2025/06/01 SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
- Delaney Paul, Director of Stewardship & Development
The Ascension of the Lord marks a profound turning point in the life of the early Church, and really in our own spiritual journey too. In today’s readings, we witness the moment Jesus is taken up into heaven, not as an end, but as a beginning.
The Acts of the Apostles recount how, after forty days of preparing his disciples, Jesus ascends, entrusting them with a mission: “You will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.” What a daunting call! And yet, Jesus doesn’t leave them powerless. Instead, he promises the Holy Spirit to strengthen and guide them.
It’s striking that the disciples’ immediate response is not despair, but worship and joy. I wonder how I would have felt in that moment. Would I have responded with despair or joy? But as Luke’s Gospel tells us, they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy,” praising God continually.
Why joy? Because even though Jesus is no longer physically with them, his Ascension is not a departure but really a glorification. He has gone to prepare a place for us (John 14:3), and now reigns at the right hand of the Father, as Paul reminds us in Ephesians. His authority extends “far above every principality… in this age and in the one to come.” We do not follow a distant memory; we truly follow a risen and reigning Lord who is actively at work in the Church. What a gift that is!
This feast reminds us that we too are witnesses. Christ's mission now belongs to us, not because we are worthy, but because he equips us with the Holy Spirit and abides with us “always, until the end of the world” (Matthew 28). The Ascension is a call to hope, to mission, and to trust. It invites us to lift our gaze from the ground and live with a heavenly perspective, knowing that Christ intercedes for us, and that his return is certain.
As we wait for the fullness of his Kingdom, may we live as joyful witnesses, rooted in hope, empowered by the Spirit, and eager to proclaim the risen Christ to the ends of the earth.
Come Holy Spirit!