Homily for Thursday, 14 May 2015– Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Readings of the day: Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9; Ephesians 4:1-13, Mark 16:15-20

This Mass was offered graciously by the staff of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish, Irondequoit, NY, in memory of my maternal grandparents, Frank and Simone Salt.

What is the significance for us of this Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension that we celebrate today? Our readings today focus, I think, on two related aspects of the meaning for us of the Ascension to heaven of our Lord Jesus Christ: Future promise and present mission.

The beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, which we hear today, focuses primarily on future promise. The Apostles have been instructed by Jesus to wait in Jerusalem for “the promise of the Father,” the Holy Spirit. But once they receive the Holy Spirit, Jesus says, they are to witness to him by their works and words “to the ends of the earth.” And so here in Acts we also have the beginning of present mission of the Apostles; of the Church.

Mark’s Gospel emphasizes this aspect of present mission. As he ascends to heaven, Jesus says this to his disciples: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” And in the Letter to the Ephesians these aspects of future promise of the Holy Spirit; future promise from God of ascension to heaven ourselves and present mission converge in a great statement of identity of our Church. We are united as Church in future promise and in present mission: “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… one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

But might the sheer grandiosity of this present mission as Church given us by the risen and ascended Christ not scare some of us? How are we to “proclaim the Gospel to every creature”? What about the times (and we all have them) when we have not lived “with all humility and patience [and] love,” and promoted peace, not only in the world but in our own relationships, as Ephesians asks of us? We understand future promise. At least I hope, and I have confidence in this because we are here, that we all hope in the future promise of heaven. We hope to rise to eternal life; to ascend to heaven after our Lord one day. We hope, closer to the present, to receive more and more God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, whom we already receive in the sacraments of the Church; in baptism and confirmation; through one another.

We understand future promise; I think we might have more trouble with present mission. So what is our present mission as Church, so that we might better accomplish it? Many of us do not leave our city, our communities, or even our homes very often, let alone go “to every creature” the world over to work and preach in the name of Jesus. So what can we do to live out our Christian mission?

Since the intention for this Mass is for my maternal grandparents, Frank and Simone Salt, who went to be with God this past January, I look often to their example of how to live out both present mission and hope of future promise. When I first announced to my grandfather that I felt a call to the priesthood, he reminded me: “Live your faith with a sense of humor. If you aren’t living your faith with a sense of humor, you aren’t living your faith.” In their waning years, but while they were still living in their own house, Grandma and Grandpa would still walk every day to the new church that was being built in their neighborhood to unlock it before the construction workers arrived.

Late in their lives, Grandma and Grandpa were still “unlockers” of the Church. They lived by the future promise of resurrection; ascension to heaven; of having received the Holy Spirit. They lived by present mission, all within a few blocks of their home: Humility; patience; gentleness; love; unity; peace and, yes, a sense of humor. Their example is an excellent one for all of us: Show one another the love of God; the peace and good humor that derives from the Holy Spirit.

We do not need to travel great distances to do this. Unlock the Church; open the Church to all who seek God! In (usually) small ways, we are all called to live this present mission, even as we hope in future promise given us by the resurrection and ascension of Christ and the dwelling of God’s Holy Spirit in each and every one of us.