Mt. 28:16-20
At His Ascension our Lord entered heaven, and He keeps the door open for humanity to enter. (Oswald Chambers)
Today we celebrate the solemnity of the ascension of the Lord. The gospel passage taken from Matthew’s account and the first reading taken from Acts present a detailed narration of the ascension. In the gospel passage, we see that Jesus commissions his disciples to continue the mission of building the kingdom of God initiated by his proclamation of the Good News. Jesus commissions them: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Thus, Jesus endowed his twelve apostles and all his disciples, present and future, with the mission of making his salvation known far and wide. All their efforts should conclude with administering the baptism by which every individual would accept Jesus as his/her saviour.
How do we fulfil this mission entrusted to us by Jesus? At the very outset, we can be sure that it is not like fulfilling any other mission or promise. We can never take this mission forward relying on our strength or potential. The first reading gives us guidelines concerning this. We see, Jesus telling his disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they receive the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who empowers and transforms a person to be an authentic witness of Christ and assists that person to fulfil this mission entrusted to him by Jesus.
The gospel passage also assures us that we are not alone in this attempt to make disciples of all nations and build his kingdom. His ever-abiding presence is with us till the end of time. Christ’s salvific mission was not a one-man show; rather, all three persons of the Holy Trinity were equally involved. Though Jesus has ascended into heaven, we are not deprived of his presence; his sacramental presence is with us, and the Holy Spirit helps us to experience this Trinitarian communion in our lives by entering into an intimate relationship with the person of Jesus, thereby our Abba Father and the Holy Spirit.
As we celebrate this great feast of the ascension, let us be aware of the missionary mandate given by Jesus. Let us be strengthened by the fact that we are never alone in this faith journey to fulfil the mission entrusted by Jesus; our helper, the Holy Spirit, is there for us to fulfil the missionary mandate of Jesus and to be an authentic witness of Christ.