Today we celebrate the Ascension, which is a key part of our Creed that often gets neglected. I’m guilty of that myself; frequently in my homilies I'll mention Jesus’ “Suffering, Death & Resurrection,” and leave out the Ascension, but the Ascension is a key event because it is when Jesus took our humanity into Heaven.
Much like the Resurrection, it’s a supernatural event, a supernatural thing, which of course we are grateful for because it means that we can go to Heaven too. I love the supernatural aspects of our faith. Without them, our faith really wouldn’t make sense. Seeing the supernatural gives so much credibility to our beliefs, and occasionally we do see it.
I love to learn about the supernatural. I believe it is important to keep the supernatural at the forefront of our minds, because it is so easy to just get stuck in the natural world, thinking this material world is all there is, that’s when we fall into sin, only seeking things of this world, we become “self-centered and lovers of money [and] lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” (2 Tim 3:2)
But when we focus on the supernatural, the fact that we have an eternal soul and there are spirits and supernatural forces moving all around us, we will live like that! We will live conscious of the power of the Holy Spirit active in our lives at every moment.
Having a supernatural worldview is helpful in many ways. I’m struck here on Mother’s Day by the fact that many of us have lost our own moms. However, here at the Mass, we transcend space and time, and when we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy,” even though we can’t see it, all of the Angels and Saints join us, including our moms. Which means my mom is closer to me here at Mass than she was when she was alive in Tama, thanks to Jesus’ death, Resurrection and Ascension.
To get that supernatural worldview, we start obviously with the Resurrection of Jesus, and with our belief in that event, we can believe in anything and everything supernatural. After the Resurrection is when the Eucharist really makes sense, a supernatural miracle which occurs at every Mass.
The Ascension is important too, but then we quickly move to Pentecost and realize that we can truly do what Jesus told us to do in “The Great Commission” as we heard today in our Gospel.
Jesus said, “Go… and proclaim the gospel… These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up [snakes]…, and if they drink [poison], it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Now I have heard this jokingly referred to as “The Great Omission” because Christians so infrequently do it. So think about this for yourself, are you doing what Jesus said to us, His disciples?
“These signs will accompany those who believe.” Not just the ordained, everyone who believes. But the only way we would even dare to attempt any of this in the name of Jesus Christ is to believe in the supernatural to begin with. We must have a supernatural worldview!
The Gospel goes on about the actual Ascension: “So then… Jesus… was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. [The disciples] went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.”
“The Lord worked with them” - He doesn’t leave us, He doesn’t abandon us, He is with us supernaturally, “[confirming] the word through accompanying signs.” So gut check time - we are all believers here - are we seeing signs and wonders worked through our hands? Of course it is God working through us, but are we seeing any signs?
We get some more details about the Ascension in our first reading, and Jesus foreshadowed Pentecost saying, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” - do we feel that power to work these signs, and if not, why? Why not? We have all been baptized and received the Holy Spirit then. Most of us have been confirmed, we received the fullness of the Holy Spirit at that time. So, in theory, we should be seeing these signs.
The issue in my mind is two-fold. One, we don’t live focusing enough on the supernatural. Two, we have the Holy Spirit, but often it needs to be stirred up. Imagine yourself as a glass of milk, and someone pours chocolate sauce into you, but it doesn’t get stirred up, it just sits there at the bottom. Well we need to get stirred up!
As we approach Pentecost, ask God to stir up the Holy Spirit within you. If it doesn’t seem to be working, come to Family Holy Hour on Wednesday night at 6pm, and ask a prayer team to stir up the Holy Spirit in you. If you feel stuck or plateaued in your faith, stirring up the Holy Spirit is most likely the necessary next step, and it’s available here every Wednesday!
In 2 Timothy 3:5, Paul says about people who are absorbed with the material world, “they make a pretense of religion but deny its power.” There is great power in the Church! For us who believe in the supernatural presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, we should also believe in the supernatural signs He wants to work through us. If you haven’t already, adopt this supernatural worldview and ask the Lord to stir up the Holy Spirit within you.