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Homilies are posted no later than during the week
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Ascension
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A boy was flying a kite that he could not see. He
was asked how he could know it was there if it was lost in the clouds.
The boy responded, "I feel the tug on the string." We know the
invisible and ascended Jesus is still with us today by His tug on our
hearts and conscience.
The Ascension of Jesus is not a nickel and dime
feast. It ranks right up there in the Catholic Hall of Fame with Easter
from the beginning of the Church. An ivory plaque of the Ascension by
an unknown artist in Italy dates from the late fourth century. The
carved image pictures the Christ ascending to Heaven while grasping the
right hand of God the Father which is extending from the clouds. The
apostles stand about terrified. The image is found in the Bavarian
National Museum of Munich, Germany.
In the fifth century, St Augustine was living in
northern Africa. He wrote that the Ascension is celebrated "in all the
world." As a matter of fact, Augustine says the feast dates to the
apostles. Who would care to contradict this giant?
There are references to the Ascension in today's
Matthew, in Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51, and in the Acts of the Apostles 1:9.
The Acts suggest that the mountain of the Ascension
is Mount Olivet, "which is nigh Jerusalem, within a Sabbath's day
journey." St Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, built the
first church on the site in the early fourth century. It was torn down
by the Persians in 614 but rebuilt in the eighth century. The church
was destroyed again but then resurrected by the Christian Crusaders.
However, the Muslims had the last word. They delivered the church its
coup de grace. What the pilgrim finds today is a chapel which guards
the stone said to contain the imprint of the feet of Christ just prior
to the Ascension. This tradition goes back to at least the late
fifteenth century as a German woodcut still existing attests.
In the Middle Ages, Christians organized festive
processions that followed the journey of Jesus with the apostles to
Mount Olivet. They ended their festivities with the raising of the
statue of Jesus through an opening in the roof of the church. This of
course symbolized the Ascension of the Master to His Father. The Jesus
of earth had become the Christ of Heaven. In some places, it was also
customary that while the Christ was ascending, an image of the devil
was descending.
Major artists continued to have a fascination with
the Ascension. Giotto in the early 1300s painted a fresco of the
Ascension in a chapel in Padua, Italy. Then, in the sixteenth century,
the German genius Albrecht Durer left us a pen and ink sketch of the
same event. Their interest in the subject reveals the wonderful draw
the Ascension held for followers of Christ.
Nor have contemporary Christians
and their artists abandoned interest. The customs of the Middle Ages
have moved into the modern era. In many churches today, the faithful
will process outside after the liturgy. They will joyfully release
dozens of colorful balloons into the air. They then join hands and
dance as they celebrate the Master's Ascension as well as their own
approaching ones.
Theirs is the spirit of the high school sophomore
who came into the sacristy to speak to me after I preached on Heaven.
He told me he was anxious to get there. He wanted to check out the
pleasures that Heaven would offer him on his ascension. The boy is, as
we should be, an eager Christian astronaut.
Space flights are already being regarded as
footnotes in human history. But the Ascension of our Leader continues
to be celebrated by millions of Christians, as St Augustine put it "in
all the world."
In Germany and Austria, musicians today climb into
church towers to play a variety of instruments to salute the homecoming
of Christ as they call it. At Harvard University in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, trumpets will sound today from the tower of the German
Museum located on campus.
Why such excitement? Easter promises our
immortality. Ascension tells us where we hope to spend it. (Unknown)
I have a selfish interest in the Ascension of
Christ. Each of us, on average, is given c 26,000 days of human life. I
have passed my quota. So, I live on borrowed time. I'm overdue for my
own ascension.
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http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
Ascension
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http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see Spanish
homilies
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http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
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http://benedictine.stvincent.edu/archabbey/Weeklywords/Weeklywords.html
Ascension
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http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
Ascension
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Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
'So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into
heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.' (Mk 16,19) Christ's
body was glorified at the moment of his Resurrection, as proved by the
new and supernatural properties it subsequently and permanently enjoys.
(Cf. Lk 24:31; Jn 20:19, 26) But during the forty days when he eats and
drinks familiarly with his disciples and teaches them about the
kingdom, his glory remains veiled under the appearance of ordinary
humanity. (Cf. Acts 1:3; 10:41; Mk 16:12; Lk 24:15; Jn 20:14-15; 21:4)
Jesus' final apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his
humanity into divine glory, symbolized by the cloud and by heaven,
where he is seated from that time forward at God's right hand. (Cf.
Acts 1:9; 2:33; 7:56; Lk 9:34-35; 24:51; Ex 13:22; Mk 16:19; Ps 110:1)
Only in a wholly exceptional and unique way would Jesus show himself to
Paul 'as to one untimely born,' in a last apparition that established
him as an apostle. (1 Cor 15:8; cf. 9:1; Gal 1:16). (CCC 659)
Christ departs his people on earth in order to be powerfully present
among them through the indwelling Holy Spirit and in that Spirit to
send them forth and increase. He leaves us a mission to evangelize all
peoples. Our Holy Father Benedict in Rome has issued a new call for all
of us, as salt and light, as a leaven in the world, to witness the
saving presence of Christ in His Church by joyfully sharing the truths
of the Gospel in word and action.
Christ is seated at God's right hand, from whence he shall come to
judge the living and the dead. And how shall we live and spread the
Gospel while separated from the Lord of glory by this earthly life? By
faith.
"Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our
salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. (Cf. Mk 16:16; Jn
3:36; 6:40) 'Since "without faith it is impossible to please [God]' and
to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one
has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life
"but he who endures unto the end" ' (Cf. Mt 10:22; 24:13 and Heb 11:6)"
(CCC 161)
"God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer
goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life.
For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to
man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his
strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into
the unity of his family, the Church." (CCC 1)
"So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent
forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the
gospel: 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am
with you always, to the close of the age.' (Mt 28:18-20) Strengthened
by this mission, the apostles 'went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs
that attended it.' (Mk 16:20)" (CCC 2)
The Lord continues today to "work with" the Apostles in their
successors, the bishops, who proclaim in union with Peter the orthodox
catholic faith that comes to us from the Apostles. We reach eternal
salvation by this one orthodox faith. All of our thoughts, words and
actions should be conformed to the holy faith, should draw life from
it, and build it up. ( See also CCC 977, 183, 1507, 659)
Publish with permission. http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/
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http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
Ascension
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Contact Father at cbonar@cfl.rr.com;
information about his book of homilies is available at www.clydebonar.com.
Ascension |
Readings: Acts 1: 1-11; Ephesians 1: 17-23; Matthew 28: 16-20
Jesus Must Be Where God Is, And God's In Heaven
Introduction
On September 20, 1519, Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain. His
hope, to get to the Far East without having to go around Africa. He
crossed the Atlantic Ocean, sailed through what we now call the Straits
of Magellan, and then across the Pacific Ocean.
Three years later, on September 8, 1522, Magellan's ships returned to
Spain, laden with spices from the Moluccas Islands.
Because Magellan returned to Spain, people in medieval times concluded
that the earth is round. Magellan had sailed around the world.
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus to heaven.
Christ disappeared into a cloud, and his followers concluded he went to
heaven.
But, why would the early Christians conclude that Jesus was in heaven?
All they could see was that Jesus disappeared into a cloud.
Language of Love
Because Jesus is different, his disciples thought Jesus went to heaven.
Christ speaks the language of God. Jesus reveals God to us. Hence, the
conclusion: if Christ is no longer with us, he must be where God is,
and God is in heaven. The disciples said, Jesus ascended to heaven.
No doubt about it, God is love, Christ spoke the language of love.
Everyone understood Jesus. Early in his ministry, a leper knelt before
Jesus and said, "Sir, if you want to, you can cure me." Christ
stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said, "Of course I want
to! Be cured." And, the leprosy was gone. No laws of ritual purity, no
repulsion at the dread disease of leprosy would stop Christ. Jesus
spoke the language of love. (Matthew 8:1-4)
The stories Christ told were tales of love. Thieves mugged a man
walking from Jerusalem to Jericho, left him half dead. A priest walked
by, a Levite walked by, neither stopped. Then a Samaritan traveler
bandaged the man's wounds, took him to an inn, and told the innkeeper
he would pay for his care. Christ commanded us to "love your neighbor
as yourself." Jesus spoke the language of love. The "Good Samaritan"
loved his neighbor, loved a man who had ben mugged and left to die.
(Luke 10:29-37; Mark 12:31)
Peter had asked Jesus how often he should forgive his brother if his
brother wronged him. Christ instructed Peter, "seventy times seven
times." When he himself hung on the cross, one criminal on his right,
another criminal on his left, and the soldiers were casting lots to see
who got his clothes, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they do not
know what they are doing." Jesus spoke the language of love. (Luke
23:33-34; Matthew 18:22)
Jesus is different. Christ speaks the language of love, and God is love
(1 John 4:16). When Jesus disappeared in a cloud, he must have gone to
where God is. And, God is in heaven. Jesus ascended into heaven.
Reveals God
Christ not only spoke the language of love, Jesus also revealed the
ways of God. Truths proven by the ages to be true. Christ revealed that
God's will gets done, even if we deny God or ignore God.
We can start with a truth too often forgotten: we are made in the image
of God (Genesis 1:26-27), each of us a brother and sister in Christ,
beloved by God (Genesis 1:26-27; Ephesians 1:5; Hebrews 2:11; 1
Thessalonians 1:4).
By contrast, the words of racism use different descriptions. Words like
apartheid, slave, racial cleansing. But, racism is not God's will, and
in the end, God's will prevails. It took centuries, but slavery was
finally outlawed throughout the world. The apartheid of South Africa
gave way to electing a Black man, Nelson Mandela, as President. A
coalition of nations put an end to ethnic cleansing in Bosnia.
Another truth, God is God. God commanded, "you shall not have strange
gods before me." Atheism denies the very existence of God. Under
Communism, the Soviet Union outlawed religion. Churches were closed,
church property confiscated, the buildings turned into libraries or
granaries. Parents forbidden to teach their children about God.
Seminaries and monasteries, closed.
But, atheism is a lie. By his Incarnation, Christ, God the Son came to
live among us. Today, the Soviet Union no longer exists. Christianity
blossoms anew in Russia.
Another revelation by Jesus, closer to our experience. When tempted by
the devil, Jesus tells us, "Man does not live on bread alone" (Matthew
4:4). But, advertisements prod us to buy anything our heart desires.
Pope John Paul II called it "materialistic consumerism." Robert Redford
tells us the movie industry has one question: "Is it gonna sell or
not?" In the movie industry, moral considerations play second fiddle.
If violence sells, violent movies are made.1
But a lot of possessions hardly guarantees happiness. Super rich Howard
Hughes died a lonely recluse.
Against racism, Christ called us brothers and sisters, all beloved by
God. Contrary to atheism, Jesus was born of Mary, true God and true
man. Against consumerism, Jesus tells, we do not live on bread alone.
Because Christ revealed God to us, when he disappeared into a cloud,
his disciples knew, Jesus ascended to heaven.
The Great Commission
Before ascending into heaven, Jesus gave his disciples the "great
commission." Christ said, "Go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."
"Go to all nations," Jesus said. And, Christians have. We all know of
St. Patrick. Brought Christianity to Ireland. Before Patrick, Druid
priests preached a pagan religion. Or, think of St. Francis Xavier. A
Jesuit priest and missionary to India. The Holy Ghost Fathers spread
the Good News in Africa. Benedictine monks from Indiana open a
monastery in Peru.
But, not to forget our own nation. You and I invite others to Christ by
our example. One day we walk into work with ashes on our foreheads. A
co-worker tells us our forehead has a smudge. We explain Ash Wednesday
and our Catholic faith.
"Go to all nations," around the world, and here in our own country.
"Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit." By baptism, we become Christians. Christian becomes our family
name.
A name is personal. By our names, we have identity. My first name,
Clyde, a name given to me by my parents. It was my father's middle
name. So, my name ties me to my family.
At baptism, the priest says, "I claim this child for Christ." We become
Christians, identified with Christ.
To do something "in the name of" means we are authorized by that
person. A check made out to the name of a neighbor means that money is
given to the neighbor. When we ask to be baptized, we give ourselves
over to Christ.
We ask for baptism because we have heard about Jesus. Someone taught
us, Christ commissions us to teach everyone to observe all that Christ
commanded. To teach others about God.
We teach best by living the good Christian life. They said about St.
Antony of the Desert Fathers, if you want to know God, go see Antony. A
present day example was when a visitor to a convent was asked if he
wanted to see the jewel of the convent. Expecting to see some valuable
object, the nuns showed him an elderly, dying sister. Just walking into
her presence, the visitor felt the presence of God.
Jesus gave his disciples the "great commission." To go to all nations,
to baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, and to teach them all that God commands.
Conclusion
We're coming to the end of the Easter season. With great joy we
celebrated the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. Through the
weeks, we have recalled how the Risen Christ walked among his disciples
for forty days.
Today we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. Christ being taken up
into heaven, to be seated at the right hand of God the Father.
Our Gospel ends, "I am with you always, until the end of the age." Next
week, we celebrate Pentecost, when God fills the disciples with the
Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit to be with us now and forever. |
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These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use;
however, they may not be commercially published without permission of
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