Ascension Sunday (B)

(Edited) Reflections (from) Ascension Sunday (B), May 2009

First reading: Acts 1:1-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 47
Second reading: Ephesians 4:17-24
Gospel reading: Mark 16:15-20

"Jesus was taken up into heaven and took His seat at God's right hand."

The account of the Lord's ascension in the gospel of Mark is very brief. It begins with Jesus appearing to His Eleven apostles and commanding them to undertake a global mission of evangelization and baptism. Jesus adds, that belief in the Good News will save all those who accept the Gospel, but refusal to believe in the Gospel will condemn the unbelievers. The signs by which those who believe, will know that they are faithful to the Gospel, are these: they will have the power to expel demons; to speak new languages; to handle serpents without them being harmed; to be unharmed also from poison; to heal the sick and bring them to recovery. After saying all these to His Eleven apostles, Jesus ascended into heaven and seated at the right of His Father. The work that the Lord did in His earthly ministry is commissioned to the Eleven, and the message they are to proclaim to all people will be accomplished through the spiritual power Jesus grants them to perform in His name.

The Kingdom of God is not a political power or state. It is a spiritual Kingdom with a force to compel humanity to journey with all creation to God. Therefore the power Jesus gives to His apostles is a strong spiritual power more than a temporal one. Thus, the mission entrusted to the Eleven is a mission empowered by this spiritual power. This mission is being accomplished: first, throughout the centuries through the early Christian communities; second, as the Church is doing so through her sacraments and apostolic works to all cultures; and third, as the Church will continue to do so with all the lay faithful in her global mission to all. It was during His Ascension that Christ expressed His mission more definitely to the apostles. These Eleven apostles will soon receive the full spiritual power of the Holy Spirit, when the Spirit descends upon them at Pentecost. Pentecost will lead them to all truth - a truth they must bring to all humanity. This truth is about Jesus, & the Kingdom Christ has established during His earthly mission. As Jesus now ascends into heaven, He promised to send the Holy Spirit, to be with all His followers not only for their time, but up to our present time and until the end of the world.

In this mystery of Christ's Ascension, we catch a glimpse of the glory of God. The Eleven witnessed this, and all the faithful now believe in this mystery by faith in the gospel and the traditions of the Church. When Jesus left His earthly ministry into the responsible hands of the Eleven apostles, these apostles in turn, share their mission and ministry to both the clergy in the hierarchical structure of the Church and to religious communities and lay people in the charismatic movements. The glory that the apostles witnessed in the ascension of Jesus, will be the glory that all the faithful will also share with Christ, if all the baptized accept each one's share of the responsibility and work on it towards completion. This responsibility is in the apostolic works and ministry of the Church - to build the Kingdom of God in the same manner that Jesus did in His earthly mission and ministry. Let us therefore thank the Father, give Him praise and honor forever, for gifting us with His Son Jesus, that we may share too in His life of glory - a life of grace that humanity had lost because of the sin of our first parents. With Jesus, there is always hope again for all of humanity. Hope in God and His Kingdom is the way.