The Ascension A
Readings: Acts 1:1-11 Ephesians 1:17-23 Matthew 28:16-20
The Feast of the Ascension celebrates both the resurrected Jesus’ triumph over the power of sin and evil by his ascension to the right hand of the Father and also the apostles’ mission, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to witness to Christ’s victory throughout the world. Let us rejoice in Jesus’ enthronement in the words of the refrain of our responsorial psalm: “God mounts his throne to shouts of joy;/ a blare of trumpets for the Lord” (Ps 48).
The account of Jesus’ ascension in the first reading comes from the introduction to Luke’s second volume, the Acts of the Apostles. As with his gospel, Luke addresses Acts to Theophilus (“lover of God”). He recapitulates the events of the Gospel with special emphasis on Jesus’ commissioning the apostles to wait in Jerusalem to receive the power of the Holy Spirit who will send them as his witnesses to the whole world. In his summary of the Gospel Luke recalls Jesus’ actions and teachings until his ascension, his choice the apostles, his suffering and death, his resurrection appearances over a forty day period in which he spoke of the kingdom of God and proved that he was alive, and his command not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the Father’s promise of their baptism with the Holy Spirit. He prefaces his second account of the ascension (see Luke 24:50-53) with a dialogue between the apostles and Jesus at their last meeting. They ask, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” But Jesus says that it is not for them to know “the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.” Instead he promises: “. . . you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Then like Elijah in 2 Kings 2 and certain traditions associated with Moses, Jesus is “lifted up, and a cloud takes him from their sight.” For Luke this is Jesus’ enthronement as the triumphant Messiah and Son of Man at God’s right hand (cf. Dan 7:13 and Luke 1:32; Acts 2:22-36; 7:56). His exodus or departure has been a part of God’s plan from the beginning (cf. Luke 9:28-36; 9:51). Like the prophets Moses and Elijah who appeared with him in glory at the transfiguration to talk of his exodus (9:28-36), Jesus must leave physically for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on his successors who will carry on his work (see Deuteronomy 34 and 2 Kings 2). The “two men dressed in white garments” who stand beside the apostles as they witness the ascension may be Moses and Elijah (cf. Luke 9:28-36; 24:1-8). They do not allow the apostles to gawk at Jesus’ ascension, but rather assure them of his return as the Messiah/Son of Man who will establish his kingdom after their work of witnessing to him throughout the earth.
The Epistle reading is taken from the thanksgiving section of Ephesians in which the Pauline author prays that God, through the resurrected and ascended Christ, will give the Christian community, his body on earth, “a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him.” In Christ’s resurrection from the dead, ascension, and enthronement at his right hand, God has defeated the powers of evil that formerly rule the world—“every principality, authority, power, and dominion and every name that is named.” God has put all things beneath Christ’s feet and given him “as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.” Paul’s prayer is that the Christian community will have the eyes of their hearts enlightened by the risen and triumphant Christ so that they know “the hope that belongs to his (God the Father’s) call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe.”
The Gospel reading of the commissioning of the disciples is the conclusion of Matthew and completes the main themes of the entire Gospel. As the triumphant Son of Man (cf. Daniel 7), the risen Jesus appears to the eleven disciples who have gone to Galilee, as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had told them (Matt 28:9-10; cf. 26:32). When the disciples see him in his glory, they worship, but also are filled with doubt. Jesus then approaches them and assures them that he has triumphed over death and is now risen as the victorious Son of Man as he had repeatedly announced (Matt 16:21-28; 17:22-23; 20:17-19; 24:1-51; 25:31-46; 26:63-64). In Matthew’s Gospel the period between Jesus’ resurrection and his triumphant return as Son of Man in judgment is a time for the gospel to be carried by his disciples to all the nations (24:14). They are the emissaries of Jesus; to receive them is to receive him and the Father who sent him (10:40-42; 18:1-5; 25:31-46). Jesus has prepared them for this mission by his teaching in the five great discourses throughout the Gospel (5:1-7:29; 10:1-11:1; 13:1-53; 18:1-35; 23:1-25:46). Now he commissions them to make disciples of all nations, by “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit” and by teaching them to observe all that he has commanded them. Jesus, who is Immanuel, “God with us” (1:21-22), concludes by assuring them of his presence with them in this mission until his return in glory: “and behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
7th Sunday of Easter A
Readings: Acts 1:12‑14 1 Peter 4:13‑16 John 17:1‑11
On this Sunday between the feasts of Ascension and Pentecost, the Church prepares us for the coming of the Spirit and the task of witnessing to the gospel in the world. Let us wait in confident hope for the coming of the Spirit as we sing the refrain of this Sunday's responsorial psalm: "I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living" (Ps 27).
The reading from Acts describes the early community's prayerful actions immediately after Jesus ascended into heaven. Before his ascension Jesus had instructed the apostles to wait in Jerusalem for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4‑5; see Lk 24:49). So now after witnessing Jesus' ascension on Mount Olivet, the apostles return to Jerusalem and go to the upper room to await the gift of the Spirit. While they are waiting, Luke tells us the apostles "devoted themselves to constant prayer." Luke also emphasizes the prayer of Jesus at key points in his ministry: before his baptism (3:12), before calling the twelve (6:12), before asking his disciples whether they believe in him (9:18), before the transfiguration (9:28), before teaching the Our Father (11:2), in the Garden when he accepts his Father's will (22:41), and on the cross as he commends his spirit to the Father (23:46). In imitation of their master, the disciples devote themselves to prayer as they await the Spirit.
Luke also highlights the presence of other important people from Jesus' ministry besides the apostles. He mentions the women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. In Luke's gospel the women are an important part of Jesus' missionary band from the beginning (8:1‑3). They remain faithful to Jesus through his death (23:49) and burial (23:55‑56). They are also the ones who first discover the empty tomb when they come to anoint Jesus' body, and they are the first to announce the resurrection to the twelve (24:1‑12). Mary also has a special prominence in Luke's gospel. She might be called the first disciple because she hears and does the word of God (see Lk 1:26‑38; 2:19,51; 2:34f.; 8:21; 11:27f.). Finally, the brothers of Jesus are important, especially James who will have a key leadership role in the Jerusalem community (see Lk 8:19‑21; Acts 15:13‑29).
The reading from 1 Peter gives advice to those who are suffering persecution because of their Christian faith. Peter distinguishes between two types of suffering. If Christians "are insulted for the sake of Christ," they should rejoice in the knowledge that they "share Christ's suffering" and that "God's Spirit in its glory has come to rest on" them. But if they suffer for being murderers, thieves, malefactors, or destroyers of others rights, they only are paying the deserved punishment for their crimes.
The Gospel reading from the end of the Farewell Discourse in John features Jesus’ prayer for his disciples whom he is leaving in the world. Jesus has come to his hour of glory when he is to return to the Father by being lifted up on the cross as the ultimate sign of God's love for the world. In the first part of the prayer Jesus asks that the Father “glorify” him. He has completed his "work" by giving the Father glory on the earth, that is, by revealing his love. Now Jesus asks the Father, “give me glory at your side, a glory I had with you before the world began.” In the second part of the prayer Jesus prays for the disciples whom he is leaving behind in the world. He begins by praising them. They were given to him by the Father; they have kept the Father's word; they realize that Jesus has come from God and have received this message of truth. All of this can be summarized by saying that they have "eternal life" because they “know . . . the only true God” and “Jesus Christ” whom he sent. The word “know” here has the Semitic sense of intimacy, of sharing a common life. On the basis of this shared life, Jesus can say to the Father, “For these I pray‑‑ not for the world but for these you have given me, for they are really yours.”
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