previous snowboard movies which consisted mostly of riders doing various tricks to punk and hip- hop tunes, The Art of Flight showcased the beauty

Transcription

1 Homily for Ascension Sunday- Year C- Lk 24:46-53 A few years ago one of the most prolific professional snowboarders on the planet, Travis Rice, produced a movie entitled The Art of Flight. Unlike previous snowboard movies which consisted mostly of riders doing various tricks to punk and hip- hop tunes, The Art of Flight showcased the beauty behind snowboarding, the extreme locations they would ride, the death defying jumps they would hit, and that unbelievable sensation you feel, whether strapped to a board or simply watching at home, of flying, of watching a human being be propelled 50 feet into the air, graceful spinning and landing smoothly, fists raised up for having tasted the art of flight. I will confess that this was what I thought about first when I prayed about the ascension of Christ, that tremendous event that the Apostles beheld as their friend and Lord was literally taken into heaven, as he said in the Gospel of John no one took his life from him, I lay it down and I have the power to raise it up again! The ascension then is a beautiful mystery of our faith as it brings a completion to what we call the Paschal Mystery. Too often we Catholics have a very narrow understanding of the Paschal Mystery and think it is only speaking about the Resurrection of Christ. This is

2 an essential part of the Paschal Mystery but it must also includes first of all his Passion and Death for without his sacrifice of love the resurrection would have never occurred, yet this mystery does not end with his rising but must include his ascension whereby he returns to sit at the right hand of God the Father almighty as the Letter to the Hebrews says today he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf to be our intercessor before the Father, until he will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him at the end of all things. The Ascension is what completes the mystery of our salvation in Jesus Christ and prepares for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, as the Lord tells the Apostles they are to return to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Advocate, for it is only with his power within in them that they will lead the Church and offer the same creator spirit to those who wish to receive and be disciples of the Lord! Perhaps the most touching and profound moment of the entire Ascension scene is when the angel admonishes the Apostles Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken

3 up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. We can appreciate why they remain with eyes fixed on the heavens for the miracle they just witnessed. Maybe they remembered in the scriptures that only two men had ever been blessed with a bodily assumption into heaven, that of Enoch in the Book of Genesis and Elijah who was carried upon a fiery chariot into heaven. The Lord s ascension was sign that truly the Lord had opened the gates of paradise that had so long been locked to humanity and that he will return one day when we will arise from death to reign in the new heaven and new earth forever and ever amen. But such was not that time, and so rightly the Apostles are challenged by the angels to no longer cling to the Jesus they once knew, but experience his newly resurrected glory in heaven and prepare their hearts for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus told Mary Magdalene after the resurrection that she was not to cling to him, that is cling to the Jesus she once knew, so too are the Apostles to move beyond the Jesus they knew to realize things have changed, their lives as disciples was no longer walking physically with the Lord, but trusting that this new advocate would help them be the presence of Christ to those they would serve and meet!

4 It is the same for any of us who desire to be a disciple of the Lord. We so often cling to our own small vision of who Jesus is and what he does or does not teach that we close ourselves off to the Holy Spirit (Pope Francis quote), we get trapped in ourselves and no longer desire to evangelize our friends and family, we are more content to just stare into space and think about how awesome Jesus is because it is safe and comfortable when Jesus is saying to you and I now it is time to get out there and bring more and more and more people to me! Jesus is very greedy my friends, he wants everyone to proclaim he is Lord and saviour, but he expects us to be the ones to bring others to him. This is path is much harder than staring up into the glories of heaven, but it is the one the helps us to grow in our own pursuit of holiness. One practical way that each of us can access whether we are idly staring into the heavens clinging to the Jesus of yesterday or going out filled with the Holy Spirit to evangelize is to take a few minutes every day to examine our conscience. We are often familiar with an examination of conscience before we make a confession to a priest, but it can also be an invaluable addition to our daily life of prayer. There is no one way to do this spiritual practice so if you already are doing so please continue.

5 But if you would like to learn how to do so may I suggest a 4 step process. First off, place yourself in God s presence, ask the Holy Spirit to fill your heart and reveal to you how the day unfolded. Second, praise and thank God for all the blessings of the day and those moments you were his disciple. This is not spiritual boasting or narcissism but rather to bless God for what he has done for you and how he has helped you as a disciple. Third, ask the Lord s forgiveness for whatever sins occurred that day, but don t dwell on every little fault, but those sins you are most sorrow for and seek to make amends. Fourth, end in a prayer of thanksgiving for the day and make a resolution for tomorrow, perhaps a person you want to talk to about the faith, a sin you will strive to avoid, etc. The beauty of the examination is that you are forever aware of yourself and the presence of God around you, you are living in the real world of real disciples which is a life of blessings and frustrations, and you are going forth each day like the Apostles filled with the Holy Spirit!