by Fr. Tommy Lane
We take it for granted that Jesus appeared firstly to his mother Mary after he rose from the dead on Easter Sunday (see Wednesday audience of Pope John Paul II, May 21, 1997). That would explain why she was not with the other women when they went to the tomb on Easter Sunday morning to anoint Jesus’ body; she had already seen Jesus risen. Not everything is in Sacred Scripture. Luke and Paul tell us Jesus appeared to Peter on his own on Easter Sunday (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor 15:5) before he appeared to all the apostles together later that day (Luke 24:36-49); John tells us Thomas was absent (John 20:19-23). Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene on Easter Sunday (John 20) and to two disciples on the road to Emmaus as they were leaving Jerusalem (Mark 16:12-13; Luke 24). On the following Sunday, Jesus again appeared to the apostles and this time Thomas was present (John 26:26-29). Paul tells us that one time Jesus appeared to more than 500 people gathered together, most of whom were still living at the time he was writing (1 Cor 15:6). There were many apparitions of Jesus. It was as almost if Jesus had never died; he was appearing so often.
Luke, who wrote the Acts of the Apostles as well as the Gospel, suggests in our first reading today from Acts (Acts 1:1-11) that Jesus was continually with the apostles during the forty days before his ascension. Luke tells us Jesus gave them many proofs during those days that he was alive. The New Testament was written in Greek and Luke says something fascinating in his Greek that we don’t see in our English translation. Luke says that during those days Jesus was taking salt with the apostles (συναλιζόμενος; Acts 1:4). That could mean either that Jesus was with the apostles for many meals, or simply that Jesus was with the apostles very often. One thing is clear: Luke wants us to understand that Jesus spent a lot of time with the apostles after he rose. Luke almost gives the impression that Jesus was with them all the time and that it was as if Jesus never died. There was a continuity, we could say, between Jesus with the apostles before he died and Jesus spending time with the apostles after he rose.
Luke makes another point in his Greek which unfortunately doesn’t appear in all English translations. In the very first sentence of Acts, also our first reading today, in his Greek Luke says that in his first book, that is, in his Gospel, he wrote about everything that Jesus began to do. So, the Gospel was about what Jesus began to do. Luke sees Jesus continuing to do through the Church, through the apostles. Luke gives many examples throughout Acts. In the Gospel Jesus healed a paralytic (Luke 5:17-26), and in Acts a man lame from birth was healed by Peter’s prayers (Acts 3:1-10) and another man lame from birth was healed by Paul’s prayers (Acts 14:8-18). In the Gospel, Jesus raised the widow of Jairus to life (Luke 7:11-17; as well as Lazarus in John 11), and in Acts Peter raised Tabitha to life (Acts 9:36-43) and Paul raised Eutychus to life (Acts 20:7-12). So, what we see Jesus beginning to do in the Gospel, Jesus continues to do after his ascension through the lives of his missionaries in Acts. Jesus continued to do what he had been during, but through those who ministered in his name. After his ascension, Jesus continued to be present in a “new nearness,” as some theologians describe Jesus’ ascension (e.g. Cardinal Ratzinger, Images of Hope: Meditations on Major Feasts p55).
Another way in which we see Jesus continuing to be present with the Church after his ascension can be seen in Luke’s account of Jesus’ ascension. It is good that we have four Gospels rather than one because that gives us a fuller picture of Jesus. Luke gives us a detail in his account of Jesus’ ascension, our Gospel today (Luke 24:46-53), that we do not get in the other Gospels. Luke tells us that when Jesus was ascending, he blessed those who were gathered there. In other words, Luke depicts Jesus as a priest as he ascends. Jesus blessing them as he ascended meant Jesus’ presence would continue with them after his ascension. That is the power of a blessing from God—God’s presence continuing. When God gave the instructions in the Old Testament for a priestly blessing, he said the priests were to say the words of the blessing, but God would give the blessing (see Num 6:22-27). When the priest gives the blessing at the end of Mass, the words are the priest’s, but the blessing is from Jesus. The blessing at the end of Mass is Jesus continuing to be present with you as you leave the church. Those who leave Mass early miss out on that blessing of Jesus to accompany them as they leave. It also reminds us of Judas who left the Last Supper early. When you ask a priest to bless your rosary beads, the blessing is from Jesus. When someone sick in hospital asks a priest for a blessing, the blessing comes from Jesus.
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came on the apostles and Our Lady and the other disciples gathered in prayer, and Peter said in his Pentecost Sermon afterwards that it was Jesus who had poured out the Spirit (Acts 2:33). That is another way in which Jesus continued to be present after his ascension—through the Spirit.
As we celebrate Jesus’ ascension today, we celebrate Jesus continuing to be with us, but with us in new ways, in a new nearness: through his missionaries, their blessings, the Holy Spirit, and the Eucharist. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared so many times that it was almost as if Jesus had never died. After Jesus’ ascension, he remained with us in a new nearness.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2022
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Ascension of the Lord
Praying for the Holy Spirit after Jesus' Ascension 2021
Gathered around Our Lady after Jesus' Ascension 2018
Enlightened to our calling and destiny
Year A: Students in the school of Jesus 2023
Year B: Jesus is present in his Church after his Ascension 2006
Related Homilies: Waiting in Prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit