conversely, this gospel reading also refers to the presence of the Trinitarian God in the mission of the church and it also commissions us to: “𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒎.” (𝒗.47) and I view this passage as very appropriate indeed because it doesn’t just provide us with our own marching orders as disciples, but it defines the kind of life we all must live out.

         And for us to fathom what this life is all about, there is a need for us to at least acquire even a little knowledge of what our Trinitarian God that we see in 𝒗.49: “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅; 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉.” Our Catholic faith actually only requires us to know and accept that there are three persons in one God – the Father who was the Creator of all things seen and unseen and, the Son and the Holy Spirit who proceeded from the Father.

         Thus, a strong faith is necessary to believe in the Trinitarian God because of all the revealed truths of our Catholic faith, this is considered as the most impenetrable to reason. With only our feeble understanding, we cannot grasp the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and, this is the reason why it is called a mystery as we are unable to comprehend that there are three persons in one God.

         As Catholics who have been baptized in the Spirit, we are merely called to believe in the Trinity. Not to believe in the Trinity is like gazing at the sun trying to understand its properties but losing our sight in the process. Also, one of the reasons why it becomes difficult for us to understand the Trinity is because this is not explicitly spelled out in the Bible. In fact, the very word "𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺" is not found in the Bible.

         Rather early Christians arrived at the Doctrine of the Trinity when they applied their God-given reason to the revelation which they had received in faith. In 𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟔: 𝟏𝟐:𝟏𝟓 Jesus spoke about the Father who sent Him who is the Son of God and about the Holy Spirit whom he was going to send. He said that the Father had given Him all that he has and that he in turn has given to the Holy Spirit all that he has received from the Father.

         The inner relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is in such a way that each of them is fully and equally God, yet there are not three Gods and this is the fact that becomes incomprehensible to the human mind which is why it is called a mystery. Like Augustine we may not be able to understand the how of the Trinity but I think it is very important to understand the why. The importance of this doctrine lies in this: 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴.          

         And when we talk of mission, we neither refer to the physical work that we do or the projects and programs that we promote as a church or community as many have wrongly perceived but mission per se refers to the proclamation of the gospel of Christ to others and the setting may be varied for this mission can start in the home and progress to the community or neighborhood, the church or parish and eventually to those who have not had the experience of knowing Christ in a more personal way.

         As I have always stressed in some of my talks, everyone can chart their own future by living the present in the way they want their future to be. It simply means that if you want to have a future that will guarantee you a room in the mansions that Jesus has reserved for you in heaven, then live your life in complete obedience to Christ who commands us to love God with all our hearts, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Difficult it may be, but these two commandments assure us of our heavenly future.

         In the Great Commission, Jesus promised us that he would be with us always to the end of time and he assures us of his power – a power which overcame sin and death. Now as the glorified and risen Lord and Savior, before he ascended to take his seat at the right hand of the Father in heaven, we see Jesus in 𝒗.50 𝒂𝒔 “𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.”            

          This is a very clear symbolism of the Holy Spirit being given to the Apostles and to us who have succeeded where the Apostles left ofF. This is the same power that will guide us in living our heavenly future here and now.

         Jesus' last words to his Apostles and he is also telling us now that we must take over his mission to be witnesses of his death and his glorious resurrection and to proclaim the Good News of salvation to all the world. This is the Trinitarian life that we are called to live and the purpose for which we have been called – God, we and the world around us. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘔𝘢𝘺 29, 2025)