by Fr. Tommy Lane
After Jesus’ ascension what are we to do? Do we sit around and wait for something to happen or do we go and do something? Sitting around and waiting for something to happen is the mistaken view of some disciples in Luke’s account of the ascension which we heard in the first reading, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) They had a mistaken view of Jesus and his mission. The Roman Empire spread east and conquered Palestine in 63 BC and these disciples mistakenly thought Jesus would do something to drive out the Romans and restore self-rule to Israel. But that was not Jesus’ mission. In the Old Covenant the Chosen People were called by God from their slavery in Egypt, led through the sea during the exodus, and led into the Promised Land of Canaan. But everything changes in the New Testament. The inheritance is not the physical land of Israel. Now the inheritance is heaven; the journey from slavery in Egypt is now a journey from sin crossing through the sea of baptism. Now in the New Covenant the journey is from sin to heaven. Land is not part of the New Covenant. The inheritance in the New Covenant is heaven but these disciples mentioned by Luke in our first reading did not yet understand the huge change between the Old and New Covenant.
There are some who today also misunderstand the New Covenant. I think of those who believe that morality and the situation of Christians in the world will get progressively worse before a seven year tribulation to be followed by the rapture during which they believe all Christians will be raptured up to heaven. Following the rapture they believe only Jews and Gentiles will remain on earth and Palestine will become the land of Israel as in the Old Covenant, under the rulership of the 144,000 Jews (Rev 7:4) who will govern the earth for 1000 years converting the Gentiles (Rev 20:3,5,7), before the end comes. If you believe the world is going to become progressively worse until a seven year tribulation what incentive is there to do anything to improve the world or change the culture of the world? Why would you bother? You would be only slowing down what is inevitable and delaying the Second Coming of Jesus.
There is another view, the one we see in Scripture today. After Jesus’ ascension what are we to do? Do we sit around and wait for something to happen or do we go and do something? How did Jesus respond to the question of the disciples in the first reading about restoring the kingdom to Israel? He said,
“It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:7-8)
We are not to sit around and wait, we are to do something, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) In the account of the ascension which we heard in the Gospel today from Matthew Jesus also calls us to do something, not just sit around and wait,
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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age. (Matt 28:19-20)
Jesus said, “make disciples of all nations…” Clearly we are not to sit back and just let society and the culture around us rot. We are called to make society and the culture holy. When you received the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation you received a vocation from Christ to make society and this culture holy. The Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) published 16 very important documents and one of the documents reminds us that the laity are called to make the world holy in ways which only the laity can,
Now the laity are called in a special way to make the Church present and operative in those places and circumstances where only through them can it become the salt of the earth (Vatican II Lumen Gentium §33)
…even when preoccupied with temporal cares, the laity can and must perform a work of great value for the evangelization of the world. (Vatican II Lumen Gentium §35)
…let the laity also by their combined efforts remedy the customs and conditions of the world, if they are an inducement to sin, so that they all may be conformed to the norms of justice and may favor the practice of virtue rather than hinder it. By so doing they will imbue culture and human activity with genuine moral values…(Vatican II Lumen Gentium §36)
Clearly Catholic politicians are called not to make the rot of society become law but to make laws that reflect who we really are, children of God. If someone believes he has a Catholic vocation outside the voting chamber but it changes inside the voting chamber, to me that seems to suggest schizophrenia.
After Jesus’ ascension what are we to do? Do we sit around and wait for something to happen or do we go and do something? Sitting around and waiting for something to happen is the mistaken view of some disciples in Luke’s account of the ascension which we heard in the first reading and of some Christians today. Jesus said we are not to sit around and wait, we are to do something, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) In the account of the ascension which we heard in the Gospel today from Matthew Jesus also calls us to do something, not just sit around and wait,
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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age. (Matt 28:19-20)
This homily was delivered in a parish in Maryland near where I have joined the faculty of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland.
More homilies for the Ascension of the Lord Year A
Related Homilies: Enlightened to our Calling and Destiny
Jesus Continues to be Present in his Church after his Ascension
Waiting in Prayer for the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
First reading, witnesses to the ends of the earth: Church growing through trials