…But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
throughout Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.”
On January 20th, 1961, after a long fought political campaign, the first Catholic President, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated on the steps of the Capitol Building. As a 13-year-old impressionable very young teenager, I was enthralled by the stirring words that Kennedy spoke that day in his now historic inaugural address. Master orator that he was, the address came to a dramatic crescendo with these memorable words:
With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.
Yes, my friends, God’s work must truly be our own! That is precisely the meaning of the great Solemnity that the Christian Church celebrates this day. While many of us remember the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord associated with Thursday, some years ago the Bishops of many parts of the United States transferred the celebration of this central feast in the Christian calendar to the Seventh Sunday of Easter. Why? So that many more of the faithful could gather to give thanks for the wonder of this day.
With the earthly mission and ministry of the Lord having been completed, he now returns to the Father. However, that mission and ministry of Jesus is now entrusted to all the Baptized who have been made new and empowered by the Spirit whose fullness we commemorate next Sunday in the Solemnity of Pentecost.
Down through the centuries, the measure of our authentic embrace of the Gospel has always been our willingness to truly make God’s work our own. As we look back over the expanse of the centuries since that mandate was first handed to us, we can, indeed, take pride in the saints and Holy Ones who have truly made God’s work their own. Yet, our history, sadly narrates the story of Christians who have failed to take up and live this noble task.
My mind today goes to the tragedy that is unfolding in the land made ‘Holy’ by the Lord himself, once again torn by hatred and war. How paradoxical that Jew and Arab who pride themselves with their ancient greeting of “Shalom” and “Salam” – peace - should so often fail to make God’s work, their own. Doing God’s work, of course, is living the demanding task of surrendering the narcissism and ego of a ‘me first’ mentality and making God’s mind and heart our own.
As has often been said, God has no other voice, hands and heart today but our own. May the Ascension of the Lord renew our commitment to be that voice in our world today so that at the end of our days we can rest peacefully, knowing that God’s work has truly been our own in the life we have lived.