Sunday after Ascension 17 05 2026
FIRST READING: Acts 1.6-14
NEW TESTAMENT READING: 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11
GOSPEL: John 17.1-11
Ascension is an amazing event that we commemorate this Sunday. It must have been an extraordinary experience for the disciples.
It is with great joy we are commemorating the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.
At his birth we celebrated the incarnation of the Son of God who was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and was born in Bethlehem in a lowly manger. The angels from heaven announced his birth to the shepherds and a star from the skies led the wise men to come and find the saviour of the world. At his Baptism, a voice from heaven thundered, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ At his Transfiguration, visitors from heaven Moses and Elijah were conversing with Jesus, and a voice from heaven thundered, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!
Heaven always surrounded Jesus and Jesus carried heaven in him. Jesus proclaimed again and again that the Kingdom of God has come near, it is the kingdom of heaven that was coming near to Jesus and invited people to repent, believe in the good news and be part of Gods heavenly kingdom on earth. Jesus offered healing, forgiveness, restoration of life and in all that he was bringing in the joy of heaven into people’s lives.
Jesus said, when I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself. At this point to be lifted up was for Jesus to be lifted up on the cross of Calvary. Falsely accused, rejected, tortured and to be put to death lifted on the cross, deprived of all dignity and listed among criminals.
As we remember the Ascension of our Lord, we see the one lifted on the cross, overcome the powers of evil and even death and he was lifted up to the heavens to be seated on the right hand of the father as the Lord of lords and the king of kings.
Before he was lifted up, he had reoriented his disciples who were disoriented after the crucifixion. Luke tells us that before he ascended to the heaven, Jesus gave them the commission to carry on the work he has inaugurated. He gives them the authority, responsibility and the task to submit to a new age that is going to dawn. The disciples were to wait in Jerusalem, the same city that condemned Jesus, crucified him and the city that witnessed the resurrection of Jesus. They were to be clothed with power from above, the Holy Spirit to reach out to all the places of the earth.
We are the church clothed with the power from on high the Holy Spirit. The ascended Christ has not detached from the earth. He is with us at the same time and we meets us in our worship, in the eucharist, he empowers us to reach out to the world with his love.
St. Paul tells us what we should be doing as we adore the crucified, risen and ascended Christ, So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.