TWO COMMENTS
INTRODUCTION
Since the Ascension of Christ is mentioned in today’s
gospel [John 20: 11-18], let me say
two things about the Ascension this
morning. So the title of my homily for this Tuesday within the octave of Easter
is, “The Ascension: Two Comments.”
FIRST COMMENT: THE ASCENSION - WHEN DID IT TAKE
PLACE?
Today’s gospel brings out
that Jesus says to Mary, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet
ascended to the Father.”
Some folks might even remember this scene and other
scenes about Mary and Jesus from the musical and the movie: Jesus Christ Superstar.
Then we read other post resurrection comments when Jesus
touches and holds his disciples. Remember when Jesus, the Risen One, asks
Thomas to put his hand into Jesus cuts and wounds [Cf. John 20:27.]
So I have heard some theologians wondering if Jesus
ascended to the Father right after the resurrection and then came back during
those 40 days after Easter - then he ascends to the Father again.
That’s my first thought - put out there in the form or a
wondering.
We can understand Jesus feeding people or walking the
roads of Galilee, but understanding what happens after death is quite tricky. Bread
and roads we have done; death not yet.
Does death and then resurrection put us into different
time and space realities than we are in
right now? The answer to that has to be “yes” but what it’s like, we have to
wait till our death to find out.
SECOND COMMENT: WILL THERE BE A MAJOR NEW THEOLOGY
IN THE FUTURE?
In the last century, there was a major change and
understanding of the resurrection, I heard some theologian say that just as in
our time the theology of the resurrection evolved - so too in the future a
whole new understanding of the Ascension will happen.
We Redemptorists would know that about Easter and the
Resurrection - because one of our priests, Father F. X. Durrell came out with
his church changing book, The Resurrection:
A Biblical Study, [1960].
When we were kids, Lent sort of ended on Holy Saturday
morning. Then the Liturgy shifted us
back to Holy Saturday evening and the Easter Vigil.
It was after that we saw and smelled the RCIA, the Easter
Vigil, Easter, the Resurrection being as
important as it is - as Paul told us loud and clear in 1 Corinthians 15: 1-19 - that we wondered how we had slipped into the
mind set we were in for the longest time.
With that in mind and as an experience, is there a whole
new world of the theology and philosophy of the Ascension just sitting there.
Time will tell.
But I don’t know who the experts, the writers, the
scholars on the Ascension are, but let’s hope they will show up.
When - maybe this century?
We’re only 2000 years into Christianity….
Who knows what has to be developed more: Pentecost, the
Second Coming, as well as the Ascension.
