THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD

THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD YEAR A (Matthew 28:16-20) Without hope, life becomes a meaningless, dreary, grey monotony… a cycle of familiar and recurring events. Without the diversion of daily toil… the diversions of or rich and famous idols… the diversions of great arena of sport and competition… we must face the suffering of our world and our own mortality. We most certainly are not all in the same boat, yet we all face the same tempest. We must have hope!

In dark times, we remember the promise of Jesus at the Last Supper: “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2).

The hope that springs from our faith is expressed as a coming together as a community of common believers to express that hope and Thanksgiving, our joy in the gospel. As the community of believers, the Church is the assembly (ekklesia) of all who believe in Jesus the Christ; or the fellowship (koinonia) of all who are bound together by their common love for Christ the Redeemer.

The Catholic Church has been defined as a union of human beings who are united by the profession of the same Christian faith and by participation of and in the same sacraments. At the Second Vatican Council this concept of the Church was qualified subjectively so as to include ALL who are baptised and profess their faith in Jesus the Christ. They are the People of God, whom God has chosen to be God’s own and on whom are bestowed the special graces of his providence.

Today’s gospel reading from Matthew was coined in the 17th Century as the ‘great commission’ . There is a long-standing and often acrimonious debate in regard to the exegesis, hermeneutics and the polemics that have been used, or depending on your view, abused, by the proponents of missionary activity coupled to slavery, conquest and colonisation… the terror of gunboats following their missionary zeal.

Many years ago as chaplain at the Pretoria University, I received an early morning telephone call from one of the students. He was calling me on his mobile phone from an ambulance after having been involved in a terrible car accident. Fearful of death and damnation, this young person made his confession on-line and I spoke the words of absolution and God’s mercy and compassion.

If any single sacrament can become such an instrument of God’s love without direct physical connection, surely all sacraments must carry this same power of God’s transcendent ability. Perhaps now is the time to look beyond law and discover those links between our faith and science when it comes to such transcendent liminal moments, moments beyond time and space, moments of participation, union and communion.

A new and universal way of hope… small communities formed by and with those neighbours around us, coming together in solidarity and prayer. Coming together to share then and there in our homes in that bread and wine, to share then and there in our homes that Body and Blood of Jesus the Christ that transcends time and space. Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. " (John 6:35)

Initially there may be much longing for days that are passed and those great gatherings in the great cathedrals. Initially there might be great anger and grinding teeth at the loss of power and the loss of revenue. I believe that with patience, compassion and perseverance, a new way forward will be found. Perhaps in this new poverty and vulnerability we can journey together towards discovering that transcendent power of Love… to see with the eyes of God as God looks upon that good creation and so fully partake in that participation and union that is the nature of Love.

This perhaps is a better translation of the great commission to go and proclaim the good news to ALL of creation. This is a reflection of God’s love that extends to all of creation and to all life.

Now is the universal Christ present in every space and time, close to each one of us. In our lives we are never alone… we have this Advocate who awaits us and defends us. We are never alone. With us there are many brothers and sisters who, in their family life and their work, in their problems and difficulties, in the ordinariness of their joys and hopes, daily living the faith that bring us together, God’s love to the world.

In Jesus the Christ, risen and ascended into Heaven, we have an Advocate in every corner of space and time as we have the hope of our own destiny.