Homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension

Let’s hang on to what we’ve got; don’t let go cuz we’ve got a lot!  Got a lot of love between us; hang on, hang on, hang on to what we’ve got!  A little Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons for our celebration today!

When life blesses us with those special moments, those special events, we all want to hang on to them.  All of us Saints fans want to hang on to that magical Super Bowl season and we certainly want the Saints to hang on to Drew Brees.  When life confronts us with change, we often want to hold on.  Just a few weeks ago I stood here quite emotional as we honored our graduating high school seniors.  As I listened to the plans of these young graduates I knew that many moms & dads probably just wanted to hold on to their sons & daughters.  My wife and I know that feeling as every time our children have moved away to pursue their dreams, we just wanted to hang on.  Wendy & I visited our #1 grandson last month; we had a great time, but when it was time to go, we just wanted to hang on to that precious little boy.  Yes, let’s hang on to what we’ve got!

As people of faith, as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension, we are called to hang on to what we’ve got.  And we’ve got a lot!

Let’s begin by addressing some oddities about this Solemnity.  Should we have already celebrated the Ascension this past Thursday?  Didn’t we actually call it Ascension Thursday?  Why do we celebrate the Ascension today, on a Sunday?  Before we answer that question, how many of us realized we just heard not one, but two accounts of the Ascension in today’s readings.  One account came from the Acts of the Apostles; the other came from the Gospel of Luke.  Did we realize the difference; in Acts the Ascension happened 40 days after the Resurrection and in the Gospel the Ascension happened that very first Easter evening.  How can this be?  By the way, both Acts of the Apostles and today’s Gospel were written down by the same man: St. Luke.  So if St. Luke wrote two accounts, can we forgive the Bishops if we celebrate Ascension Thursday on Sunday?  I think we can because what is important is not when Jesus ascended to Heaven but that Jesus indeed ascended to Heaven.  Why is this important?  Why did Jesus have to go?  Remember that Jesus’ ministry always fulfilled the will of the Father.  To continue His mission, it is the will of the Father that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven.  There, at the Father’s right hand, Jesus judges the living and the dead.  And by ascending to the Father, Jesus makes room, if you will, for that special outpouring of the Holy Spirit that the Church received at Pentecost.  Remember, Jesus promised his followers an advocate, the Holy Spirit, to help them when He would no longer be with them.

Sure, it was natural for those early Apostles and disciples to want to hang on to what they got; that physical presence of their friend Jesus.  But notice what today’s Scripture tells us; when it came time to return home; they were filled with joy.  Jesus, before he ascended, blessed them, assured them of the help of the Holy Spirit and then commanded them to be His witnesses.  We know that indeed, after Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit, they became that witness Jesus commanded them to be; to the ends of the earth through the Church that they helped build.

That blessing they received is our blessing we claim today.  That witness they became is the same witness we are called to be today. Proclaiming Christ crucified, risen and ascended to Heaven are our marching orders today.  And the way we are called to be that witness, to carry out these marching orders is through the Church, this Church that Jesus established and left for all of us.  Many reject the Church, but you and I are called to embrace her; for in the Church we’ve got a lot!  On this Ascension, which happens to fall on Mother’s Day, we are called to love Holy Mother Church and proclaim her teachings that are truth.

In the week ahead, we can challenge ourselves, yes, even us who come to Mass, to examine if we proclaim the truths of the Church by our words and our life.  Do we affirm that the Church indeed speaks truth against the ever increasing secular world that seeks to deceive us and lead us away from truth?  Do we support the Church in her pro-life efforts that affirms life begins at conception, that all people must be treated with dignity and love, that marriage is between one man and one woman, that artificial means of birth control are not life affirming,     that euthanasia is wrong, that the death penalty is only to be used in the rarest of circumstances, that the immigrant should be treated with dignity and, if necessary charity, that government has no place in trampling religious liberty and that all men should know the love of the Christ.  In the week ahead, as we contemplate the Ascension and Pentecost, which we celebrate next Sunday, can we ask for our own outpouring of the Holy Spirit?  Reflect this week; how open am I to the promptings of the Holy Spirit?

Ascension Thursday or Ascension Sunday; on Easter evening or 40 days later; Jesus indeed ascended to the Father, in perfect obedience to His will.  May we be so obedient!  To the Father in Heaven did Jesus ascend; where He went; may we so follow!

Let’s hang on to what we’ve got; because in the will of the Father, the love of Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the Church, we’ve got a lot!!!