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Ascension:
for a
Church
permanently in a state of Mission
VII Easter
Sunday (Ascension of the Lord)
Year B –
28.5.2006
Acts
1:1-11
Psalm 46
Ephesians 4:1-13
Mark
16:15-20
Reflections
The
Ascension of Jesus into Heaven can be seen under three complementary
aspects.
First, as a glorious manifestation of God (1st
Reading): there is
the cloud of divine apparitions, the men in white garments, three
references to Heaven in just two verses, and the announcing of a future
coming
(vv.9-11); Second, as the epilogue of an undertaking that
is
difficult and paradoxical, but successful (2nd. Reading): Jesus ascends
to
Heaven, gives gifts to men, and is the fulness of all things (vv.
8,10);
Thirdly, as the sending of the Apostles on a mission as
big as
the world (Gospel).
The
final events of Jesus' life on earth both illuminate and give a meaning
to the
troubled course of previous events. “That is why John speaks of the exaltation
and then of the ascension of Jesus on the very day
of his death on
the Cross: death-resurrection-ascension make up a
single Paschal
and Christian mystery, which sees the history of humankind and the
cosmos
brought together in God. Even the forty days mentioned in Acts
1:2-3
refer to a perfect and definitive period, that must not be taken in the
literal
sense of chronological information” (G. Ravasi).
The
completeness of Jesus' paschal event is at the root of the joyful hope
of the
Church and of the “serene confidence” of believers to be one day “in
the same
glory” ad Christ (Preface). This is the root of apostolic commitment
and of the
optimism of the missionaries of the Gospel, in the
certainty of
being bearers of a message and of and experience of life that is successful,
thanks to the Resurrection. First of all, it is a life that
is fully
successful in Christ; and it is already, even if only a state of
beginning, in
the members of the Christian community. The fruits are there: what we
must do
is see them and be able to appreciate them.
Motivated
internally by such an experience of a new life in Christ, the Apostles
- and
missionaries of all times - become its “witnesses in
Jerusalem
and in the whole of Judaea and Samaria and to the furthest ends
of the
earth” (Acts 1:8), in a process that starts progressively from
the
centre (Jerusalem), spreading into an area as vast as the whole world.
In fact,
the whole world is the field into which Jesus, just before ascending to
Heaven,
sends his disciples (Gospel): “Go out to the whole world; proclaim the
Good
News to all creation” (v.15). (*)
The
verbs used in Mission sending are still used and will always have the
same
meaning. 'Go out' indicates the dynamism and the courage to
plunge into
the always new situations of the world; 'preach' not just a
doctrine,
but a Person; 'believe' signifies the obedience of faith; 'baptise'
points to the sacrament that transforms someone, bringing them into the
Trinitarian and ecclesial life.
The
Apostles put the command of Jesus into practice immediately: "going
out,
they preached everywhere" (v.20). The closing words of the Gospel show
the
launching of the Church in mission - a Church in a permanent
state of Mission! - to continue the work of Jesus, everywhere and
always.
With the commitment of each one - a proverbial rolling up of
sleeves - so that
the project inaugurated by Jesus may come to transform people from
within -
from their hearts - and so create a world that is more just, fraternal,
at one.
Looking up to heaven - the final aim that inspires the great journey of
life - does
not distract or weaken the effort; indeed, it stimulates Christians and
evangelisers to look on the world with love, to be concrete in their
commitment
according to situations, to be generous and creative for the life of
the human
family.
The Pope's words
*
“It is a fact: we exist to show God to people. And only where God is
seen does
life truly begin. Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know
what
life is... There is nothing more beautiful than to be reached,
surprised, by
the Gospel, by Christ. There is nothing more wonderful than to know Him
and to
communicate friendship with him to others. The task of the pastor, of
the
fisher of men may often seem tiring. But it is wonderful and great,
because in
the end it is a service to joy, to the joy of God who wants to make His
entry
into the world”.
Benedict
XVI
Homily at the solemn
start of his
Pontificate, 24 April 2005
In the
steps of Missionaries
-
25/5 (28/5): Ascension of the Lord Jesus into Heaven, having sent his
Apostles
out into the whole world. The Sunday is World Day of Social
Communications.
-
28/5: Bl. Anthony Julian Nowowiejski (1858-1941) and Leon
Wetmanski
(1886-1941), the Archbishop and Auxiliary Bishop Plock (Poland), and
also
President and Secretary of the Missionary Union of the Clergy. They
both died
in a concentration camp.
-
29/5: Bl. Joseph Gérard (1831-1914), a French Oblate of Mary Immaculate
(OMI) a
pioneer in South Africa and Lesotho.
-
29/5: St. Ursula (Julia) Ledóchowska (1865-1939), and Austrian nun,
Foundress
of the Ursulines of the S. Heart in Agony. She made missionary journeys
to
several European countries.
-
30/5: St. Giuseppe Marello (1844-1895), Bishop of Acqui Terme
(Piedmont),
Founder of the Oblates of St. Joseph for the Christian and moral
formation of youth.
-
31/5: Feast of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth: an encounter of
faith and
of praise of the Lord.
-
1/6: St. Justin, a Christian philosopher, born in Palestine and
martyred in
Rome (+165).
-
1/6: Bl. Giovanni B. Scalabrini (1839-1905), Bishop of di Piacenza,
Founder of
the Missionaries of St. Charles, for pastoral assistance of emigrants.
-
2/6: With the Pontifical Bull ‘Sublimis Deus’, Pope Paul III
condemned
slavery (1537).
-
3/6: Sts. Charles Lwanga and 21 companions, Uganda Martyrs killed
between
1885-1887 at Namugongo and places around Kampala. A similar number of
young
Anglican Christians died with them.
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Edited by Fr. Romeo
Ballan, mcci - Former Director of CIAM, Rome
Website:
www.ciam.org “Word for the Mission”
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