SOLEMNITY OF THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD
By our Pastor, Fr. Carmelo Jiménez
We are about to finish the Easter season and today we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. The first reading is taken from the Book of Acts of the Apostles which refers to the Ascension as part of the Christian Kerygma. It emphasizes especially the final result that is Jesus went up and God the Father glorified Him and he is seated at the right hand of God.
Wednesday and Thursday of this past week Fr. Juan Jose Muñoz visited us and gave us a class on how to interpret the Sacred Scriptures and he used the text which references that Jesus spent 40 days in the desert. And today we find in the reading this number again, “He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1: 3). This reference to the forty days teaches us different themes: first, this number means finished or maturity; a new generation; how old a rabbi must be to be ordained as such and exercise with full authority. With the Apostles it is time for a new stage, but how difficult it is to understand God’s plan and the mission and person of Jesus! “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).
Three things we learn from this story or event that Saint Luke describes very well. First, the literary style and the language used: it is an apocalyptic language in which the clouds have a theological significance, namely, that the Son of Man will come again in the clouds of heaven. The Clouds are the platform of the throne of God. In the Ascension of Jesus, the image of clouds under his feet reveals to us that he who ascends to heaven is the Universal Judge, the Son of Man who received from the Father all power in heaven and on earth (Mt 28.18 to 20). Secondly, two men dressed in white appeared. In all apocalyptic descriptions, beings appear not of this world but from another world, but have a specific mission, in this case the angel, to transmit a message. And thirdly, all apocalyptic descriptions bring a message: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven” (Acts 1: 10 -11), that message ends the story.
The Ascension implies the full glorification of Jesus. St. Paul does not give details of the Ascension, only affirms it and thereby encourages every Christian to grow in hope. We remember God the Father “put all things beneath his feet and gave 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 (Eph. 1: 23).
Part of the Gospel for this Sunday teaches us that the apparitions of the Risen Jesus to his apostles had two purposes: to ascertain that he was the same one who had lived with them and had been crucified and to send them to evangelize. That part of the Gospel says: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16: 15-16). That evangelization is the same as Pope Francis has recently urged the whole Church. The Pope has repeated again and again, he wants a church to go out from herself, a church that can go out and get to the peripheries. A Church to announce the joy of life. An evangelization that includes all of us as agents and as disciples.
“So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs” (Mk 16: 19-20). May our faith remain adamant in Jesus Christ who reigns in heaven, and His Spirit present among us, and may our faith impel us to proclaim the Good News with joy and enthusiasm. Knowing where our King and Lord went, we, his body, will get there too. Amen.