May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for
us.
Last week the Lord Jesus gave us the promise of the Holy
Spirit. The Spirit is given in response
to prayer. The gift of the Spirit
empowers us to live in the love of Christ and the gift of the Spirit gives us
the defense for our hope. Today, the
Lord Jesus gives us a command, a commission, and a promise of consolation.
Forty days after his glorious resurrection, the Lord Jesus
ascended to the right hand of the Father.
He returns to the glory of the Father.
He returns to the glory that was his from all eternity. Yet he enters into heaven with the human
nature that he received from the Virgin Mary.
Jesus Christ enters into the presence of the Father and takes humanity
with him. Bearing the wounds of his
passion and cross, which are now signs of his victory over sin and death,
Christ our High Priest enters the heavenly temple. He lives forever to make intercession for us. He goes ahead of us to prepare a place for
us, but he does not abandon us. As the
Lord Jesus returns to the glory of the Father, he gives his disciples and he
gives us a command, a commission, and a promise of consolation.
The command of the Lord Jesus is to go to all nations. For three years the Lord Jesus had gathered
his disciples unto himself. On the day
of the Ascension, the Lord Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem to
receive the power of the Holy Spirit.
But then they are sent forth. Go
to all nations. The faith of Jesus
Christ is the faith of missionaries. We
are a people who have been gathered to be sent.
The whole people of God in Christ Jesus is sent to the whole world and
every part of it, to every land and every people, to every place and every
parish, to every home and to the most difficult mission field of every
heart. The command of the Lord Jesus
sends us forth.
We are sent forth with a commission from the Risen Lord. The Lord Jesus has made us sharers in his
mission. We have not been sent to the
world to proclaim ourselves. We are sent
to the world to proclaim him who died and rose again. It is the message of the Lord Jesus that we
proclaim. It is his teaching that we
share. We are not free to change the
teaching of the Lord Jesus because it is difficult. We are not free to change the teaching of the
Lord Jesus because it is unpopular. The
Word of the Lord endures forever. We
become truly free, dear brothers and sisters, when we allow the powerful and
merciful teaching of the Lord Jesus to change us.
The Lord Jesus has given us a command. He has made us sharers in his mission, and he
gives us the promise of consolation. The
Lord Jesus promises to remain with us always even unto the end of the
world. He promises us a presence beyond
the power of his word. The Lord Jesus
does not leave us just a memory. The
Lord Jesus does not leave us. In the
Ascension of the Lord, the power and the presence of the earthly ministry of
Jesus Christ passes into the Sacraments.
In these seven sacred rites and realities, the Lord Jesus claims us for
himself. He strengthens, heals, and
forgives us. He makes his kingdom
fruitful and reveals in our midst his love for the Church his bride. He feeds us with himself, so that we will
have the strength to go to all the nations.
In the Sacraments of the Church, the Lord Jesus prepares us to respond
to his command. He gathers us together
and strengthens us with his word and with his presence to equip us for his
mission that he has given to our care.
And he has promised to remain with us always, so that as we are renewed
by his presence, we will become his presence for the world. Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes
Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
