The Ascension of the Lord
Cycle C
May 12, 2013 4:00 and 5:30pm
Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air
A Painting: Up and Down
There
is a beautiful painting entitled The
Ascension.
This
painting dates back to the fifteenth century and it depicts the apostles gathered
on top of a mountain. Half of them are
looking up at the sky.
There
is an opening in the clouds and they are just staring. Jesus has ascended into heaven and is no
longer visible.
The
other half of the apostles are looking down to the ground. They are looking at footprints, the imprints
of Jesus’ feet, but again, he is no longer visible.
The Scriptures: Up and Down
That painting expresses one of the core messages in
today’s readings.
In both the first reading and the gospel, Jesus
reassures the apostles that he will be present to them through the Holy
Spirit. They will feel comforted and
empowered by this.
And then Jesus is taken up into heaven and the
apostles kneel down in reverence. St.
Luke says that “they are gazing up into
the heavens.”
Then two angels appear to these apostles. They ask, “Why
do you stand here looking up at the skies?”
In effect, they remind the apostles that now they
must also look down to the earth and get to work. Jesus has given them a mission to accomplish.
So, when I think about the Renaissance painting and
these Scripture passages, the message I see is that there needs to be a balance
between the heavens and the earth, between our looking up and our looking
down. I think that we can see this
balance 1) in our sacraments and 2) in the way Jesus calls us to live.
The Sacraments: Up and Down
First, our sacraments are a mix, a balance of the heavens
and the earth.
For example, in Baptism, we repeat the words of Jesus, the
Son of God: “I baptize you in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
At the same time something of the earth: simple, ordinary water.
In the Eucharist that these boys and girls will receive
for the first time today, we again repeat the words of Jesus: “This is my body; this is my blood.” And at the same time, we use something of the
earth: simple, ordinary bread and wine.
So, in our sacraments, there is this balance of the
heavens and the earth. It is like looking
up to the heavens and looking down to the earth at the same time, much like the
apostles are doing in that painting.
Our Lives: Up and Down
I
believe we are also called to live this balance in our personal lives.
First,
we are to “look up to the heavens.” This means that we need to be grounded and
rooted in God.
We do
this by prayer – by a morning prayer, by grace before meals, by the rosary, or by
reading a passage of the gospels at home by ourselves. And we definitely do this “looking up to the heavens” by coming to
Mass and receiving the Eucharist.
It is
important that we do this every week, week after week after week. This and our personal prayers are essential ways
of “looking up to the heavens” – ways of being grounded in the Lord.
At the
same time, we need to be looking down to the earth. Children do this by studying hard in school
and by listening to what your parents and teachers tell you to do.
We adults
do this by working at your jobs to take care of your families, by making time
for your children in their sports programs or dance lessons or whatever, or by
baking a casserole for the soup kitchen.
These are ways of looking down to the earth and doing Jesus’ work in the
world.
Conclusion
So, today’s
celebration of the Ascension is about Jesus, but it is also about us – about
the balance we are to have in our lives.
It is
a balance between looking up to the heavens and looking down to the earth. And this balance leads us to a healthy and
holy life.
