May 21st 2023. The Ascension of Our Lord
GOSPEL: Matthew 28, 16-20
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio
Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel
GOSPEL: Matthew 28:16-20
The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshipped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
SUMMARY OF HOMILY
At his Ascension, Jesus tells us that he is with us always, but sometimes we don’t feel his presence and we feel abandoned. Where is Jesus present? But do I really expect his presence with me to be evident if I am doing mundane things, or if I am doing things that have nothing to do with him? It is when we are carrying out our mission of evangelisation that the presence and power of Jesus become manifest! If we reject the Father’s love, refuse the lordship of Jesus and sadden the Spirit, then do not be surprised if we do not feel God’s presence with us! God is always with us, but his power and presence become more evident when we respond to him and unite ourselves to him in his work of salvation. Actually, Jesus shows a dramatic trust in us. He entrusts us with full cooperation in his work of redemption. The Ascension is the beginning of this sublime and marvellous synergy with the Lord; in other words, he has departed and now we have become his body and must work in cooperation with his Spirit, doing works that are beyond us, but managing to accomplish them because of his power and his presence working through us.
1. Jesus says that he is with us always, but this phrase must be read in context. It is when we enter into our mission that we experience the presence and the power of Jesus
For this feast of the Ascension we read a short passage from the end of Matthew’s Gospel. It is easy to misunderstand the phrase, “I am with you always even to the end of the world.” We risk understanding this as an indiscriminate accompaniment on the part of the Lord regardless of what we are doing. This sort of sentimental use of the faith is in fashion. We say things like this to warm our hearts, but the Gospel cannot be read by making absolutes out of isolated phrases. Rather, it must be read in its proper context. The entire context here is one of mission: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” The risen Lord is not with us a priori. We must enter into our mission and then he accompanies us. It is true that Emmanuel (“God is with us”) is the name of Jesus. He took on our flesh and came to live among us. But the place where we can recognize the power of God is not simply everywhere; we don’t expect God to accompany us in an evident way if we are just going for a walk; but in the mission that he has given us we can expect him to be present! Another Gospel says: "If one walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees by the light of this world" (Jn 11: 9); and elsewhere he says again: "I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life "(Jn 8:12). It is not that God the Father does not always watch over us. It is not that Jesus is not the Lord of everywhere. It is not that the Holy Spirit is not always diligent with his inspirations. No, God never abandons us, that's for sure, but he is present with us in a particular way when we respond to his call to join in his work.
2. We tend to think we are independent. We try to do everything using our own strength. But when we submit to the Fatherhood of God, then he is able to act with us and through us. Then, truly, Christ is with us always, to the end of time.
We are vertiginously free: we can choose to walk in darkness, reject the Father, surrender ourselves to other lordships and sadden the Spirit. In the Our Father, when we say, “Lead us not into temptation,” we are renouncing a typical and destructive human tendency of always seeking to do things by ourselves. It is we who do not want God to be near us at times, especially when we are doing things we are ashamed of. When we say, “Lead us not into temptation,” we are repudiating this tendency of always wanting to take on everything, even trials, using our own strengths. We overestimate our own capabilities and think we are independent. We have this dizzying freedom in which we can reject the fatherhood of God and place ourselves under other lordships, saddening the Holy Spirit.
3. The Ascension shows the truth that the Lord places in us! We have been given the sublime privilege of spreading his salvation. Let us enter into our mission so that we can experience his presence and his power.
A key point of the Ascension is the liberality with which the Lord places his trust in us, by giving us a share in his work. Surprisingly, the salvation of this world depends on the fulfilment of our mission as Christians. Saint Paul says: “How will they believe in one they have never heard of? How will they hear of him without someone announcing it?" (Rom 10,14). The Lord Jesus is always with us, but we (and the world) will only fully perceive him the day we take up our mission. On the day of the Ascension, the time of Christian creativity begins, when man learns to do things with the Lord, but to do them first-hand. It is the adult period of the history of salvation. In this age, the centre of our life is no longer our own salvation, but that of others. We are not in this world only to save ourselves, but to be instruments of salvation for others. This is true when we become parents: the most important thing is no longer our life, but the lives of those entrusted to us. And it is right here that the Lord’s presence beside us begins to become manifest. In substance the feast of the Ascension celebrates the trust that the Lord has placed in us. The work of salvation has been placed in our hands: we can carry it out or frustrate it. When we carry it out, the Lord is with us, and we can experience his power working in cooperation with us as we spread the Gospel. This feast shows us that the Lord is no paternalistic. He genuinely puts his faith in us. It was not him who announced his resurrection to the world, but his disciples. We received the good News, not from Christ himself but from his followers. This sublime fact speaks of our immense dignity. At his Ascension, the Lord commissions us to extend his salvation to the world. Let us enter into the mission that the Lord gives us so that we may experience his presence and his power in us!
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