15 May 2015

Homily for Ascension



The Solemnity of the Ascension that we celebrate today is also the day in which we begin the great preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Yet part of that preparation is to use the gifts that God has equipped us with for the proclamation and spreading of the Gospel. For the Lord has commissioned some of us as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, all to equip and assist each other for the work and within the work of ministry.

The question arises, however: Are we afraid to go out into the world? In some ways, yes; in other ways, no. There are moments where we will answer with haste the call to go out to all the world and tell the Good News. And there are moments where we will be dumbfounded, and continue to stare into the clouds, waiting for something miraculous to happen in our lives.

Whether we are afraid or not is not the question. Ultimately, the question becomes: Are we faithful to the call, to the vocation (in all aspects of the word), that the Lord has given to us? Remember the adage: God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called. For we have been urged to live in a manner worthy of the call that we have received; that with all humility and gentleness, with patience, we are to bear with one another through love, always striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as we have been also called to the one hope of THE call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism...

Our Lord ascends today to be seated at the right hand of the Father, raising our humanity to an unparalleled state. It is our hope and calling to one day join all the saints and angels around the throne of God. However, for us to be present in that august body of creatures, we are to be faithful to the mission and ministry we have been called to. We are to trust that the Lord will equip us for the mission at hand.

We are to faithfully enter fully into that vocation to go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.