Daily Gospel Reflection

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May 21, 2023

The Ascension of the Lord
Mt 28:16-20
Listen to the Audio Version

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Reflection

Lorraine Cuddeback-Gedeon '12, M.Div. '17, Ph.D.
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By this time, the disciples have been through quite the rollercoaster. The despair and grief of Good Friday gave way to the hope and awe of Easter morning. Their friend, their “rabbouni,” was not lost but returned to them. I can only imagine the joy that many disciples experienced over the following weeks.

And yet, despite the hope that the resurrection brings, doubt persists. Even here, on the mountaintop, “they worshiped, but they doubted.” Though they were glad to have Jesus with them, the grief of his loss persisted. Perhaps they worried about losing Jesus again. Maybe they understood Jesus had brought them to the mountain for another goodbye.

I have known this sneaky, irrepressible mark of doubt. In every celebration, every milestone—a graduation, a new job, a wedding—there is always doubt creeping in, like a thief in the night. What if I lose this: this job I care about, this person I love? How will it ever be the same?

Jesus sees that dark shadow in the disciples’ minds, and he reassures them. This is not a final goodbye. It is a new chapter and a new adventure. It will be hard and scary and risky. But, “I am with you always.”

In all our joys and all our doubts: “I am with you, always.”

Prayer

Rev. Brad Metz, C.S.C.

God of wisdom and truth, you reveal to people of faith your oneness amid the diversity and uniqueness in the world around us. Make yourself known to us and to all people, as the one God, living and true. Affirm your truth in our lives that we may be witnesses of your unchanging presence. May your declared truth in the life and teachings of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, be our salvation and guide. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint of the Day

Ascension of the Lord

Today is the feast of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. For most Catholics in the United States, this feast is transferred to Sunday. The dioceses of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, and Philadelphia have retained the feast on its traditional day, Thursday, and celebrated it then.

The feast of the ascension takes place ten days before Pentecost; this duration of time takes on a special anticipation of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The story of Jesus’ ascension is told in the Acts of the Apostles (1:9-11). After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to his followers during the ensuing 40 days and prepared them to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. He commissions his followers to spread the good news to the ends of the earth, and promises his Spirit as a helper and advocate.

After this promise, “he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight” (Acts 1:9). His followers are left behind, looking up at where he went, and then two figures appear and say, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

Jesus’ ascension reminds us of our own destiny. Jesus came and joined our human condition, and was resurrected and ascended into heaven, so this pathway is now open to us. The feast today reveals to us our destiny as followers of Jesus: eternal life in union with God. We remember what happened to Jesus 2,000 years ago so that today we might have hope that sustains us in our Christian journey of discipleship.

The ascension scene above is depicted in this stained glass window from the Basilica. It appears below another window that contains a personification of hope because Jesus’ ascension is the best illustration of our own eternal destiny. Notice the distress on the faces of the disciples left behind, including the mother laying down her child. We wait, in hope, for the exaltation into heaven of our own bodies and of those we love, and we ask for the Spirit to assist us in our faithfulness as we await that day.
Our virtual pilgrimage to the Holy Land presents images and a report from the Chapel of the Ascension in Jerusalem, built over the place where Jesus is believed to have left the earth and ascended to heaven—more on this page.

On this feast of the Ascension of our Lord, let us have hope in our own exaltation and persevere in discipleship!