The Ascension of the Lord, May 21, 2023

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Jesus is always with us, helping us spread the good news of the kingdom

Matthew 28: 16–20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.

When they saw him, they worshiped, 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.”

Music Meditations

  • Ahavat Olam (Song of thanksgiving) sung by by Ben, Jonah and Henry Platt
  • Christ in Me Arise
  • Our God is Here
  • Christ Has No Body Now but Yours—Josh Garrels, (for a praise and worship version, choose Rexaband)
  • Come, Thou Font of Ev’ry Blessing

Opening Prayer

I pray for hope, Lord. Hope for those who are lost, afraid, homeless, lonely and tired, many of who are invisible to me. Hope for my friends, who are dealing with their own issues and challenges, but who often put on a brave face. Hope for my family members, for their happiness and joy. And finally, hope for myself I times of stress or worry. Teach me to be thankful for all the gifts you give me each day, including life on this earth. Help me to show your face to others in all that I do and say.

Companions for the Journey

Excerpted from The Story Revealed, by Rev. William Bausch

The disciples of Jesus were surely disappointed at his pending departure. They loved this man. There was nothing they would not do for him. He was their friend, their teacher, their Lord. Now he would be missing from their company. It was a moment of great sadness. But they did realize that Christ was too big for Galilee, too big for Jerusalem, too big even for earth. The physical world could not contain him. He needed to be set free from the confinements of this earthly body so that his spirit might soar and be accessible to all.

They were right, and so that Spirit was bequeathed to them. The Ascension is that turning point, that transitional point. Ascension celebrated the passing on of that Spirit to that assembly of disciples who would collectively be known as the mystical body of Christ, the Church. The Spirit was given to ordinary people to witness to Jesus, to do the works of Jesus in this world, to celebrate his memory and invoke his presence in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.

The Ascension is, then, if you will, our swearing-in time. You are now Church. You are the priesthood of the faithful. You are Christ in the world. Get busy. You have been empowered to witness to the wonderful works of God. Move!

Again, from another of Bill Bausch’s books:

As an old Quaker story puts it, by accident a lady happened in on a small Quaker congregation. They were all sitting in silence, as Quakers are wont to do. “When does the service begin?”, she whispered to a man sitting near her. His answer: “when the meeting is over.”

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • Have I ever felt deserted by someone in a moment when I needed him/her the most?
    Have I ever felt deserted by God?
    What did I do?
  • What have been some important transitions in my life?
    Did I celebrate them?
    Did I mourn them?
  • In this version of the last time with Jesus, the disciples have returned to Galilee. What does that indicate to you about their state of mind?
    Is it a reminder that Jesus is to be found on our home ground, in ordinary circumstances?
  • This passage, although used for the Feast of the Ascension in this particular liturgical cycle, there is not an actual “ascension scene.” Why is that?
  • This is also on the mountain where the transfiguration took place. Is there a connection between that event and this scene?
    What does that tell you about the risen Jesus?
    Do I think of heaven as “up there” in outer space somewhere?
  • How can Jesus be in Heaven and here with us?
  • In this passage, some disciples doubted. What are my doubts about God?
    What are my doubts about the future?
  • Do I believe that Jesus was also speaking to me on that last day?
    Do I believe that I am disciple?
    Do I think that they were better prepared, better educated than I am?
  • Do I believe God wants me to bring hope and healing into the life of another?
  • Do I have to be perfect to be a witness to Jesus Christ?
    Am I afraid to leave my comfort zone?
  • What is the role of prayer in discerning my commission from Jesus?
  • What do I do to make the presence of Jesus real to others?
    Do I ever teach others about God, Jesus, the Church?
  • How am I called to preach with my life?
  • Do I believe Jesus when he says: “And behold, I am with you always.”?
    Do I really believe Jesus is with me always?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:
(This commentary is from Rev Jude Siciliano, O.P.; the questions are by Nancy Greenfield) Read today’s first reading--Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11 Thomas Troeger, the famous Presbyterian preacher, in a sermon preached on Ascension Day, recalls the frustration of the disciples and the early church in their waiting and longing for the fulfillment of the reign of God. He says we too know that frustration. After having given our lives over to Jesus Christ, we experience not triumph, but a mixture of triumph and defeat. Has anything really changed? What difference does our faith make? “When will things come together in some whole and enduring pattern?” he wonders. We are wearied by our waiting. With Yeats we voice our longing, “Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand.” It’s a lament, a prayer of need and dependence. We need help that we cannot provide for ourselves. Troeger invites us to hear again what the early church heard in its anguish and yearning, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by [God’s] own authority.” How difficult it is for us to hear these words surrounded, as we are, by the kind of events we see and hear on the evening news–pictures and sounds of refugees from war and civil strife, and the scenes of poverty that persist in our prosperous nation. What we have, Troeger reminds us, is the belief that Christ reigns and will send the Holy Spirit to help us live as we must. We cannot force the hand of this Spirit, it is a gift constantly coming upon us. And one that still requires waiting. What am I waiting for? How hard is it to wait? “Wait for the promise of the Lord.” What does that mean for me? If I have not “waited” in the past, but acted too soon, what was the outcome? If I waited too long, what was the outcome? How hard is it to know when the time is right to act?
A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:
From Julian of Norwich: For our soul is so wholly united to God, through His own goodness, that between God and our soul nothing can interpose. (Showings, p 259) And so I understood that any man or woman who voluntarily chooses God in their lifetime for love, they may be sure that they are endlessly loved, with an endless love that makes His grace in them. For He wants us to pay true heed to this, that we are as certain in our hope to have the bliss of heaven whilst we are here as we shall be certain of it when we are there. (Showings, p 308) In what areas of your life do you experience hope? Make a list of all the things you are currently hopeful about, and then a list of those things you want to be hopeful about. Then compose your own litany, interposing “Jesus you are our lasting hope” after each item. Pray this litany each day this week.
A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Read the account of Matthew again. Imagine that you are one of the disciples trying to make sense of all that has happened to Jesus. Think of his death, his appearances after death and all that has happened in the last month or so. Then imagine yourself there on that mountain in Galilee. What do you see and hear? What is your reaction to seeing Jesus again on the mountain top? Why would Matthew say that the disciples “worshiped and doubted”. Do we do the same? Why? What is your reaction to the words of Jesus telling you: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age”? Have there been times in your life when you have been comforted by the presence of Jesus during difficult times? Close your eyes and thank God for the gift of Jesus’ love and presence in your life.

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Review the various scripture references to the Ascension event >> (separate article). Notice that the three synoptic gospel versions close each book, and the Acts version opens the book. (Note, the Gospel of John makes no reference to the Ascension event at all.) What does that tell you? Which version leaves you still looking for either comfort or more information?

Which version speaks to you the most? Read that passage every day this week.

Poetic Reflection:

The frightening poem “The Second Coming” was written by William Butler Yeats shortly after the First World War, when the world seemed to him to be in chaos and despair. In our present dystopian culture, with its chaos and fear, does the agony of this poem resonate? How is the grim prediction of this poem offset by the poem “Ascension” (by Colleen Hitchcock) which follows?

excerpt from “The Second Coming”

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

“Ascension”

And if I go,
while you’re still here…
Know that I live on,
vibrating to a different measure
—behind a thin veil you cannot see through.
You will not see me,
so you must have faith.
I wait for the time when we can soar together again,
—both aware of each other.
Until then, live your life to its fullest.
And when you need me,
Just whisper my name in your heart,
…I will be there.

Closing Prayer

Adapted from J. Janda; Julian: A Play based on the life of Julian of Norwich:

Life is a precious thing to me and a little thing My life is a little thing When it will end here is Your secret. And the world is a little thing In your hand But it is in Your ever-keeping, It is in Your ever-loving, it is in Your ever-making How can anything be amiss? Help me to trust that: Yes, all shall be well And all will be well, And all manner of thing shall be well…