_{Holy Spirit Catholic Church
Homilies}

_{Feast of the Ascension (c) 2010
 May 16, 2010}

Over 40 years ago, during my sophomore year at Aquinas High School in Augusta, Richard Bach wrote a best-selling book called ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’.  The novel was so critically acclaimed and immensely popular it became required reading my junior year.  It was a fairy tale about a young seagull’s growth from childhood to adulthood. 

At a critical point in the story, two beautiful white seagulls appear and tell young Jonathan that it is time for him to take an important step in his life.  Jonathan hesitates, but the two birds insist, saying to him, ‘One school in finished; and the time has come for another to begin.’

Jonathan suddenly realizes that it is indeed time for him to leave the familiar beach and shoreline that he has become accustomed to as a young seagull and to soar into the sky, beyond the billowing white clouds.  Jonathan takes one last look at the beach.  Then with two white seagulls at his side, he soars into the blue sky and disappears into the billowing clouds.

There’s a striking resemblance between that dramatic episode in Bach’s book and the dramatic episode in Jesus’ life that we just read in today’s gospel reading.  Obviously, young Jonathan resembles Jesus.  Jonathan had finished one phase of his life and had to begin another.

Likewise, Jesus had finished one phase of his life and had to begin another.  Also, Jonathan’s rising up and disappearing into the clouds resembles Jesus’ rising up and disappearing into the clouds.  And finally, the two white birds who spoke to Jonathan resemble the two men in white who spoke to the Apostles after Jesus had departed.

Whether Richard Bach intended it or not I don’t know, but this episode in his story helps us to better understand the significance of the important feast we celebrate today:  The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven.

Jesus’ departure is not the end of his work on earth.  It’s simply the end of the first phase of it:  The phase he carried out in a physical body, visible to our eyes.  Now begins the second phase:  The phase that he will carry out in a spiritual body, invisible to our eyes

The time for inaugurating God’s kingdom on earth is over.  The time for spreading God’s kingdom across the earth is about to begin.  To put it another way, Jesus has completed his work of preparing his followers for their mission of carrying the good news of God’s kingdom to the four corners of the earth.  It is now time to send the Holy Spirit upon them to empower and to guide them in this mission.

This is what we celebrate today on this feast.  We celebrate the fact that 2,000 years ago on the day of his ascension, Jesus passed on to us the responsibility of carrying the good news of God’s kingdom to the four corners of the earth.  We celebrate the fact that Jesus passed on to us the responsibility of completing God’s kingdom on earth: namely, the work of preaching the Gospel to the poor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and caring for the homeless.

Anthony de Mello, a Jesuit priest famous for his books on spirituality and prayer, tells this story.  He puts it in the first person to give it added impact.  He says:  ‘On the street I saw a small girl cold and shivering in a thin dress, with little hope for a decent meal.  I became angry and said to God, ‘Why did you permit this?’ 

‘For a while God said nothing.  That night he replied quite suddenly, ‘I did do something about it.  I created you.’  Fr. De Mello’s story makes the same point that today’s feast makes.

On the day of his ascension approximately 2,000 years ago, Jesus passed on to us the responsibility of completing the work that he began on earth, the responsibility of completing God’s kingdom on earth.

You and I in this church today, and every human being who calls themselves a Christian, share this responsibility.  Not one of us is exempt!  Each one of us must decide how we can best carry out our part in this responsibility!

Let me close with this prayer:

                        Lord Jesus, on this feast of your Ascension into Heaven, give us new eyes to see your face in the faces of those in need.  Give us new ears to hear your voice in the voices of those who cry out in pain.  Give us new tongues to tell your story to those who have never heard it.  Give us new hearts to share your love with those who have not yet experienced it.

Today, on the Feast of the Ascension, I challenge ALL PARISHIONERS OF HOLY SPIRIT CATHOLIC CHURCH  to see with new eyes, to hear with new ears, to evangelize with new tongues, and to love with new hearts:  The eyes, ears, tongue, and heart of Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord!  May God bless you all!