Homily for Ascension - Abbot Mark

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Abbot Mark Sent: Thursday 9th May 2013
Subject: Homily for Ascension

Fr Mark

Homily for Ascension,  2013                                   

The Holy Spirit was with Jesus from the very beginning of his public ministry in the River Jordan.  The Spirit was never far from him as he went about preaching among the people.  It is not surprising then that Jesus told his disciples that they would be given the Holy Spirit as their guide and would bring to mind all that he had been telling them.  The Spirit would lead them into all truth and make clear to them what they should do and say.  Like all disciples, they heard what Jesus had told them but did not always understand or even remember everything he had said to them. 

As with all good teachers, Jesus had to pass on and leave these pupils of his to put into practice what they had been taught.  Only in this way would they show if they had really learnt what they had received from Jesus.  It’s all very well to show people the sea and to even encourage them to dip their feet in it by the shore.  But, until they themselves plucked up the courage and plunged into the deep, they would not learn how to swim.

That is the teacher’s role: to show his pupils how to swim.  His job was to hand on what he knew and then to move on, leaving them enough space to develop on their own.  A good teacher lives on in the deeds and appreciation of those he has taught.  The Spirit that guided him would be passed on to them.  And Jesus, our Good Teacher, leaves us to fend for ourselves but always with the guidance and inspiration of his own Holy Spirit.  Our Lord tells us as much himself.  He had to leave them or the Holy Spirit will not come and be their Spirit. 

Jesus returned to where he had come from.  His place now is with the Father.  And now that he has taken his own proper place in heaven, his disciples had to take up his mantle and themselves teach about the kingdom of God by their lives and words.

What Jesus was to the disciples he remains the same for us today.  The Holy Spirit is the bond between the Lord risen the dead and those who are now his disciples. Unless we realise that, something is lacking in our understanding of our Christian faith.  The figure Christ’s remains present in the world for us but only through the Holy Spirit.  If we don’t grasp that then we have yet to learn from the teaching of the Gospel.

Jesus ascended into heaven in order to prepare the disciples mentally for the coming of the Holy Spirit.  This same Spirit who was present in Jesus’ life and came down on the apostles at the first Pentecost now comes to be with us.  As Jesus told his disciples, the kingdom of God is very near.  What they experienced remains a reality for us.  We may not see the wonderful works that we read of in the Scriptures.  But we will meet with unusual things happening in peoples’ lives though prayer and trust in God.  To believe in the power of Christ we need to pray with confidence that the Holy Spirit will indeed be present in the Church and in us.  The Spirit will indeed make all things new in our lives.  For that to happen we have to keep listening to Christ who continues to teach us through his word in the scriptures. 

If we live by that word we will be doing something new.  Miracles will happen in us.  We will become a more transformed people through the power of the Holy Spirit.