Word to the Wise
Sunday, May 29, 2022 - Ascension of the Lord - C
[Acts 1:1-11; opt: Heb 9:24-28; 10:19-23; Luke 24:46-53]"But 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....." [Acts] "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." [Luke]
The evangelist Luke is the only source we have about the ascension of the Lord. He tells the story twice - at the end of the gospel and at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. The other evangelists apparently did not consider the matter important or had no traditions to recount! The Gospel According to Matthew [28:15-20] mentions a last meeting on a mountain in Galilee but no reference as to how Jesus' post-resurrection appearances ended. What comes through in the accounts by Luke is the promise of the Holy Spirit and the charge given to the disciples to be witnesses to the life and teachings of Christ.
Liturgically, all of this is by way of preparing us for the celebration of the feast of Pentecost next Sunday. What can easily escape us is a focus on how Jesus ascended or what happened in the Upper Room with tongues as of fire. The same Holy Spirit actually comes to us in baptism and confirmation. The same charge is given to us to be witnesses "to all the nations." This is something that requires a daily ordinary living of the Christian message with the strength that comes from the Holy Spirit. The Lord's time on earth came to an end, but not his mission. We are the "what next?" everyday everywhere. AMEN