May 24, 2022
The Ascension of Our Lord: becoming missionary in both absence and presence
You have heard it in the Gospel of Saint Luke: the Ascension is an invitation to go out and to bless! To do what? To “proclaim conversion to all nations”, says Jesus, and so that the blessing he bestows on his disciples (as he ascends to heaven), will at the same time give us the grace to become a blessing to all those who will hear the Good News. The word “blessing” comes from the Latin “benedictio” or “bene dicere” which translates as “to speak well of”; but Jesus’ blessing goes far beyond mere words: it also has the power to “do good”… both to those who hear this proclamation of conversion, and to those who proclaim it.
Obviously, we are not all called to imitate the apostles who are sent to proclaim this Good News to the ends of the earth; but this mission is nevertheless addressed to all the disciples of the Lord, for all of us have been invested with the power of the Holy Spirit at the moment of our baptism. Each of us, therefore, according to his or her own vocation, is called to continue Christ the Redeemer’s mission of evangelization, of blessing and liberation. The apostles do this most often in an explicit way; we do it mostly in an implicit way, like the leaven that is inserted into the dough, which slowly but surely makes it rise in due time and prepares it to receive the fire of the oven that will later transform it into a tasty and delicious bread.
You can guess here that this analogy is intended to highlight the role of the Holy Spirit, a true divine fire that lifts our hearts towards the heavenly realms and, in so doing, gradually burns away our sins that so easily distance us from God. Working mysteriously in the depths of our souls, the Spirit gradually transforms us, sanctifies us and makes us pleasing to God, like the scent of an exquisite perfume, and conforms us more and more to the image of our Creator God.
If the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus invites us to go out to proclaim the Good News and to become a blessing to others, it also leads us to understand that our physical separation from Jesus, since the day of the Ascension, was necessary for three reasons: on the one hand, Jesus wanted His apostles to long to receive the Holy Spirit before granting them such a grace. The fear of being imprisoned like their Master or dying like Him made them understand the need to have recourse to the protection and power of God.
Secondly, it is because his physical absence was to stimulate our desire to find him one day in heaven, while at the same time encouraging us to work more fervently at the works of salvation and to seek the heavenly virtues that will one day open the gates of heaven to us.
Finally, a third reason why he had to separate himself from us is that before sending us the Holy Spirit, Jesus had to ascend to heaven and present to his Father the trophy of his victory over Satan and death: I am talking about our human nature, which he assumed and sacrificed in order to reconcile us with the Father, and which he could now introduce forever into the heart of the Holy Trinity. Once this covenant was consummated, the Father and the Son could now send us the Spirit of Love and clothe us with his seven divine gifts.
To conclude this reflection on the feast of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus, let us remember that throughout his earthly life, Jesus always had his departure in mind. He did everything to prepare his friends for the absence that would follow the completion of his earthly mission. See, for example, how he evades, leaves or shies away after performing miracles, speeches and healings. After his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus leaves them and hides from them (Jn 12:13, 36). Jesus comes to us, but he also leaves. Our relationship with Him is often tested, and His absence, though it saddens us from time to time, often provokes our desire to find Him and makes our faith and trust in Him grow. The book of the Song of Songs puts us on the track of a love game that the bridegroom plays with his beloved, in order to inflame her desire to find him. The Ascension of Our Lord also seems to be part of this mysterious movement of divine love which goes away in order to purify and fan the flame of his beloved, the Bride whom Christ united with the blood of his Cross.
Let us long for the Holy Spirit, dear friends. Let us await his coming in prayer and fasting. Let us invoke him often. May Mary our Mother be invited to pray with us regularly: individually, in our homes or in our places of gathering. Is she not the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Catholic Church says, the one who was filled with graces from her blessed conception? Filled not for her own sake, but filled to love and assist us who are in such dire need “in this valley of tears” of the protection and force of the living God who loves us infinitely! With Mary and with the imparting of the Holy Spirit who clothes us with his strength, we will be perfectly armed to face the many enemies that come our way.
Between now and the great feast of Pentecost, let us desire and await with patience and confidence the coming of the Holy Spirit, who will clothe us with his strength and make us understand how Jesus is truly and mysteriously present in the depths of our being, even if he sometimes makes his absence felt.
Happy feast of the Ascension of our Lord to each and every one of you, dear friends!
Your brother in Jesus the Redeemer,
+ Guy Desrochers, C.Ss.R.
Bishop of Pembroke