Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Cycle B

Homily on May 7, 2024

Acts 1: 1-11; Eph 1: 17–23; Mk 16: 15-20.

Go into de whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature

Today we are celebrating the Lord's ascension. We heard about this event from two sources: Acts and Mark. Jesus in both readings is saying “goodbye” and giving some instructions to his disciples, but why are they not sad? As we usually know, farewell scenes are sad. This sadness intensifies when we have a close relationship with the person who is leaving for a long-term or permanent absence. However, this farewell from Jesus to the disciples was not a conventional goodbye.

We have a brief overview from the Acts of the Apostles, where Luke describes the teachings of Jesus during his life. The book of Acts refers to these teachings as "the first book (Luke's Gospel)." The apostles already knew Jesus' teachings, and they experienced the Kingdom of God as a life with a resurrected Jesus. Therefore, they are not depressed; rather, they are filled with joy. Should we, as disciples, rejoice at seeing Jesus ascend to heaven? The ascension concludes Christ's mission among us.

We shall be glad because Jesus is “sitting to the right hand of God.” It means that first He descended from heaven to take our condition as human beings, brought our flesh to heaven, took our humanity, and redeemed it. Now that our human nature sits at the right hand of the Father, it means that in the mystery of the Ascension, we are contemplating our own future destination.

We will rejoice because the Son of God took on human form, was born in Mary Virgen, shared our condition, endured diseases and illnesses, and underwent crucifixion, embracing every stage of life. However, the entirety of Jesus' journey serves as a narrative of salvation, and we anticipate our own resurrection alongside him. However, we understand that we can also achieve heaven, implying that after this life, we will join Jesus in heaven, as He has already secured it for us. Let us go and offer our lives to God like Jesus did; let us give him those sufferings, for He transforms them in patience and love, knowing that death is not the end.

Once we are aware of our salvation and destination, we should keep moving in the direction of God. Therefore, we must follow Jesus to redeem the world, such as he send us "Go into de whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature." Mark reveals the signs that have accompanied us for a long time. We should learn to drive out demons in the name of Jesus, which means we need to throw away these bad attitudes and behaviors to which we sometimes consent. Perhaps those bad behaviors are not demons, but they often tempt us.

Furthermore, the gospel states, "I will speak new languages." Some of us meet a religious or priestly missionary who learned another language in order to bring the gospel to a new place. However, we should speak new languages in our daily lives, whether they are the language of our spouse or wife, the language of our parents, the language of the elderly, the language of children, or the language of the sick—in other words, the language of love that seeks to communicate without boundaries.

Mark also reminds us that we are in the world, and it is difficult to resist temptations, but we will prepare for that. It means that we will pick up serpents with our hands, and if we drink any deadly thing, it will not harm us. We should learn from Jesus to stay near the evil, but we should refuse to join with it; we can defeat the evil only as Jesus made it through the good. What is more, we should learn to “lay the hands on the sick,” as the apostles said. It signifies that we must help others with the same love as Jesus. This is the only way we can ensure their recovery.

How can we learn to accomplish all these things? Just like the Holy Spirit. We can realize these good works because the Holy Spirit teaches us the sensitivity to love others. The Holy Spirit guides us to identify the places where God is essential, and that's also where I will find my calling.

Brothers and sisters, let us open our hearts for receiving the Holy Spirit, as the first reading tells us, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” It is the power of love, but we only receive it when we have a devout heart. Let us prepare for Pentecost by spending moments of prayer with God.