ASCENSION OF THE LORD
Scripture:
Mark 16:15-20.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
We celebrate the Feast of Ascension of the Lord.
The reading is taken from the Gospel of Saint Mark (Mark 16:15-20) for our reflection.
The Gospel text reading ended with:
‘But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.’
Why is there ‘but’ in this sentence?
‘but’ is the starting point of our reflection today.
Because Jesus was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.
It means that Jesus was not with them when they went forth.
Now, who are ‘they’?
They are the disciples of Jesus Christ.
They went forth…for what?
They went forth for preaching.
What did they preach?
They preached the gospel to every creature.
Where?
Everywhere…
In other words, the disciples went forth when Jesus was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. In spite of that the disciples preached the gospel to every creature and everywhere.
How could the disciples preach the gospel to every creature and everywhere without Jesus being present with them?
The gospel text continues:
‘But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them…’
The gospel text gives us the answer that the disciples went forth and preached the gospel to every creature and everywhere while the Lord worked with them.
Yes, dear sisters and brothers,
The disciples believed in Jesus Christ, the Risen Saviour.
And Jesus Christ accompanied them with his Spirit performing miracles.
This was the sign for the disciples that Jesus Christ, the Lord was working with them.
The key words of the gospel text are: Everywhere and Every Creature.
Here, Jesus hands over the great mission to the disciples that It is the salvation of the entire world and all creatures.
It was fallen.
Jesus Christ brought forth the fallen world by his passion, death and resurrection.
And the disciples continue the same mission.
That is the good news for all of us.
Today, we speak about climate change and peace in the world.
It is possible only in and through Jesus Christ.
We, the disciples of him, need to carry out the mission that Jesus Christ has handed over to each one of us by our baptism.
We receive the grace of God when we are baptised.
We preach by our words and works when Jesus Christ, our Lord accompanies us with his Risen Spirit performing miracles in our lives and in others’ lives.
Therefore, Ascension of the Lord is not something that we celebrate once a year…It is our everyday experience, ascending to the Lord in our prayers, through our words and performing miracles through our works every day.
May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen…
