Ascension of the Lord – 2003

—Fr. Timothy W. Castor

Today, we celebrate the mystery of the Ascension. Of course, it is a wonderful manifestation of divine power—proof of our Lord’s Divinity and triumph over death—a moment of great joy for the disciples. But it was also a moment of sadness, because they were losing the visible and physical presence of their Lord. He was leaving them once again and, although it was not in death, still they knew that they would not see him until that day when they would follow him to heaven. On the other hand, unless Jesus was taken away, he could not send the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, the disciples would not be able to accomplish the task entrusted to them. And unless the disciples "proclaimed the Gospel to every creature," the good news of Jesus Christ would die with them. So, not only was this a wonderful thing for the disciples to witness, it was also to their spiritual advantage—and ours as well.

I’m tempted to end right there, but we have a couple of strange verses in St. Mark’s Gospel today which call for a closer look. What’s all this about casting out demons, speaking in tongues, picking up snakes, drinking poison, and laying hands on the sick to heal them? Is this really part of the normal Christian life? It sounds like a backwoods revival meeting! These verses have been a vexation to biblical scholars throughout modern history. Some have claimed that they don’t really belong in Mark’s Gospel as it was originally written, but were added later. However, our Holy Mother the Church has spoken on this matter, and we know that these verses, strange as they might seem, are indeed part of inspired Scripture. So we must deal with them.

Actually, what we have in this passage is a sneak preview of the book of Acts. Almost everything described in these verses really happened to the Apostles as they carried the message of Jesus Christ throughout the Roman Empire.

i. "they will cast out demons" = Acts 5:16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

ii. "they will speak in new tongues" = Acts 2:4ff [The Apostles] were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven . . . each one heard them speaking in his own language . . . telling . . . the mighty works of God."

iii. "they will pick up serpents" = Acts 28:2-6 [Paul and his companions are shipwrecked on the island of Malta. The natives made a fire for them and] Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, when a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand . . . He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

iv. "they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover" = Acts 28:8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery; and Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him. And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.

v. poison? There doesn’t seem to be anything in the book of Acts concerning poison, but we do know from later Church history of instances where an attempt was made on a saint’s life through poison and they were protected by the power of God.

The point here is that the Apostles needed special spiritual gifts to perform the ministry entrusted to them. And they were given those gifts at the right time. All of us are involved in some way, to some extent, in the work of the apostolate. Raising a Catholic family is a vitally important ministry, to say nothing of simply living an exemplary life before those who do not share our faith. We need special gifts to fulfill the vocation of holiness to which we are all called. And so the promise which our Lord made to his disciples at the moment of his Ascension is an assurance to us that we will be given the gifts we need to perform whatever ministry he entrusts to us.

The reason we celebrate the mystery of the Ascension is because it holds within it a message of hope and consolation. Jesus has ascended to the Father; he is no longer present to us in his human, visible body as he was present to the disciples. But he is preparing a place for us in heaven, and he will come again, in that same body, to gather his people to be with him for all eternity. In the meantime, he gives himself to us in the Most Holy Eucharist—his living Body and Blood to be our food and drink. And he gives us his Holy Spirit to fill us with divine life and to supply us with all we need to live our Christian calling faithfully and generously. Sometimes God takes away something or someone we love, just the Lord Jesus was taken away from the disciples when he Ascended to heaven. But he always gives us all that we need—and more than we could ever ask or imagine—if we would only open ourselves up to his loving gifts. Our Gospel ends today with the words "they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs." May the same be said of each one of us as we live our faith in the world.

© 2003, Rev. Timothy W. Castor