The feast of the Ascension is celebrated this Sunday in most places in the United States. The account of Jesus’ Ascension is told twice in our Sunday readings, in our first reading from Acts of the Apostles, and then from Luke’s Gospel. Luke is the author of both of these books. One characteristic of Luke the writer is his interest in places. In Acts, we hear that Jesus tells his disciples to stay in Jerusalem. So while gathered there, continuing to receive appearances from the risen Lord, like the good Jews they were, they asked Jesus: “Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He gives them a clue in his answer when he replies that they will be his witnesses in Jerusalem but also “to the ends of the earth.”
In our second account of the ascension from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus leads them out of Jerusalem about two miles to the village of Bethany. Bethany was a “happy place” for Jesus and his disciples. It is the village where they “hung out” at the home of Jesus’ friends Martha and Mary and Lazarus, where they enjoyed a great meal at a wedding banquet, and where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Bethany helped the disciples understand his ascension. Jesus was not leaving them but going to prepare another banquet for them. His leaving them did not dismay them — “they did him homage and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” The opening prayer of Mass picks up this theme: “Gladden us with holy joy, almighty God … for the Ascension of Christ your Son is our exaltation, and where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is called to follow in hope.” Hope and joy go together! Last Advent, Pope Francis called our Church to enter into a holy year of hope, and now we have received a new Pope whose discipleship character seems to be marked with joy. Sometimes we 21st century disciples let the tough things of life dominate our inner selves. But we are called to give hope to others by sharing (“witnessing”) with joy how we are able to move through life’s challenges. We move through them with the help of the Lord’s accompaniment and the power of the Spirit given to us. These spiritual gifts are real in our lives, things we can rely on, as we lead our lives of hope and joy.
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia; photo by bfick
The post June 1, Solemnity of the Ascension, Joy: a Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood.