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1.Acts 1:1-11
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2. Eph 1:17-23
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Gospel: Mt 28:
16-20
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"The giving of unfinished business."
Dear brothers and
sisters in Christ, today we are celebrating the Feast of the Ascension of our
Lord Jesus Christ into Heaven. That is, he ascended into heaven and seated at the right hand of
the Father as what our apostles' creed tells always.
After Jesus gathered
His disciples in Galilee for the last time with His physical presence and
instructed them on what to do, He ascended into heaven to be with His Father
which is our Father too. His ascension
into heaven is a sign that His life here on earth has already ended; He ends
also His teaching and suffering here on earth. That is why, the light of
paschal candle ends also today to signify that Christ has already gone
physically in the eyes of his disciples.
Thus we have something
to learn about this event of Jesus ascension into heaven. The ascension of
Jesus was not just a farewell party for Him. Above all, it is the giving of an
unfinished business, that is, His mission which He entrusted to His apostles
and to us too. He expects us to continue
this mission. What is this mission? This mission is not new to us. It has
already existed for more than two thousand years. This mission is not given to
few people but to all of us. They are: witness to Christ in the world, to
preach the Good news that God redeemed us and to show by our love that He is
always with us. All in all, there are three types of mission.
First is to witness to
Christ in the world. Jesus said: " ..... Your light must shine before
others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly
Father,"( Matt 5:16) but how? Through our prayer and worship, loving
concern and care for others or a good life.
Somebody said that for him there was no necessity to go to the church to
pray since he observed that those who had been going there to pray they are yet
still on their old self and ways. I was in fact tempted to tell him that he was
totally wrong, that we will not base our conversion and change on other's deeds.
However, there are some truths to what he said. If we enter into this kind of
life, a changed life, more is expected from us. If we are like this before, I
hope we are not the same at present.
Second is to preach the
good news that God redeemed us. But how
can we preach to other people if we don't know what to preach? How can we give
to other people if we don't have anything
to give? that is why our church is giving seminars, trainings education
and etc, in order for us to prepare for this noble act of preaching the word of
God. In the Catholic Church only few are willing to know and to be taught. So,
up to now, there are still Catholics whom we considered as un educated though
educated academically and "un-churched."
Third is to show by our
love that he is always with us but how? We can do it through the testimony of
our daily living( to be Christ like). For example, if you are a businessman,
pay your employees with a just and honest payment. If we are working in public
or private offices, do not accept any bribery or kickbacks when somebody is
processing his/her papers in order to fulfill Christ's teaching of honesty.
Lastly is by making
people to like you. There are six ways: 1. be genuinely interested in other
people. Give first your attention and interest to your fellowmen before you
expect them to have interest in you. 2. Smile. A sincere smile begets sincere
smile. " Smile and the whole world smiles at you. " 3. Remember
people's names. Bear in mind that the name of a person to him is the most
wonderful sound.4. Be a good listener. Be genuinely interested in hearing what
other people are saying. 5. Talk in terms of other's man's interests. 6.
Sincerely make the other person fill important- say something nice about him.
Dear brothers and
sisters let us pray that we can faithfully fulfill our mission. Remember this:
" Believe what you read, teach what you believe and live it."
0 Response to "HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE LORD'S ASCENSION YEAR A"
Chapisha Maoni