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.
