The Lord’s Ascension

In the first book, Theophilus,
I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught
until the day he was taken up,
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit
to the apostles whom he had chosen.
He presented himself alive to them
by many proofs after he had suffered,
appearing to them during forty days
and speaking about the kingdom of God.
While meeting with them,
he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem,
but to wait for "the promise of the Father
about which you have heard me speak;
for John baptized with water,
but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

When they had gathered together they asked him,
"Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
He answered them, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons
that the Father has established by his own authority.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
throughout Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth."
When he had said this, as they were looking on,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,
suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
They said, "Men of Galilee,
why are you standing there looking at the sky?
This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven
will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven."

Responsorial Psalm: Ps  47:2-3,6-7,8-9

R. (6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:1-13 or 4:1-7, 11-13: He Ascended to Give Us Gifts

To Paul the Ascension means that the Lord Jesus began pouring out his gifts on people when he had gone to heaven.

 Brothers and sisters,
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit
through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.

But grace was given to each of us
according to the measure of Christ's gift. 
Therefore, it says:
He ascended on high and took prisoners captive;
he gave gifts to men.
What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended
into the lower regions of the earth?
The one who descended is also the one who ascended
far above all the heavens,
that he might fill all things.

And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets,
others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of faith
and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature to manhood,
to the extent of the full stature of Christ. 

or

Brothers and sisters,
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the calling
you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.

But grace was given to each of us
according to the measure of Christ's gift. 

And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets,
others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of faith
and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature to manhood,
to the extent of the full stature of Christ. 

Alleluia: Mt 28:19a,20b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Go and teach all nations, says the Lord;
I am with you always, until the end of the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Mark 16:15-20: Go Out to the Whole World

In the name of Jesus, his missionaries – and every Christian – proclaim the joyful message of his gospel.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

Intercessions

The Lord Jesus has entrusted his work to us. He is with us and acts in us through his Spirit, so that we can do everything in his name. So we pray: R/ Be with us, Lord.

– Be with your Church, Lord, that it may spread the Good News of your love and kingdom to all peoples and languages and cultures, we pray: R/ Be with us, Lord.

– Be with all your prophets and missionaries, that they may voice without fear your message of justice, truth and mercy even to those not eager to listen, we pray: R/ Be with us, Lord.

– Be with the leaders of nations, Lord, when they try to bring an almost impossible peace to a world torn by violence and war. Let their efforts not be made in vain, we pray: R/ Be with us, Lord.

– Be with the downtrodden and those in pain, Lord, revive their trust in you and in people; open the eyes and hands of those who follow you to bring them your tender love and care, we pray: R/ Be with us, Lord.

– Be with us and all Christian communities, Lord; make them signs of your presence by their spirit of prayer, their unity, their gentleness and patience with one another, we pray: R/ Be with us, Lord.

Jesus our Lord, by the strength of your Spirit guide us on our pilgrim way to the home where you live in glory with the Father and the Spirit, now and for ever. R/ Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
in the signs of this bread and this wine
your Son Jesus will be with us soon.
May he give us his Spirit of strength,
that we may not keep staring at heaven
except to ask for your help to do your work.
May we rather face the world
and commit ourselves to the task
of making it your world,
by the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

Let us with joy give thanks to the Father that Jesus, though raised up to heaven, is still with us through his Holy Spirit here in this Eucharist, in the Church, and in the people around us.

Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer

The Lord Jesus is now living
in the glory of the Father in heaven;
there he pleads for us.
Through him, and in his words,
we pray to God, our Father: R/ Our Father...

Invitation to Communion

This is the Lord who said:
Know that I am with you always
until the end of time.
This is his risen and glorious body.
Happy are we that he is our bread
on our journey to the Father. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
we thank you for trusting us so much
that you have handed over to us
the very mission of your Son:
to be his presence to the world.
May we reign with him
by learning from him to serve,
that people may see that Christ is alive
because we are his body to the world.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Blessing

The Lord Jesus tells us,
as he told the apostles:
‘‘Be my witnesses to the whole world.”
Let us not stare at heaven
but be his message of hope to people on earth
by the way we live his gospel.
And let us ask for God’s blessing.

May we bring the Lord’s message
to our time and to our people. R/ Amen.

May he go about doing good through us
and may we make him visible today. R/ Amen.

May he stay with us through his Spirit
now and till the end of time. R/ Amen.

And may almighty God bless you all,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord in the people around us. R/ Thanks be to God.

Commentary

The feast of the Ascension marks the end of the life of Jesus in this world, and he passes on to the disciples the mission to build this new world that Jesus began. The Gospel begins with Jesus rebuking his disciples just before his ascension!

The disciples see the risen Lord while they are seated at the table. It is a detail that is also remembered by the other evangelists. Luke tells us that the disciples of Emmaus opened their eyes and saw the risen one at the breaking of the bread, when they were seated at the table. Also John, at the lake of Tiberias: the disciples recognized the risen one when he offered them bread. This is catechesis, it is the moment when the community is gathered on the Lord's day and at the moment of the breaking of the bread their eyes are opened, and they see the risen one. Today we are the Eleven, who gather at the table of the Lord to see and experience him.

Jesus rebukes them because they are unbelieving and hard-hearted. It is said that they did not believe Mary Magdalene, nor the two disciples of Emmaus who had met the risen one. Believing in the resurrection of Jesus would mean, accepting the proposal of Jesus to give up their own lives in order to preserve it.

Many times we also doubt and ask ourselves, could it be true that by giving my life as Jesus did, I can keep it? Wouldn't it be better for me to do what everybody else does? If I give up enjoying life, won't I regret it in the end? That is the difficulty in believing. But the Gospel promises accompanying signs for those who believe: power to drive out demons, speak new languages, poisonous serpents or food will not harm them and they can heal the sick.

What are these signs all about? It is not about the preachers becoming miracle workers. Many Christians have fallen into this trap and run in search of miracle workers among the preachers. Today the demons that need to be driven out are pride, greed, attachment to possessions, resentment, wanting to make those who hurt us pay for it. Moral debauchery, selfishness, falsehood, anger, jealousy. These are the demons that dehumanize us and make us violent, cruel, insensitive to the needs of the poor. These are the demons that are cast out, not with holy water, but with the gospel.

"They will speak new languages.” What are the languages that the believers of the Gospel would speak? The language of retaliation, of revenge, of answering a crime with another
crime: This is the language of the old world. The new humanity needs a new language, - a language of the gospel of love, of forgiveness, of reciprocal, and unconditional service. Do we realise that this our vocation into which we are baptised?