Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ
The Solemnity of the Ascension lifts our gaze upwards, beyond earthly things and reminds us of the mission the Lord has entrusted to us here on earth stated Pope Francis in his homily on Thursday, May Thirteenth 2021. The story of the Ascension of Christ we heard today in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11 urges us to look beyond the physical world to the supernatural. This was the reason why the Apostles as they were looking at the sky when Jesus was lifted up into heaven were reminded by two men dressed in white garments saying "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." This story my dear friends reminds us that the story of Jesus has not ended but continues with His disciples, Apostles and with us as He (Jesus) commands us all in our gospel reading today from the gospel of Saint Mark 16:15-20 to “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” By proclaiming the gospel to every creature, we will continue His work on earth and bring all His children back to Him. This in fact is the original commissioning and call to discipleship for all Christians.
Hence, it is our duty and obligation to proclaim the gospel of Christ to all creatures and to the whole world. But are we proclaiming the gospel of Christ as Jesus commanded us to do today? If we are not doing so, why are we not following Jesus’s command to us? There are many reasons why we have failed to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the world today but the most important reason is our lack of preparation. How can you proclaim the gospel of Christ when you are not prepared to do so? In order to proclaim the gospel to every creature as Jesus commanded us today, Saint Paul in our second reading today from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians tells us what we have to do to proclaim the gospel of Christ effectively and efficiently in our world today. According to St. Paul, in order to proclaim the gospel of Christ well, we have "to live in a manner worthy of the calling we have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace."
So, in order to answer our call to discipleship by going into the whole world to proclaim the gospel to every creature, we have to firstly, live worthy lives as Christians by being humble - how humble are we when we preach and proclaim the gospel of Christ? Do we even proclaim the gospel of Christ or do we proclaim our own gospel? Do we make the proclamation of the gospel about ourselves instead of about God? Secondly, in order to answer our call to discipleship by going into the whole world to proclaim the gospel to every creature as explained by St. Paul, we have to be gentle - how gentle are we when we preach and proclaim the gospel of Christ? Do we force people to listen to and believe in the gospel of Christ we preach or do we show them the gospel of Christ by our actions and examples? Thirdly, in order to answer our call to discipleship by going into the whole world to proclaim the gospel to every creature, we have to be patient - how patient are we with others as Catholic Christians when proclaiming and preaching the gospel of Christ to them? How patient are we with ourselves as we work hard to repent of our sins and come close to God? Lastly, in order to answer our call to discipleship by going into the whole world to proclaim the gospel to every creature, St. Paul reminds us in the second reading today to bear with one another through love and strive to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace given us by God - are we being understanding of others by bearing with them and their struggles when we preach and proclaim the gospel of Christ to them? Do we preach and proclaim the gospel of Christ with love paying attention to the peace and unity that should exist among us, no matter the color of our skin, our language, our age or our status in life?
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Solemnity of the Ascension we are celebrating today reminds us to focus on heavenly things and on Jesus’s command to us today to “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” So let us go into the world today and proclaim the gospel to all creatures by living in a manner worthy of our calling as Catholic Christians through a life of humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another through love, and by striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace given us by God. Amen!
