{"id":763,"date":"2019-05-28T14:26:51","date_gmt":"2019-05-28T14:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=763"},"modified":"2019-05-28T14:26:51","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T14:26:51","slug":"2-june-2019-c-the-ascension-of-the-lord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=763","title":{"rendered":"2 June 2019 (C) The Ascension of the Lord"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A. The Bible as\nGuide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue: <\/strong>The Ascension of\nChrist. God is with us in strength. Dialogue on how to express ourselves about\nGod and the divine<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. The Bible as Guide in Life and\nLiturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Reading <\/em>(Acts 1:1-11). He was\nlifted up while they looked on.<\/em> This work, the Acts of the Apostles, traditionally ascribed to Luke, is\ndedicated to a certain Theophilus, otherwise unknown apart from the reference\nto him in Luke\u2019s Gospel (Luke 1:3), a work also dedicated to him. In today\u2019s\nreading Luke first gives a summary of Jesus\u2019 work from the beginning to his\nascension, as he had done in his Gospel. Luke\u2019s Gospel (Luke 24:1-49, 50-51)\nmight give the impression that the ascension of Christ into heaven took place\non Easter Sunday, the day of the resurrection itself. Here, however, Luke says\nthat Jesus appeared to his apostles for forty days after his resurrection.\nLater in this work Luke has Paul tell a congregation that after his\nresurrection Jesus appeared \u201cfor many days\u201d to those who came up with him from\nGalilee to Jerusalem (Acts 13:31). Paul, citing a very early tradition (1 Cor\n15:3-8), speaks of the risen Lord having appeared to Cephas (Peter), the\nTwelve, more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, to James and\nthe to all the apostles, without mention of any time span. Then, Paul\ncontinues, the risen Lord appeared to Paul himself \u2013 some three years at least\nafter the resurrection. Over these forty days, our text reminds us, Jesus spoke\nto his apostles about the kingdom of God, central to his preaching, his\nministry and his miracles during his earthly life. The apostles, however, are\nstill thinking within the framework of their Jewish tradition and the kingdom\nof David and Israel, a hope central to the Jewish messianic expectations of\ntheir day. Jesus replies that any such fulfilment, or any fulfilment, is a\nmatter for his Father. What this will be, will be revealed through the inspiration\nand guidance of the promised Holy Spirit, which will take the apostles and\nChrist\u2019s first followers far beyond Israel \u2013 to the very ends of the earth. The\nimplications the parting words of Christ will be made clearer by the narrative\nof the book of Acts and the history of the Christian Church. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial Psalm <\/em>(Psalm\n45[47]). God goes up with shouts of joy;\nthe Lord goes up with trumpet blasts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading <\/em>(Hebrews\n9:24-28; 10:19-23).  Christ entered into heaven itself.<\/em>  To understand the message of this reading it\nis good to recall that the language and imagery used are part and parcel of\nthis epistle or rather homily. The author is intent on assuring his Jewish\nreaders who are tempted to return to Jewish ritual and faith that Christ\u2019s death,\nresurrection and ascension into heaven are the reality of which the Jewish\nsanctuary and its sacrifices were but types. On the great Day of Atonement the\nJewish High Priest entered through a veil into the Holy of Holies in the Temple\nand sprinkled animal blood for atonement and the forgiveness of sin. This he\ndid once a year, but repeated each year. Against this background today\u2019s\nreading first speaks of the Ascension of Christ, in which he enters not the\nman-made sanctuary of the Jerusalem Temple but the true sanctuary of heaven.\nAnd he enters as high priest to make intercession for humanity. His sacrifice\nwas once for all on Calvary, not needing yearly repetition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The second\npart of the reading is an exhortation to followers of Christ to live Christ\u2019s ascension.\nThey, too, have entered the true sanctuary of heaven with Christ. They are exhorted\nto live a true Christian life. They have been washed with pure water in\nbaptism, not an external washing but an internal cleansing of the soul. They\nshould live a life sincere in heart and filled with faith. God who has saved\nthem in Christ and called them to the faith is faithful; with them to the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternative Second Reading <\/em>(Ephesians 1:17-23). The first reading today, from the Acts of the\nApostles, gives what one may call the \u201chistorical\u201d ascension, an ascension\nrepresented as an established historical fact observed by experience of the\nsenses. This representation is found only in this reading of Acts 1:9-10 and in\nLuke 24:50-51. Other New Testament texts mention the ascension as purely\ntheological fact (without any reference to its being observed by the senses),\nsuch as Christ ascending far above the heavens that he might fulfil all things;\nor as the enthronement of Christ at the right hand of the Father (at his\nresurrection) without explicit mention of the ascension as in today\u2019s text\n(Ephesians 1:20) and in many other New Testament texts, which state that the\nFather raised Christ from the dead to make him sit at his right hand, putting\nall things under his feet, making him ruler of everything, making Christ the\nhead of the Church which is his body. The Church, Christ\u2019s body, is the\nfullness of Christ, the fullness which fills the whole universe. It is a rich\ndoctrine, the implications of which biblical scholars attempt to spell out. One\nexplanation (that of J.D.G. Dunn) is that Christ is here portrayed as embodying\nor epitomizing the rationale and pattern of divine creation. A further understanding\nof this text is that the Church, the universal church, through its faith in\nChrist and in the God who worked through Christ, has the key to understanding\nreality and is enabled to rise above all that threatened human and social life;\nthe church, Christ\u2019s body, is (or should be!) the place where God\u2019s presence in,\nand purpose for, creation comes to its clearest expression. After which the\nsame writer comments: \u201cWould that it were so!\u201d The central point in this\nreading is the infinite power of God made manifestt in the resurrection of\nChrist and in his ascension and enthronement at the right hand of God. All this\ndivine power, then and still at work, was and is for believers in Christ. This\ngreat mystery of God working through Christ, and the church, Christ\u2019s body, is\na deep mystery, one that can be properly understood only through divine grace.\nHence the prayer at the beginning of the reading to \u201cthe God of our Lord Jesus\nChrist, the Father of glory\u201d to give believers true insight into this great\nmystery, into the richness of this their inheritance, truths which are a central\npart of the feast of the Ascension we are celebrating. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Gospel <\/em>(Luke\n24:46-53). As he blessed them he was\ncarried up to heaven.<\/em> This is the ending of Luke\u2019s Gospel. Christ reminds\nhis disciples that he is the fulfilment of the prophecies of Scripture,\nprophecies of his death and resurrection and of the saving message of the\nGospel to be preached to all nations. The passage ends with a brief account of\nhis ascent into haven, and the joy of the disciples as they prepared for the\nnext step in salvation history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em> The Ascension of\nChrist. God is with us in strength. Dialogue on how to express ourselves about\nGod and the divine<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection on this feast of Christ\u2019s ascension into heaven,\nto the right hand of the Father, presents an opportunity to satisfy our minds\nand our hearts on questions we may have with regard to the meaning of this\nascension historically considered, and its significance for the Christian\nmystery of salvation. The ascension of Christ in the New Testament texts can be\nconsidered in two ways: as, so to speak, \u2018historical\u2019 and theological.  In the historical sense it is presented as an\nevent visible to human sight. This is how it is presented in the first reading\ntoday and in the Gospel of Luke \u2013 both from St Luke. While the Gospel text\nwould give the impression that the ascension occurred on Easter Sunday itself,\nthe first reading from the Acts of the Apostles says it occurred after forty\ndays. The text of Acts is really describing the last visible encounter of Jesus\nwith his disciples after his resurrection. Various Gospel texts speak of Jesus\nappearing to his followers after his resurrection and St Paul (1 Corinthians\n15:3-8) lists six such appearances, without specifying any time period. Luke in\ntoday\u2019s reading from the Acts of the Apostles gives this as forty days. So much\nfor the ascension \u2018historically\u2019 considered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            In all the\nother New Testament texts, as in today\u2019s Alternative Second Reading, the\nascension of Christ is considered theologically. The ascension is another\naspect of Christ\u2019s resurrection, of his glorification, as partly expressed in\ntoday\u2019s second reading: Christ entered heaven itself so that he could appear in\nthe actual presence of God on our behalf. He ascended on high to plead on our\nbehalf as a compassionate high priest. \nSeated at God\u2019s right hand he gives gifts to his church, all the\ncharisms that are required for its mission on earth. Through his ascension and\nglorification he is also directing the minds of his followers towards their true\nhome which is heaven, and calling on them to avoid sinful ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Language\nsuch as \u201cascension\u201d, implying a \u201cGod up there\u201d can be off-putting for many\ntoday, and some seek ways of avoiding it. But it is well to recall that such\nexpressions are offset by the Christian belief in God as a spiritual not\nmaterial, Being. But given the weakness of human language in speaking of the\nmystery, of the infinite, we can hardly avoid such terms, while recognizing\ntheir limitations. Monotheism, whether Jewish or Christian, was from the\nbeginning and will always remain the worship of an unseen God, but nonetheless\nof a person, a personal God who has revealed his will, his love and his plan\nfor salvation to humanity. We as mortals must conceive and speak of the mystery\nof this divine Being in frail human speech. This is all variance with certain\nmodern views, which reject the idea of a \u201cGod up there\u201d, and invoke newer theological\nconcepts such as God as \u201cground of our being\u201d, or call for a secular theology,\nwith situational ethics. While earlier \u201cmythical\u201d language in the expression of\nbelief is rightly objected to or rejected and while newer approaches to the\nexpression of our Christian faith are always welcome, the central truths can\nnever be forgotten or set aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            A final\nmatter for reflection is that the ascension of Christ, which we celebrate, and\nall that it signifies can only be grasped through prayer for Christian\nenlightenment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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