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INTERMEZZO [1]LORD'S ASCENSION1. The ascension of Our Lord to the right hand of the Father in heaven is liturgically celebrated as a solemnity, a principal Mass of the highest distinction. 2. Though Our Lord's ascension bridges the astonishing events of his resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we cannot pass over this intermezzo without some comment, for it is compelling in its own right. PRAYING CHURCH3. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the promise of our resurrection from the dead. His ascension is the surety of "those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb". [Rev 19:9] 4. The praying Church elevates her heart to Christ. She lifts up her love to the Shepherd who was sent not to "condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him". [Jn 3:17] EXQUISITE SIGH5. Burdened by the cares of this life, we eagerly anticipate the fulfillment of our Heavenly Father's plan. Yet our heart's exquisite sigh echoes the Church's fervent prayer for the perfection of God's reign on earth. 6. We please God in all circumstances when we direct our minds and hearts toward him: WE ARE of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. [2Cor 5:7-8] SOLEMN SUPPLICATION7. We serve the Lord by praying the Our Father, the solemn and majestic supplication of the eucharistic Church. The Church glorifies the Father who sustains her with bread for the day. She intercedes to God for the sake of divine mercy.
8. The Our Father is the Church's prayer of confidence and trust even to exaltation, a joyful proclamation of praise, a confident expectation of Divine Providence, and an enduring credo of faith. CHURCH'S COMMUNION9. For our divine lesson today, we meditate on the alpha and omega of the Christian journey--the mystery of Our Father who art in heaven. The prophet Isaiah foretold that a "little child shall lead them". [cf. Isa 11:6]
10. The son of Mary and Joseph took "the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" [Phi 2:7] to gather mankind as one in the unity of the Spirit.[2] When praying "Our Father" we acknowledge before God the loveliness of the Church's communion in Christ. SIMPLE PRONOUN11. The simple pronoun our invokes mankind's hope "that God may be everything to every one". [1Cor 15:28] The Lord's Prayer eloquently answers man's deepest fears and confirms his most noble aspirations. The Lord Jesus entrusted his prayer to the Church as a sure path to the fullness of life and as a consolation in time of trial: "I am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown." [Rev 3:11]
12. Our is the unpretentious invitation of our Lord Jesus who declared, "It is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." [Mt 18:14] Both salutation and welcome, the words Our Father encourage the faithful to allow Christ to write his high priestly prayer on their hearts. UNIQUE MINISTRY13. The truth expressed in this prayer for the unity of the Spirit-filled Church cannot fail:
HOLY FATHER, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. [Jn 17:11-12]
14. In the unique ministry of Christ the High Priest, the Church discovers her identity and prays for unity. [cf. Jn 17:11] The pronoun our directs the gathered Church to celebrate the oneness shared by the eternal Father and his only-begotten Son. The Lord's Father is our Father! OPEN-HANDED15. Our Lord speaks of keeping his disciples in the Father's name. Not by granting status and privileges does he do this. Rather he situates the Twelve on the narrow and arduous path of reconciliation. To this ministry of life the Son of God attaches the weight of divine law. He leaves no room for individualism or contrariness: FOR IF you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. [Mt 6:14-15] 16. Christ adroitly establishes one principle and sequence with unvarying uniformity irrespective of human circumstances: The Father will be merciful to the faithful disciple who forgives his neighbor. Moreover, the whole Christian assembly must pledge itself to emulate God's law of open-handed liberality. Ecclesial communities, like the individual, are called to forgive.
INDISPENSABLE CONDITION17. A true disciple forgives the offenses of his brother with the attentive solicitude that characterizes God's forgiveness of him. Reconciliation is like receiving the "breath of life". Like Adam, the disciple rises from his paralysis as a "living being". [cf. Gen 2:7] To live is to give and receive love. The apostle John affirms love by identifying reconciliation as an indispensable condition for experiencing genuine love in the Christian community: IF ANY one says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. [1Jn 4:20] 18. Jesus emphasizes a word of relationship rather than a point of honor. One of Jesus' disciples discerns that the Twelve should learn a better way of prayer. Start with Father when you pray, Jesus answers.
UNCOMMON RELATIONSHIP19. Over and against God's formal names--El Shaddai (mountains), Elohim (nations, justice), Adonai (Lord) and the most exalted Yahweh ("I Am Who Am"; love and mercy)--the title "father" seems to suffer by comparison. 20. Yet father goes to the heart of God's most uncommon relationship with his chosen people. Jesus shares the fatherhood of God with his disciples. He wants his disciples to remember that the proof of Israel's historic encounter with God is a covenant of fatherhood:
PROVISIONAL WAY21. Not yet filled with the Holy Spirit, the apostles relate to Jesus in a compelling but provisional way. Many in the new Church would require various proofs that he was alive and fully human after emerging from the tomb. As yet inchoate, their knowledge of the Kingdom continues to mature unevenly and conditionally: "And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted." [Mt 28:17] 22. Certainly Jesus' affinity to his Father profoundly affects them. Many times they have heard Jesus speak to God as Abba [cf. Mk 14:36; Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6], Aramaic for the intimate though pious esteem of one's father. Though Aramaic was the common language of post-exilic Israel, Abba stands out in New Testament scriptures as being used only in the context of prayer. SUBLIME GIFT23. To be "justified by grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" [Rom 3:24] is perhaps the sweetest, most sublime gift of all. The word father in the Lord's Prayer announces the formation of a great divine-human family. God's liberal invitation is attested precisely in St. Paul's declaration that all persons who call God father become his sons and daughters by adoption: SO WITH us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. AND BECAUSE you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father! So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir. [Gal 4:3-7] 24. To speak of the Church is to recognize a family of faith[3] united under the sign of the cross. Not without irony is the conjunction and the best expression for the point of contact between the stipes and patibulum of the cross of Golgotha. GREAT COMMANDMENT25. Jesus Christ, the point of convergence for humanity and divinity, is the a-n-d by which man is reconciled with God. It is no small thing to confess that the Great Commandment calls the people of God to be conjoined, that is to say, to unite with Christ and his Church in worship, selfless service and "...joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ":[4] FOR YOU did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Rom 8:15-16] 26. To pray the words Our Father is to make the introit: Gracious God, we, your children wish to speak to you. Your beloved Son has won for us a hearing. Hence the efficacy of the Lord's prayer is unsurpassed by any other and is deserving of our utmost reverence. NOBLE SUMMARY27. Appropriately the Lord's Prayer takes pride of place as the summit of the eucharistic prayer of the Mass. We are baptized into Christ in the company of those who love us. This fellowship of believers proves its love for Christ and one another by uniting its will to the will of God. 28. What outcome does the Our Father prophesy but the liberation of the created order and the "glorious liberty of the children of God"? [Rom 8:21] The Our Father recapitulates the liturgies of the Word and Eucharist in the celebration of Mass. It nobly summarizes the assembly's praise, repentance, petition and thanksgiving. FINAL ACT29. What it says, the Holy Spirit effects. When these mysteries of salvation have been accomplished, the final act of Christ's mission will begin: THEN COMES the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father....When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one. [1Cor 15:24, 28] 30. The ancient Israelites viewed heaven as a dramatic diorama. On this cosmic stage was played out all the wonders and powers of the unseen God. Though they equated the heavens with the skies, the ancients were not so naive as to have confined God to the visible boundaries of heaven. HEAVENLY REALITIES31. Neither did they believe that God was simply a synonym for heavenly realities. Solomon exclaims: BUT WILL God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!" [cf. 1Kgs 8:27] WHO CAN hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? [Jer 23:24] 32. When the descendents of King David were taken captive by the Babylonians, the inspired writers reassured God's weary people:
HIGHLY REGARDED33. In what way should Christians regard heaven? Employing the term heaven sparingly, the New Testament writers encouraged God's faithful followers to look forward to a blessed eternity with him.34. Other terms such as eternal life, heavenly homeland, glory, kingdom of God, and my Father's house are highly regarded. In his epistles to the Church, St. Paul never dwells on the geography of heaven. He writes often, however, of being in Christ and in fellowship with one another [cf. Phi 1:23] and beholding God face to face. [cf. 1Cor 13:12] ROBE, RING AND SHOES35. Obedience and love prophesy Our Lord's ascension to glory. St. Paul's epistles present Christ's passion and death in terms of relationship: The scandal of the cross properly frames the depth and breadth of his obedient service to the Father and his steadfast love for those who are his own in this world. 36. Luke emphasizes the Son's glorification using the language of correlation: "My son was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found!" [Lk 15:22-24] The Son who for our sake was made to be prodigal has received from the Father the new robe and shoes, a ring for his hand, and the celebration of his triumph. RIGHT HAND37. The Father honors his only-begotten Son at his right hand in heaven, a position superior to rulers, authorities, powers and dominions of any human or angel whether on earth, in the Kingdom of Light or the abyss of darkness. Never again will mortals know Jesus as criminal. 38. The name of Jesus is glorified above every other name "in heaven and on earth and under the earth"! [cf. Phi 2:9-10] When we pray Our Father who art in heaven we implore Jesus Christ the high priest to justify us before Divine Love itself, infinite in being and perfect in holiness. GRANTED A HEARING39. Though in awe of God's breathtaking splendor, his majestic might, his limitless compassion and his measureless mercy and pardon, friends of Christ never "claim equality with God". [cf. Phi 2:6] Nor do friends of Christ harass one another by appeals to status and power. 40. Rather, possessing the mind of Christ [cf. 1Cor 2:16], we offer humble submission to Christ-of-the-Ascension. Through the mediation of the Son of God--on the cross and at the Father's right hand--we are granted a hearing: "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. I knew that thou hearest me always, but I have said this on account of the people standing by." [Jn 11: 41-42] "OUR TOWN"41. Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Our Town" (1938) evokes the cosmic magnitude of the human journey to God. In one scene the young girl Rebecca confides to her brother George in their hometown of Grover's Corners NH at the close of day:
42. Though somewhat mischievous the minister in Wilder's play succeeds in prompting several villagers to reflect that the human journey is not bound by visible horizons. Apart from Christ, man will never succeed in mapping the future must less in conquering it. "HOLY CALLING"43. The disciple who puts on the mind of Christ [cf. 1Cor 2:16], however, can interpret the road he travels and prepare diligently for the challenges lying ahead. For St. Paul, the faithful disciple stands squarely in the midst of the unsearchable mysteries of salvation: FOR GOD did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control. Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, and now has manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. [2Tim 1:7-10] 44. In his account of Jesus' ascension, Luke recalls that Jesus was "lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight". [Acts 1:9] Unlike the silence imposed on Peter, James and John after the transfiguration, the Lord's ascension provokes an immediate verbal interpretation from two heavenly strangers arrayed in white: MEN OF Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. [Acts 1:11] SPIRIT'S POWER45. The conclusion of Luke's gospel tells us that after Jesus' ascension his disciples "returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God". [Lk 24:52-52] Unlike their fearful behavior in the days leading up to their Master's crucifixion, the Twelve speak out boldly in the power of the Spirit. 46. They revealed everything they saw and heard. [cf. Acts 4:20] They offered to God the praise of fulfillment not the silence of perplexity. Theirs was the prayer of confidence and trust expected of disciples perfected in love and obedience. They have come to know and testify to the powerful Word of the Holy One of God. [cf. Jn 6:68-69] CONSUMMATED BY CHRIST47. Their minds and hearts are ruled by the peace which only Christ can give [cf. Jn 14:27], a silent eloquence which eluded Peter himself on the Mount of Transfiguration. The journey that began with the Hebrew exodus from slavery is consummated by Christ who rose from the dead and ascended in glory to the right hand of God the Father almighty.[6] 48. The Lord Jesus Christ, who shouldered the travail of Jews and Gentiles alike, who bore their shame, their disaster and their lowliness, the righteous one who became sin on Golgotha for our sake, who crossed the Reed Sea of human mortality and who rose from the silence of the grave has conquered the power of death itself! MIGHTY WORK49. Clothed with a glory that shames human vanity, the Good Shepherd is revealed as the eternal Christ who returns to the Father what he has won: "...a holy nation, a people set apart" for God.[7] HE WHO conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received power from my Father; and I will give him the morning star. [Rev 2: 26-28] CHRIST HAS called you and prepared a city for you. [cf. Heb 11:16] 50. He commissions you to accomplish a mighty work in his name. Pray to God for the gift of steadfast faith. Like the apostles who prayed for the sake of the Church, boldly ask God for your daily bread. Confidently seek forgiveness and deliverance from evil. Trust in the eternal blessings of heavenly citizenship. WHY NOT NOW?51. Many wait a lifetime to accept the gospel of eternal life. Why not receive it now? This is the hour in which Christ confides himself to you in the sacrament of Word and Eucharist. This Jesus is the Son of God, the Chosen One who ascended to the Father's right hand. Listen to him! Pray to him! Praise the "immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe"! [Eph 1:19]
[1] Cycle C /Ascension of the Lord /Acts 1:1-11 /Eph 1:17-23 /Lk 24: 46-53. [2] Cf "The Didache", trans. James A. Kleist SJ, no. 9. ANCIENT CHRISTIAN WRITERS, eds. Johannes Quasten, STD, et al., vol. 6 (New York: Newman Press, 1948) 20. "As this broken bread was scattered over the hills and then, when gathered, became one mass, so may Thy Church be gathered from the ends of the earth into Thy Kingdom." [3] Cf SACRAMENTARY, "Eucharistic Prayer III" (1985). "From age to age, you gather a people to yourself....Father, hear the prayers of the family you have gathered here before you. In mercy and love, unite all your children wherever they may be." Cf Ibid., "Sundays in Ordinary Time VIII", The Church United in the Mystery of the Trinity, P36. "You gather them into your church, to be one as you, Father, are with your Son and the Holy Spirit. You call them to be your people, to praise your wisdom in all your works. You make them the body of Christ and the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit." [4] Ibid., "Communion Rite", Lord's Prayer (1985). [5] Thornton Wilder, Our Town, (New York: Harper Perennial, 1998) 46. [6] SACRAMENTARY, "Profession of Faith", Apostles' Creed (1985). [7] Ibid., "Sundays in Ordinary Time I", The Paschal Mystery and the People of God, P29.
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