Ascension Thursday
In today’s epistle and gospel, we are told by St Luke and St Mark of the last moments Our Lord spent with His disciples before the Ascension: the last meal, the final instructions, and the astonishing event of the Ascension itself – Our Blessed Lord rises in the air, before the stunned gaze of His apostles, and angels announce that He will return in the same way to judge the living and the dead. St Matthew, for his part, tells us of an apparition to the disciples on the mountain of Galilee, which is often contemplated together with St Mark’s account of the Ascension. It is this apparition that concludes Matthew’s Gospel, to which I will turn our attention today, as it gives some important complements to today’s lessons.
The eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And seeing him they adored:but some doubted. And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world (Mt 28:16-20).
The apostles went to Galilee to a certain hill Our Lord had singled out as a meeting place. As soon as they saw Him, they bowed down in worship, though some still doubted. It is characteristic of the evangelists, in a few words, to describe a historical event that simultaneously conveys an attitude or prophesies a reality that will preside over the future of the Church. The disciples adored, but some doubted. And so has it been. The disciples, that is to say, the believing Church, adore Christ Our Lord, paying Him the homage of latria, that is to say, the adoration which is due to God alone. They bow down and worship Him as God. In every age, the faithful children of the Church worship Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true Man. He is the centre of the Christian faith, not just as Master and Teacher, but as God Himself in the flesh, and this is what sets true Christianity apart from all other religions.
Nevertheless, there are those who continue to doubt, allowing their misgivings to get the better of them. Even if they do worship in appearance, they are still not entirely convinced. Or, if they are mentally convinced, they do not allow their faith to become the most important part of their lives, transforming it from the inside out. Their lifeline to salvation, however, lies in staying with the group of the apostles, for if one stays in the Church and seeks the support one needs in the faith, that help will be given. Otherwise, if one leaves the Church, one loses all the benefits that Holy Mother Church has to offer. One loses one’s soul, for no one can be saved without the mediation Christ gave us, that is to say, His teaching and the sacraments, which are channels of His grace.
Our Lord then, receiving and approving this act of adoration, says: All power is given to Me in Heaven and on earth. What a mighty phrase! And one that should provide us with unending joy and consolation. Our Risen Saviour holds in His divine Hand all power and all authority, not only in Heaven but also on earth. In other words, there is nothing that is not within the reach of His infinite, divine dominion. Those words are ones we must meditate on frequently, especially in times of crisis like our own. The sovereignty of the Risen Lord is not diminished in any way. He has ALL power and ALL authority; there are no limits to it. It’s not as if He were given a certain amount of power to draw from, and the source has diminished over the ages. In that case, it would gradually diminish, and it would be no surprise that the Church would, at length, wear out, shrivel up and die. Not so. ALL power is still in His almighty hand. He can, therefore, mend every situation; He can answer every prayer; He can fulfil every petition. All He needs is our cooperation and our consent to His saving plan.
Then follows a very important word which in Greek counts only three letters (oun, or in Latin four letters ergo, in English therefore), but which is a conjunctive adverb signifying that what follows will result from what was just said. What this means in plain English is that because of the omnipotence of Our Lord (all power has been given to Me), He gives the order to teach all nations and baptise them. Some might be inclined to think that, since He is almighty, there is not really any need to bother with evangelisation, for His grace can reach all peoples wherever they are. And yet, the Lord Himself tells us that, far from dispensing with efforts to convert souls, evangelisation is actually the result of His omnipotent grace, which raises up in every age apostles and missionaries to preach the saving truth. His omnipotence is communicated to the Church precisely so that she can spread the word of truth and bring the sacraments of salvation to all those whom she reaches throughout the ages. It is a great consolation for those who labour in the apostolate to be reminded that Christ Himself sustains their efforts, and the source never dries up.
Furthermore, this omnipotence gives the grace to practice all that the Lord taught the apostles (teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you), which is contained in the Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition, for there are things which have been handed down, but which are not contained in the written word of God. All these things, which compose the Church’s patrimony of liturgy and other pious practices, we are bound to observe in obedience to our blessed Saviour. A few examples of practices handed down by Tradition and which are not in the Bible but are nevertheless obligatory: the sign of the cross, the triple immersion at Baptism, renouncing Satan, offering Mass towards the East… It is clear that the Lord Himself handed down these practices to the apostles who never felt the need to record them in writing, for they were so deeply ingrained in every Christian generation from the very start.
And so we come to the final words, which are among the most consoling of the whole Bible: Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. I am with you. I am with you, not just always, but all days. By saying “all days” instead of “always” (as many modern translations read it), the Lord wanted to make it clear that there is not a single day in the history of the Church in which He is not entirely in control. Nothing escapes His gaze, and nothing is beyond His power. As St Teresa of Avila once said: “He knows all things; He can do all things; and He loves us”. So, what are we worrying about?
On this great feast, as we renew our devotion to our Blessed Lord seated at the right hand of the Father, as we kneel down and worship Him in glory, and beg Him to take us with Him to our heavenly home, let us pray insistently that He may stretch out His hand, stir up His might, as we ask during Advent (excita potentiam tuam), and that He may make that power felt in the Church, by restoring great clarity to the teaching of the faith and great devotion to the sacred liturgy, so that His Mystical Body may once again be for the world a beacon of light, hope and truth.
