Some Thoughts on the Feast of the Ascension of the LOrd

“Looking forward to Pentecost”

This feast inevitably raises the question “What kind of community did the Lord wish to leave behind?”

The New Testament writings seem fairly clear. It would be a community which would bring ‘healing’, ‘forgiveness’ and offer a “new way of living” in the World. To these ends, the Lord would send the Holy Spirit to enable the community to achieve these purposes. By witnessing to them in the life of their communities, it would be a sign to all the world. “See how these Christians love one another”.

It would soon become clear that these small communities were composed of like-minded people who drew together for mutual support, sharing their resources and answering the needs both inside and outside of their communities. There was no uniformity, each community developed in response to the gifts they had, and the opportunities that arose to exercise these gifts.

In the Greco-Romano world, which had a plethora of deities for every occasion and appetite, the spreading of the knowledge that there was only the One God, and that this God had become Human in the presence of a wandering Jewish preacher who had been crucified and had risen, was bound to be an uphill struggle. The need for the Holy Spirit to help these early communities in spreading this belief was paramount.

Over the centuries this task and challenge has largely remained unchanged, even though the situation or context in which this is being worked out has changed. There is evidence, for instance, that women played a full part in the life and leadership of the Early Communities, (and even in Islam this was true) but somehow or other the role of women was lost in the intervening centuries, and only recently has re-emerged. Certainly this tradition has been kept alive in the many Religious Communities of women, living out their roles as educators, healers, and carers of the poor, to which the Universal Church owes so much, and should fully recognise.

Today, we follow these great witnesses in our world - a world with its own plethora of “deities”. We need only look around us to see what people place their trust in; from crystal gazing, through retail therapy to investment in hedge funds, all of which have largely failed us in recent times, leaving behind large numbers of disappointed, hurt and impoverished people. It was to this world of ours that the 2^nd Vatican Council, in its great document “The Church in the Modern World”, addressed these issues.

Fifty years on, we are beginning to assess its impact, and beginning to recognise that many of its teachings are now being taken for granted by our Young People who have been brought up in the atmosphere the Council created. The breaking down of the pyramidical model of a static authoritarian church dictated from above, has been largely replaced with the conciliar image of the “People of God” journeying through “this barren land” exercising its role of “reconciling”, “healing” and “meeting the needs of others”.

The Lay People of the Church (The People of God) have accepted this new role and model with massive enthusiasm. Countless thousands of them are now working in caring services, teaching and education, and in the Third World, bringing new life to communities and even changing the political scenarios of despotic governments.

Many of these advances have not been clerically led at all, but have arisen from the Spirit energising small groups of people to make a difference”. We need only look at the rise of CAFOD to see what the real Church is all about.

Far from being concerned about institutional issues the Christian communities of today are eschewing those establishments which are losing touch with the real world of gospel values, and disappearing in clouds of incense into their realms of “marble halls”, preferring to fulfil what the Final Judgement will be all about. “When I was hungry did YOU give me something to eat?” There is no question in the Last Judgement; ‘Did you burn the right kind of incense?’

So today let us celebrate all those Christian and other people who undertake heroic efforts to make a real difference to the lives of those around them - The countless millions who undertake all kind of activities and those who sponsor them. Let us pray that the institutional Church will re-discover its real role of preaching and witnessing to the real gospel values. “Blessed are those who are poor in Spirit…….who seek for justice and peace……. who heal the broken hearted…….. in spite of calumnies or ribald remarks made about them … they will rejoice in the Kingdom of God. “When I was hungry ... thirsty … naked ... or … in prison … YOU came to make a difference to the least one of these, my brothers and sisters, and in so doing, you did it to me.” (Is there time to spend tinkering with the words of the Mass because they do not reflect the Latin? After all, there is no evidence, as far as I am aware, that Jesus understood Latin!)

Come Holy Spirit, enable us to change to the face of earth.

Fr John – Feast of the Ascension 2012.