My dear friends, buckle up, this is gonna be a bit of a long one, but necessary and important because in this feast of the Ascension we will have a lead up to Pentecost. We will see how intimately the two are connected. Try to get from it what the Holy Spirit will be speaking to you.
When we speak about the Ascension of our Lord to heaven, some theologians have proposed we do not take it so literally. They tell us that “going up” could mean what exactly? Depending on where you are on the planet, doesn’t up indicate he only went up from the land he was actually standing on? So heaven is northwards of that particular spot on the earth? What’s ridiculous actually, is the naturalistic character of these arguments. Official Church teaching and theology has always warned us of those who try to naturalize what is truly supernatural and therefore beyond the confines of our scientific or empirical explanations. So, one has to be careful when someone tells you not to take these things too literally. Now, that said, we obviously have to pay attention above all to the spiritual message of what is happening as well, but unlike these “free-thinkers”, we need to be careful not to naturalize the supernatural, and this is what they always do when it comes to the amazing miracles we have recorded for us in scripture. The same people would say the Miracle of the Sun in Fatima, for example, is hogwash, because a cosmic body like the Sun can’t dance and plummet to the earth, and yet that is what hundreds of thousands witnessed and photographed and documented.
The Ascension then, on just a rudimentary level, is the most wonderful miracle in scripture, because we see the Son, “heading back home” so to speak, reassuming his rightful place at God the Father’s right hand, which he enjoyed from all eternity. Jesus is totally and forever reunited with the Father.
In the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, we heard that “a cloud took him out of their sight”. In Scripture, a cloud often symbolizes the presence of God himself, so the literal cloud with which he vanished from their sight, was also symbolic of the Father himself coming down from heaven to escort him back home. It’s like the Father couldn’t wait! It’s like the prodigal son’s father who ran out to meet his son in the field, although Jesus is far from being the prodigal son, of course. And that is also the meaning of Mark in today’s Gospel:
“So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.”
In the readings of today’s Mass, however, before he leaves his disciples, Jesus gives them their mission. Jesus, who came first unto his own people, and then desired to usher in salvation to the entire world through them, now sends the apostles all over the globe. And then he tells them something interesting. They would be able to do things that transcend even his wonderful miracles while he walked among us!
"Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father" John 14:12.
Now again, these are words uttered by our Lord during his last supper discourse. It’s a shocker of a statement for a number of reasons. First of all it’s repugnant to a protestant who misunderstands a Catholic’s emphasis on works as just as important as the faith that is proclaimed. Why on earth would Jesus be speaking about “doing” and “works” if faith is all you need? Truth is, it was always meant to be faith and works, and both are due to God’s good grace, and how we cooperate with that grace. Yes, it is a free gift, but one which will require our response.
But, back to the verse, what can Jesus possibly be meaning when he tells his apostles, these mere mortal men, that they would do works greater than his, than him who is divine, him who is God? You can imagine the apostles sitting there thinking, “He’s exaggerating. This is another one of his hyperboles—cut off your hand, or pluck out your eye… something like that.” How could Jesus say anyone will be able to do greater works than him? He turned water into wine, gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, cast out demons, raised the dead… walked on water… the list goes on. But the key to understanding this text is to read it in context, so let’s read it again:
"Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father" John 14:12.
We can now see that Jesus says those who believe in him would do the works that he did and even greater, why? “… Because I am going to the Father.” In other words, any of these works greater than the works Jesus worked while during his public ministry, will have to be connected to Jesus of course, and come from him.
And what did Jesus say they would benefit from when he went back to the Father? The outpouring of the Holy Spirit. “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” John 16:7. For a very important reason, in God’s divine plan, the Holy Spirit would only be able to be sent upon the apostles and all those who believe in Jesus, only when Jesus reunites with the Father. In other words, only after Jesus’ passion, death, resurrection and ascension to the Father’s right hand would he be sent to us, because it is these that the Holy Spirit will glorify and make clear to the world.
Jesus told us what the Holy Spirit would precisely do, and what he has done and has been doing for all these centuries until the last day: “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” Then he deciphers what he means by those three things: “Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
The resurrection and ascension prove to the world it made a terrible mistake when it crucified the Lord of all glory. The Holy Spirit convicts the world about the justice of Jesus’s crucifixion and impresses upon us our collective guilt. This is why the “sin against the Holy Spirit can neither be forgiven in this or the next life” because it is the sin of non-responsiveness to his grace to admit our guilt, that we are sinners, and to repent. The Holy Spirit’s work is to make that clear as soon as He is sent by Jesus from the Father. Then in verse 11, we read, “concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” When did that happen? That judgment of Satan was accomplished in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Colossians 2:15 reads, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and eput them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
Finally, in verses 12–14, he says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” — namely, the most important truths yet to be accomplished in his death and resurrection. “For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me” John 16:12–14.
In other words, just as the Son glorified the Father, so now the Father and the Holy Spirit glorify the Son as is just, fitting, good and holy. For a being who is absolute justice, mercy and love, it could be no other way.
With this as our background, let us go back to Jesus statement now, that those who believe in him, his apostles, would do the works that he did and even greater. We must remember, that for us, the visible miracles that Jesus wrought are indescribable, but to Jesus, the spiritual miracles he has now made present within the Sacraments are even greater. In a word, the greater works that the apostles will do, are all to be found in the sacraments that Christ instituted and made them the ministers of. So for example, our Lord fed the masses, bread and fish.
Amazing, beyond amazing, and yes supernatural of course. Yet, at mass the validly ordained priest, petitions God the Father, through Jesus, to send down the Holy Spirit on the gifts. And that bread and wine, through the words of consecration that Jesus himself uttered, become for us his living, breathing, body and blood, hidden beneath the accidents of bread and wine just as God was hidden beneath the fire from which he spoke unto Moses. Unlike the miraculous bread and fish he fed the thousands, Jesus said whoever consumed the bread he would eventually give, would have eternal life! Can you see how in our Lord’s eyes, this is much greater than the miraculous multiplication of the loaves? Those loaves were miraculously provided bread, while at mass, the bread becomes the miraculously provided body and blood of Jesus. The miracle of God becoming one with us, while he is veiled beneath the humble, lowly, tiny host that we consume, is beyond any miracle, and it is the treasure beyond any other treasure that He gives us. Why? Because in the Eucharist he is not just giving us a grace. He is giving us his very self. So our Lord changed water into wine in Cana, the first of all his miracles, but in the mass, through his priest, he changes wine into his very own blood. Which is greater? Of course, we must remember that when Jesus says we will do “greater works than his” that it will only be possible through Jesus’ power. Of ourselves, we can do nothing.
So as we celebrate him Ascending today, we must remember that this is good news for us, because being with the Father, he will send the Holy Spirit to give us the greater gifts. And these gifts are so beyond our imagination, that it is only to those who truly believe, and humble themselves, that the marvellous fountain and treasury of the Sacrament’s infinite and vast worth is revealed.
Therefore, intimately connected to the Ascension is our Lord’s commissioning to the apostles to now go out and do what? Preach the good news and what? Administer the sacraments: “Baptise all nations.” Are we seeing how beautifully it all comes together?
All of these wonderful graces, blessings and gifts which the Lord in his mercy has abundantly blessed us with, will only be appreciated by a prayerful person. Again, prayer, prayer, and prayer. Let us continue to try our best, to develop, nurture, and cultivate our prayer life. It is the key to everything else God wishes for us in our lives. Let us ask God to give us the spirit of prayer, so that we can truly contemplate him, who alone sits at the right hand of the Father, forever in glory, loving us each day until we unite with him as well in heaven. This is our prayer. Amen.
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