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13 mag 2018
13/05/2018  The Ascension of the Lord - B 

13/05/2018  The Ascension of the Lord - B 

Reading 1, Acts 1,1-11 * Psalm 46 * Reading 2, Ephesians 4,1-13 * Gospel, Mark 16,15-20

 

«I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God». These are Jesus’ words to Mary Magdalene on Easter morning! In the following forty days He then let Himself to be occasionally seen and recognized by the disciples in order to corroborate the testimony, valid all centuries long, that they would have to give about His resurrection! Forty days are a sufficient amount of time to allow experiences and convictions to sink in, to confirm faith and foster hope. Today Jesus goes finally up to heaven! The physical experience of the disciples is therefore coming to an end, those disciples that are starting to live their union with Him in a different way. From today on they will not see Him any more, but they will keep obeying Him mindful of His word and aware of His teachings. First of all, they gather all together in prayer, until, in ten days, they will receive the Holy Spirit that will enlighten them, will keep them united and will give them the courage and the joy to bear witness to their Lord!

We really should learn the true meaning of the Ascension and of the expression “ascending to the Father”. Only learning though, not discovering, because the disciples that have described it to us have already discovered it.

The Gospel according to Mark tells us simply: “was taken up into heaven; there at the right hand of God he took his place”! Enoch and Elijah had also been taken into heaven, God’s friends who had preserved pure their faith in Him: Jesus is not less than them, He even seats at the right hand of God! «To take the place at the right hand» was an expression in use among rulers to indicate the place of whom was sharing their power and glory. Jesus has been established as judge and king, so much so that He can spread His peace through performing His royalty in the Kingdom of heaven. The prophecy of Psalm 110 is fulfilled: “Yahweh declared to my Lord, 'Take your seat at my right hand' ”! The disciples know that, in the end, they will be judged by Jesus: therefore, they want to live keeping His word, that becomes their only law. Moses’ law is not enough for them, and men’s laws, both those coming from state monarchy and democracy and those coming from tradition and different cultures, will have to come second to the judgments of their Lord!

Saint Paul, in the passage from the letter to the Ephesians we are reading today, derives from the mystery of the Ascension the unity of the Church and all the gifts and ministries necessary to build it. It is necessary then, that is to say, it is God will, that we change our behavior in a way to become humble, meek and patient. We will become able to stand each other’s faults: certainly, however, we will retain some bits of sin that will burden our brothers. The Church will never be a community of perfect people, but of people that can love each other perfectly! We too are the “captive” of the evil and the sin that Christ, in ascending into heaven, takes with Him (Psalm 68, 19), and in this way He lets us already enjoy the intimacy with God and the beauty of a life filled with His merciful and charitable love!

The Acts of the Apostles give us some other news about today’s mystery: a cloud hides Jesus in front of the amazed eyes of His own! The cloud is a sign of the presence of God: Jesus engulfed in the cloud is the sign that now He is within God, He is God with the Father! The cloud kept hidden from Moses the presence of God, but at the same time it was opening the path to follow, and the cloud, last but not least, frightened the three disciples on the mountain, when Jesus appeared to the transfigured. The cloud hides without destroying: Jesus then will be able to come again on the cloud to show His glory! This is what the two men in white that are diverting the disciples’ attention from the sky are saying. They now need to focus on earth, and on men on earth, with eyes brightened by the light of the Risen, with a heart ready in waiting for Him to come back, with the mind concentrated on His words in order to turn them into acts of love, that show and bear witness to His constant presence!

The liturgical prayers are helping us today to express exultation for the glory of our Lord and for the dignity to be limbs of His body, as well as to desire for ourselves too the fullness of that joy that now Jesus enjoys being close to the father!