Fr. Michael Carlini
Sunday we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord to heaven. This event took place 40 days after he rose from death. During those 40 days he manifested himself to the disciples; in one occasion more than 500 of them were able to see him! (1Cor 15). But every good thing comes to an end! The Risen Lord had to go back to square one, to heaven, form where he came from, sent by the Father.
This solemnity is part of the one paschal mystery that started with the Incarnation of the Son and passed through his Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension and is completed at the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost). These six events must be understood as one single act of salvation, seen from six different points of view.
Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we are immersed in this paschal mystery.
A missionary celebration
As Christ was about to Ascend to the Father, he told to his disciples: “Go to the entire world and preach my Good News”. This last command of Jesus makes today’s feast a missionary celebration. Guido Conforti, the father of the Xaverians, shaped his whole life on those words. He dreamt about a daring project: to start a religious family that would have the world as its home. As Xaverians, we freely leave our Country of origin to be missionaries in another nation. This is very useful, because it teaches us to be humble and to immerse ourselves into a new culture and situation.
At the end of each mass, we are sent as community to the whole world, because the world is entitled to know God's plan. We are not supposed to remain inside the church in contemplation (second reading), an action that might at times hide the desire to remain in our comfortable and protected nests, afraid to face the challenges of the complex modern world. If we look at any sport, a team can not only play “home games” in its friendly stadium, surrounded by the home fans who praise them: half of the games have to be played “away from home”, where they are the guests, not the owners of the place. Indeed, as missionaries, we need the courage to always play away from home games.
I am with you always
Nonetheless, the mission is not only geographical but anthropological: whoever person we happen to meet, is entitled to receive the good news from us. Wherever there is a person, there mission occurs.
On Ascension Day we become aware of our missionary dimension: we have in fact been baptized not ‘for personal use', but in the perspective of the Church's mission. To be baptized in water and the Holy Spirit means getting the missionary consecration in view of the Kingdom. Jesus withdraws from our view to leave intact our responsibility to continue the job he started. We are not the owners of the mission: the Holy Spirit will descend on Pentecost Sunday to be the leader in this action. The challenge is big, we might feel scared, but we need not be afraid: in his ascension the Risen Lord promised us: “I am with you always, to the end of the world” Mt 28:20.
Sunday we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord to heaven. This event took place 40 days after he rose from death. During those 40 days he manifested himself to the disciples; in one occasion more than 500 of them were able to see him! (1Cor 15). But every good thing comes to an end! The Risen Lord had to go back to square one, to heaven, form where he came from, sent by the Father.
This solemnity is part of the one paschal mystery that started with the Incarnation of the Son and passed through his Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension and is completed at the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost). These six events must be understood as one single act of salvation, seen from six different points of view.
Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we are immersed in this paschal mystery.
A missionary celebration
As Christ was about to Ascend to the Father, he told to his disciples: “Go to the entire world and preach my Good News”. This last command of Jesus makes today’s feast a missionary celebration. Guido Conforti, the father of the Xaverians, shaped his whole life on those words. He dreamt about a daring project: to start a religious family that would have the world as its home. As Xaverians, we freely leave our Country of origin to be missionaries in another nation. This is very useful, because it teaches us to be humble and to immerse ourselves into a new culture and situation.
At the end of each mass, we are sent as community to the whole world, because the world is entitled to know God's plan. We are not supposed to remain inside the church in contemplation (second reading), an action that might at times hide the desire to remain in our comfortable and protected nests, afraid to face the challenges of the complex modern world. If we look at any sport, a team can not only play “home games” in its friendly stadium, surrounded by the home fans who praise them: half of the games have to be played “away from home”, where they are the guests, not the owners of the place. Indeed, as missionaries, we need the courage to always play away from home games.
I am with you always
Nonetheless, the mission is not only geographical but anthropological: whoever person we happen to meet, is entitled to receive the good news from us. Wherever there is a person, there mission occurs.
On Ascension Day we become aware of our missionary dimension: we have in fact been baptized not ‘for personal use', but in the perspective of the Church's mission. To be baptized in water and the Holy Spirit means getting the missionary consecration in view of the Kingdom. Jesus withdraws from our view to leave intact our responsibility to continue the job he started. We are not the owners of the mission: the Holy Spirit will descend on Pentecost Sunday to be the leader in this action. The challenge is big, we might feel scared, but we need not be afraid: in his ascension the Risen Lord promised us: “I am with you always, to the end of the world” Mt 28:20.