God calls us because we are sinners
June 1—Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
Readings: Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47, R: God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.; Ephesians 1:17-23; Gospel–Luke 24:46-53
Ascension Sunday commemorates the final stages in the completion of the Paschal Mystery, with the return of the Lord to his Father in glory. Then next Sunday, Pentecost, we have its completion with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Ascension invites us to reflect on three things. One, Jesus entrusted to us, his church, the continuation of his mission here on earth. Two, with so great a “task,” what is or are the obstacles to grace in our life in continuing his mission? Three, part of the gift of mission is a life of joy and prayer.
The past weeks our Gospel readings focused on the Lord entrusting to us his mission as we reread from the final discourse in the Gospel of John.
The core of this mission is to proclaim his Resurrection, his victory over sin and death through his Cross and Resurrection.
Central to this proclamation is the building of God’s Kingdom here on earth, a Kingdom of love, peace, joy, justice, and equality.
This mission was eloquently described by Fr. Horacio de la Costa, S.J. in his “Jesuits Today” document for the Jesuits’ 32nd General Congregation in 1974.
In defining what it meant to be a Jesuit, Father De la Costa also defined our mission as Christians: “It is to know that one is a sinner, yet called to be a companion of Jesus… to engage, under the standard of the cross, the crucial struggle of our time: the struggle for faith, and that struggle for justice which it includes.”
In our world today, this mission is renewed with a sense of urgency for a new “struggle for faith, and that [new] struggle for justice which it includes.”
With so great a task, we need God’s grace, the gift of the Holy Spirit.
I often tell my bishop that with the work and mission of the church now, the more we need the grace of holiness. This is both because of how great the task is and how much more complex the evils and injustices of our world are.
Obstacles
This makes it equally urgent for us to be aware of what the obstacles are to grace in our life and person, so that we can clear these obstacles to grace.
Continuing to reflect on Father De la Costa’s statement, we need the humility and the honesty to face our shortcomings, our sinfulness. What are the obstacles in us to the graces of humility and honesty?
We revisit also Pope Francis’ journey that reminded us that God calls us not despite our being sinners, but because we are sinners. God’s call to us as sinners is one of the deepest expressions of his mercy.
He not only forgives us our sins, but he calls us to what is closest to his heart—to share in the mission of his Son to proclaim his love, mercy, and forgiveness.
What are the obstacles to our accepting God’s mercy in our life and his call for us to be proclaimers of his mercy?
To proclaim his mercy entails the work for justice, and this is where we need grace the most. It is where we need holiness the most.
What are the obstacles to the grace of holiness in our life?
Finally, to live a life of mission is to live in joy and prayer.
As the Gospel tells us, after Jesus’ Ascension, the disciples “returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.”
Pope Francis, in his Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year of Hope, encouraged us to be witnesses to a joyful faith to be effective.
Fr. Hans Kung wrote that the final word of our faith is joy.
This is the joy of the Resurrection, the core of our proclamation and mission.
Prayer is equally important—to pray as the Lord did, always discerning if he was living his mission the way his Father wanted him to do it. It is loving obedience not just in what he had to do, but also in how he was to do it.
