June 1, 2025

The Ascension of the Lord Cycle C

Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23 or Hebrews 9:24-28; 10:19-23; Luke 24:46-53

In the last several months, I've noted in some of my homilies that certain devices used in the movie industry are instructive in understanding our readings. We've seen how our Old Testament first reading is often a prequel to what we will see in the Gospel. We've also seen how Luke wrote a sequel to his gospel, that is to say the Acts of the Apostles. And today, as we read in our First Reading from the very beginning of that book, we see yet another device: the recap.

But we have something a little different than the normal recap that is difficult to notice since today we actually read the recap first, in the First Reading. The Gospel reading, the very end of Luke's Gospel, written first, today we actually read last, so you may not have noticed that the recap, the beginning of Luke's second work, the Acts of the Apostles, is actually longer and more detailed the the original. Rather than start with a pithy reminder of where he left things in his gospel, Luke actually expands it. For instance, we get the detail that it happened 40 days after the resurrection, not from the Gospel but from Acts. And we also have the detail of the men dressed in white, Luke's clue that they are angels, asking the disciples about what they are doing – that too is not in Luke's Gospel. And here I think is the reason why Luke mentions it only in the version in Acts, which Luke uses as a springboard to launch into his history of the early Church: the men ask a question which is the start of a fundamental discussion, a conversation leading to decisions among the disciples about what they are now going to do, how they are going to act in light of the teachings of Christ now that he is physically gone. That discussion will continue throughout the history of the Church, even up to today. That conversation, that earnest question is this: what are we now going to do in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ?

And their question is simple, but yet a good one: “Why are you standing there looking up at the sky?” [Acts 1:11 NABRE]. Jesus has promised to come again, but we need not waste time looking in the sky for it to happen, whenever that day might be. Because, while he will come again in the flesh one day, he also promised to be with us always in spirit, and therefore one question that is before us today is: where are we looking for Jesus today? Are we looking in the wrong place, as the disciples were after the ascension, or are we getting on with building the Kingdom of God by finding Jesus right here, right now?

As Bishop Robert mentioned in his homily last weekend, we were taught by Jesus to pray, in the prayer that he gave us, that the Kingdom of God would be here on earth, not just in heaven after this world is done. And as he also pointed out, we are not passive members of this request from God, looking at the sky as though it will happen merely because we ask for it, but we are obliged by our baptism to help bring it about. So let's again ask ourselves: where will we find Jesus today?

I think this search has a relationship to the special events happening this year, one at the diocesan level, and the other at the worldwide Church level, one that can tie the two together. At first they seem to be separate events, but I think this idea of looking for Jesus unites them. The worldwide Church is celebrating the jubilee year, the once-every-25-year event that marks the opportunity to renew one's faith. It asks us to make a pilgrimage of hope, one that is echoed in the Second Reading, where Paul blesses the Ephesians with these words: “May the eyes of [your] hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones” [1:18 NABRE]. On the other hand, Bishop Jacques has asked us to make this year the year of evangelization, taking our faith to others, that they too might be blessed by that same hope and glory of Christ that Paul spoke of. In other words, we must be like Saint Paul was to the Ephesians. I think this idea of looking for Jesus here on earth, now, today, not in the sky sometime in the future, is something which ties these ideas together.

A pilgrimage can be a one-person show. It can be entirely self-focused, an exercise in what one can gain in his or her relationship to God. And this would not be a bad thing; it would only be incomplete. As in Genesis, what God said of Adam is true of us as well: “It is not good for the man to be alone” [Genesis 2:18]. And therefore we should, as we make our pilgrimage, also be looking to those around us to also make a pilgrimage with us, helping each other to gain in our relationship to God. If you think that you have made progress in getting closer to God, the test of this is in your desire to also bring this to others as well. We might as well put it bluntly: a pilgrimage which lacks evangelization is a pilgrimage that doesn't get very far.

So we have before us today that same question that the disciples heard: why are you looking at the sky? Let us look for Jesus in those around us. Let us find Jesus in the neighbor that needs company because they are alone. Let us find Jesus in our family member who is estranged, and find the courage to make a pilgrimage to meet them where they are today, and stop waiting for them to come to us. Let us find Jesus in those that cause us problems at work or at school, and take the initiative to repair the relationship and find common ground. It is hard sometimes to find Jesus in others, but if we truly take our faith seriously, we must want that faith to not only guide our own actions but bring hope to others. This is the mission of the Church, the Church that Jesus wanted his disciples to establish after he ascended into heaven, and it is our mission today as well.

As we continue with our Mass with the celebration of the Eucharist, let me provide a recap – I promise that it will be shorter than my original remarks. Let us all make our pilgrimage of hope this year in faith, along with the universal Church, to find Jesus, the Kingdom of God, here on earth. Let us find ways of bringing that faith to others, inviting them on this great pilgrimage that we are making. Then, and only then, we will be ready for the return of Jesus, whenever that might be.