The Feast of the Ascension
Two Men Dressed in White:
At the scene of the Ascension, St Luke, the author of The Acts of the Apostles, makes mention of two men dressed in white who say to the Twelve:
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? The Lord will return just as you have seen him ascend!”
I wonder, could they be saying to the Twelve, “Okay, He’s gone. We realise you will miss him, but he has given you a mission. Why are you standing here looking into the sky. He’s not going to come back until you establish God’s kingdom on earth. You have work to do! Go and prepare yourselves through prayer with Mary, his mother.”
On Easter Sunday morning, we also read, and again it is Luke who is writing, “Two men dressed in white appeared to the women at the tomb of Jesus and said to them: Why look among the dead for someone who is alive!”
The women are given a message similar to the men of Galilee. The followers of Jesus, men and women, are challenged and told in pretty blunt language to get where the action is. The very first time Jesus appeared after the resurrection, His message was, “As the Father has sent me, I send you. He then breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Spirit’.”
The message at each scene could not have been clearer. There is work to be done! We are gifted and commissioned.
The simple truth is: We are empowered to do God’s work, and the outpouring of The Holy Spirit within our lives enables us to do just that, day in and day out, in the ordinary joys and activities of our lives.
Let me simply repeat what Paul has said to the first Christians in Ephesus, Asia Minor, which is our second reading today:
- May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him.
- May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage he offers among his holy people,
- and how extraordinarily great is the power that he has exercised for us believers; this accords with the strength of his power at work in Christ, the power which he exercised in raising him from the dead and enthroning him at his right hand in heaven. (Eph. 1: 17 ff)