Jesus is Lord

Homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension

The feast of the Ascension is a liminal moment in the Easter Season. The word “liminal” refers to something or someone who occupies a position on both sides of a boundary. It comes from the word “limen” which is Latin for threshold. While nothing can occupy two places at the same time, it is possible for a person or thing to straddle two different places. This is the case with the Feast of the Ascension, and its liminality is illustrated by the fact that the Gospel speaks of the Ascension happening “one the first day of the week;” the Acts of the Apostles speak of it happening forty days after the Resurrection.

Perhaps it is easier to understand if we say that the Ascension is a time between times, a moment when we have left one place in our journey but have not yet arrived at our destination. So while the two different narratives of the Ascension fit well into the unfolding story of redemption, the feast itself celebrates a single aspect of the resurrection itself; namely, the exaltation of Jesus. The readings help us through this paradox. They allow us to focus on this theological point while we commemorate a turning point in the life of the Church.

The Gospel of St. Mark distinguishes itself from the other synoptic Gospels by including two details in the narrative that St. Matthew and St. Luke do not. Both of these details are so much a part of our faith, that we may not even notice them at first. First of all it refers to Jesus as Lord, a new title that speaks of the fact that Jesus has passed to a new reality. He is now not only Master, Teacher, or Rabbi, Jesus is Lord. All of the Gospels were written after the various letters of St. Paul, and we remember that it is in the Letter to the Philippians that St. Paul includes a hymn that celebrates Jesus’ exaltation in which he states: “At the name of Jesus every knee should bend and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” God exalts Jesus and bestows this name which is above every other name specifically because Jesus has humbled himself to become one of us. By his act of self-emptying, he has been named Lord of heaven and earth.

St. Mark also states that after he spoke to them, Jesus was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. This is yet another acknowledgement of a change in Jesus’ position in the Church. While even the Apostle's creed claims Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, this is the only time this is stated in the Gospel. The various appearance stories that populate the Gospels after the Resurrection spend a great deal of time emphasizing physical characteristics: he ate food, he invited Thomas to touch him, he walked with them to Emmaus, and he showed them the wounds left by the nails and the spear. However, the account of the Ascension leaves the world of the physical behind and embraces the world of the supernatural. As the apostles stand and look at him, he is lifted to heaven by a cloud. Today is a day that sees Jesus move from the human to the divine, reclaiming that which was his before his birth as a human baby.

Amidst shouts of joy and exaltation, Jesus, the Christ, is enthroned in heaven in both his divinity and his glorified humanity. Like the conquering creator-god, he has overcome his enemy (death itself) and now reigns over his new creation (the Church). For our part, we live between the time of his departure and the time of his return. We all become liminal people as our present straddles the past and looks to the future.

So today we rejoice in one aspect of this mystery, his triumphant ascension; soon we will celebrate the second, the coming of his Spirit. Even though he has left us physically, we do not live without him as we wait. He is present with us in a new way, in a new body, in the Church.

St. Mark also reminds us that the Feast of the Ascension is not simply a feast about Jesus. It is a feast that reminds us of our commission. We are sent forth. We are to proclaim the Gospel to every creature. This commission pulls us back to the very first verse of St. Mark’s Gospel – a simple declarative statement. “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God].” If this is the beginning of the Gospel, we are the continuation. Jesus is Lord, the Christ, the Son of God.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator