May 28, 2017

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Mt 28: 16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

On Mission

Pentecost has been called "the birthday of the Church" or the beginning of "the Age of the Church." This majestic feast signals the completion of Christ's redemptive mission. Jesus had been sent by his eternal Father to redeem the human community by his passion and death.

Do we have a role in helping to advance our Lord's mission? St. Paul leaves little doubt. He writes: "God in Christ has reconciled the world to himself, and the Good News of reconciliation He has entrusted to us." (2 Cor. 5, 17-18)

Could there be a more significant and satisfying life assignment for us?  I doubt it very much!  We are a pentecostal people with a noble mission. Ignatius of Loyola helped refine the meaning of this call in founding the Society of Jesus.  

—Fr. Jonathan Haschka, S.J. writes from the St. Camillus Jesuit Community in Wauwatosa WI, where he serves as Assistant to the Superior.

Prayer

Come, Holy Spirit, enkindle in us the fire of your Holy Spirit.
Send for your Spirit and we will be re-created,
And you will renew the face of the earth.

—a traditional prayer