Father Rick Bolte's Homily

A: Ascension

The Resurrection is a celebration of Jesus rising from the dead.  It is a validation of all that Jesus did and said.  His rising shows us that we too are destined for eternal life and that his way is the way for us to follow.  The Ascension is a celebration of Jesus going to his position of power as king of heaven and earth.  His position is complete in heaven but, as he works through us, it is still moving to its fulfillment here on earth.  Pentecost is a celebration of our being empowered by God’s Spirit to be Christ’s presence in the world.  It’s easy to see how well the Resurrection, Ascension, and Pentecost all fit into one.  Something that many people don’t realize is that only the author of Luke-Acts treats these as three separate events.  The Church, likely for the same reason as this author, traditionally treats them as three separate events so that the important aspects of each can be more easily appreciated.

The Ascension then focuses on the power Christ assumes as the risen One.  In our Gospel today from Matthew, what we hear read today is his story of the Resurrection-Ascension-Pentecost.  In Matthew, unlike the other Gospels, Jesus appears to the Apostles on a mountain.  For Matthew, the mountain is important as it recalls Moses meeting with God on the mountain and coming down from the mountain to give the people God’s word.  Matthew has Jesus give the Sermon on the Mount (in Luke it is on the plain), Jesus is transfigured on a mountain and now he ascends from a mountain.  For the Jews, “the Law and the Prophets” referred to their scriptures and their tradition.  Moses represents the Law as he brought God’s Law to the people.  Elijah was considered the greatest prophet and he is emblematic of the prophetic tradition.  As Matthew shows Jesus to now be the new Moses, Luke shows him to be the new Elijah.

When Elijah was about to leave and pass on his ministry to Elisha, he asked Elisha to ask what he wanted of God.  Elisha asked for twice Elijah’s spirit.  Elijah said that if he witnessed Elijah ascending into heave, his request would be granted.  Now the Apostles witness Jesus ascending into heaven and they are destined for the Spirit.  Jesus appears in the Transfiguration with Moses and Elijah.  Now he supersedes both as he takes his place as king of heaven and earth.

But what is this kingship and power all about?  Why don’t we see it?  Sometimes we get the idea that we just have to believe harder.  If only we could remove all doubt from our minds, we could work miracles and perform supernatural acts at will.  But is doubt really the enemy of faith?  In Matthew’s Gospel, we are told the Apostles worshipped Jesus but that they also doubted.  It could refer to previous doubts but it might be teaching a bit of wisdom here.  Doubt is needed for true faith.  Jesus doesn’t ask for blind faith, that is believing what we think Jesus is teaching us and never consider that we might have misunderstood.  Such refusal to use our intelligence is not the path to faith.  Jesus invites us into a relationship with himself.  A relationship grows often through our coming to grips with the reality that what we thought was true, was not.  In our important relationships, especially a marriage relationship, we are often disappointed because we thought we knew the other only to discover they were different than we expected.  These new discoveries about each other is part of the lifelong process of getting to know each other more deeply and to love more deeply.  To hang on to our expectations of the other would guarantee that the marriage wouldn’t last.  In our relationship with God, we also have expectations of who God is.  Our relationship matures only when we doubt our expectations of who we expect God to be and face the reality of who God really is.

We are told that Jesus’ kingship is expressed through us; we are the Body of Christ and his presence in the world.  In John we have heard that we will do greater things than Jesus if we ask for them in Jesus’ name.  But if we think the greatest things Jesus did were supernatural miracles, we’ve got the wrong expectations.  We can only be disappointed and perhaps blame our lack of faith.  But Jesus downplayed his signs and wonders and focused instead on the inner healing and forgiveness of sin.  The psalms sing of God’s greatness and power expressed especially in his mercy and forgiveness.  If we are to be the expression of Christ’s kingship in the world, we need to doubt the unreal expectations.  We need to recognize the real power Jesus has bestowed on us.  In John’s Gospel, when Jesus gives his Apostles the Spirit, he tells them that they now have the power to forgive.