Mark 16:15-20

Acts 1:1-11

Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9

Ephesians 1:17-23 or Ephesians 4:1-13

Mark 16:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Go into the whole world

and proclaim the gospel to every creature.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;

whoever does not believe will be condemned.

These signs will accompany those who believe:

in my name they will drive out demons,

they will speak new languages.

They will pick up serpents with their hands,

and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.

They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,

was taken up into heaven

and took his seat at the right hand of God.

But they went forth and preached everywhere,

while the Lord worked with them

and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you exalted your Son at your right hand. You accepted his sacrifice on the Cross and now attend to his priestly intercession. Look kindly upon me and grant that I may approach with confidence the throne of grace and there obtain your mercy.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Christ’s Royal Priesthood: The mystery of Christ’s Ascension into Heaven celebrates the mystery of his royal priesthood. Jesus is the Lord who, in his humanity, reigns at the right hand of the Father. He is the high priest of the New Covenant who intercedes for us before the Father, the mediator who assures us of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit and gives us the hope of one day reaching the heavenly place he has prepared for us (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 132). Christ’s kingship is mentioned in the First Reading. Jesus, we are told, spoke about the Kingdom of God during the forty days between his Resurrection from the dead and his Ascension into heaven. As they gather around Jesus before his Ascension, the disciples are eager to know when the kingdom of Israel would be restored. The disciples could be referring to Jesus’ promise in Luke 22:30 which says that they will sit on thrones. In response to their question, Jesus “discourages speculation about timing (v. 7), but does describe the means by which the kingdom will be restored, namely, through the Spirit-inspired witness of the apostles throughout the earth (v. 8)” (Hahn, “Christ, Kingdom and Creation in Luke-Acts,” 185). In fact, the Acts of the Apostles tells the story of how the kingdom spreads from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

2. Sending the Spirit: Christ’s elevation to the right hand of the Father is linked especially to the descent of the Holy Spirit. Only through the Ascension does Christ receive the Holy Spirit from the Father to pour it out on the Apostles as he had promised. The Apostles do not yet understand the full meaning of the Kingdom, and only through the gift of the Holy Spirit do the Apostles definitively become aware of the kingdom that Christ announced from the beginning. The Holy Spirit will correct any nationalistic, earthly views of the kingdom and lift their eyes toward the universal, heavenly Kingdom of God. At Pentecost, the Apostles become witnesses to the Kingdom that will have no end (see John Paul II, April 12, 1989). Jesus reigns now in heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. This action signifies the inauguration of his kingdom, the fulfillment of the prophet Daniel’s vision concerning the Son of Man: “To him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14) (see CCC, 664).

3. How Jesus Reigns in Heaven: The Psalm proclaims that Jesus, true God and true man, “mounts his throne amid shouts of joy,” he “reigns over the nations” and “sits upon his holy throne.” Jesus’ Ascension marks the entry of his humanity into divine glory. Jesus departed from this world, not to leave us orphans, but to open up the way to the Father’s house for us. Christ is not only our King but also our High-priest and the Mediator of the New Covenant in which we share. Today Jesus enters “not into a sanctuary made by human hands... but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24). He enters the heavenly sanctuary not with the blood of animals, but with his own blood shed on the Cross. In heaven, Christ permanently exercises his priesthood, interceding for those who draw near to God through him (see CCC, 662). Before leaving to prepare a place for us in his Father’s house, Jesus sends out his disciples to all nations. They will be his witnesses and will bring men and women, through the Sacrament of Baptism, into communion with God and into his Kingdom. Jesus goes away, yet remains with us in the Eucharist and in the Church. This is why he can console his disciples, saying to them and to us: “I am with you always.” The disciples, then, are not saddened by Jesus’ Ascension, rather they return to Jerusalem with great joy (Luke 24:52). They rejoice because Jesus now reigns in heaven and the effects of his reign – righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17) – are manifested in our lives.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the Head of the Church and have ascended into heaven to prepare a place for me, a member of your Body. Turn my eyes from the world and lift up my gaze toward my heavenly home, where you sit enthroned in glory at God’s right hand.

Living the Word of God: Do I truly believe that Jesus reigns over all things? Or do I give into despair, a temptation from the devil, and believe that God has abandoned the world and me? Does the contemplation of Jesus’ Ascension into heaven fill me with hope?