Readings: Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23; Mk. 16:15-20
Stop Staring, Get
Back to Work!
1.
William
Shakespeare understood life as we see it today. In Merchant of Venice, Antonio
tells Gratiano, “I hold the world but as the world, a stage where
every man must play a part.” (Act 1 Scene 1). And so, it is for
everyone; we step into the scene from birth and play our part till death. The
feast of Ascension reminds us that Christ, who died, rose from the dead, and
appeared to his Apostles for 40 (43) days, now ascends into heaven, while the
Apostles must continue the work of evangelization. The apostles were prepared
for this task from the day Christ began his public ministry until now. He told
them, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at
hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mk. 1:15). And at the
end of his ministry, he commissioned them to “Go into the whole
world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” (Mk. 16:15). We
Christians must believe in Christ and witness to him. To be a faithful
Christian is to be a missionary disciple.
2. As Christ was being lifted, the Apostles looked
intently at the sky, wondering what to do next. Angels had to intervene to
bring them back to reality. “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
1:11). With that the Apostles recalled the words of Christ. “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 1:8). They must prepare themselves for their
mission. So, back in Jerusalem, they returned and devoted themselves to prayer
while waiting for the Holy Spirit. Aren’t we like that most of the time?
Thoreau was right when he said, “We live merely like ants, and our
lives are frittered away by details.” We often get caught up in
problems and are weighed down by difficulties. We tend to lose direction and
find it difficult to see things from the correct perspective. At times like
these, we need to recall the vision faith gives us regarding the goals and
meaning of our lives. Why are we here? What is the purpose of our lives?
Christianity is not standing around waiting for something to happen; it is
about making something happen. We make it happen by witnessing the Good News of
Jesus Christ through word and deed.
3. The feast of Ascension gives us hope, strengthens our
mission, and empowers us to bring the gospel of salvation to others. It
reminded us of our Baptism when the word of God was placed on our lips by the
minister as he said, “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the
dumb speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to
proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.” (The
Rite of Baptism). Jesus also received his mandate at his Baptism. It was then
that his mission was revealed. Hence, he said, “The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the
blind, and let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the
Lord.” (Lk. 4:18-19). The letter to the Hebrews told us, “For
this reason, when he came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you
did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; Behold, I come to do you will,
O God.’” (Heb. 10:5-7). This, too, is our mission: to do the will
of God and bear witness to him.
4. Ascension is about endings and beginnings. Christ’s
ministry on earth ended, but the operation of the Holy Spirit in his followers
to continue his ministry began. It is now time for us to step up and play our
part in the mission of Christ. As he commissioned the disciples, we are now
commissioned to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until
the end of age.” (Mt. 28:19-20). Now, the time for preparing his
apostles for the mission to build his Church was over, but the time for
participation in the expansion of that Church began. We must start witnessing
to Christ and carry on his mission to the ends of the earth. But we know that
we are not alone. He is with us always in and through His Spirit.
5. To bear witness to Christ, we must be men and women of
prayer. We come to Church to praise God, to hear his word, and to break the
bread of his body with our brothers and sisters. But we don’t stand by staring
up to heaven. We have places to go and things to do. So, we must stop staring
and get back to work! We must leave the Church with fire to preach the word and
bear witness to him. Christ has no one else except you and me to continue this
mission of love. He has no body but ours, no hands and feet, no eyes and ears,
no means to show compassion and love, to show mercy and offer forgiveness, to
preach the word and baptize but ours. Our hands must be his hands, our mouth
must be his mouth, and we must do the good he must do. If anyone is to die
again for others, it must not be Christ but us since we are called to bear
witness to him. And so, we pray that we may witness to Christ by celebrating
His Ascension into glory and hope to join Christ one day to enjoy life in full
communion with God and all the saints. Amen.
Rev. Augustine
Etemma Inwang, MSP.
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