Show Notes
The Ascension challenges us to look forward and embrace where we're going. With God as our guide there is nothing we cannot do.
Gospel: Mk 16:15-20
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:12] Speaker A: Welcome to the Blessed Sacrament Homilies podcast where our mission is to help everyone recognize and experience the presence of God. We hope you are nourished and encouraged by the word. Thank you for joining us.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: The Lord be with you.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Mark.
Jesus said to his disciples, go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.
Whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe in my name. They will drive out demons, they will speak new languages, they will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.
So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth preaching everywhere while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs. The gospel of the Lord. Praise you, Lord Jesus Christ. I have something I have to share with you. There are going to be some radical changes in the coming weeks of how this parish functions.
Just kidding.
But I bet if you had a pulse meter on your wrist, your pulse shot up right then.
Because we don't like change.
We don't like change in any aspect of our lives. But it seems even more so in the way we celebrate our identity as church.
And that old joke that never goes out of style. How many Catholics does it take to change a light bulb? Three. One to change it and two to say how much they like the old one better.
But thankfully, at least in the very beginnings, that wasn't the case.
Because if it was, when Jesus ascended to the father, we would have had an account of those disciples standing there like this, not knowing what to do.
But that's not what they did.
They hit the ground running, they went to work.
They had been taught by Jesus during his public ministry and given glimpses of what was expected and how he would be with them after his resurrection. He continued to teach and give examples of where we would see him, where we would feel his presence, and how that presence would strengthen us.
And after he ascended the Holy Spirit dwelling in his people, the people we call church were able, and are continuing to able to keep his presence known and felt in the world.
But it took an understanding that that presence was a part of each one of those disciples, each one of us, to make sure that that presence continues.
And anyone who thinks that the church doesn't change is a poor student of history.
Because throughout the last 2000 plus years, as a church, we have changed tremendously. We continue to look both forward to where we're being led, and we also look in the rearview mirror to learn from our traditions and to learn from our roots.
And both of those ways of existing are critical because God's revelation didn't end when the last page of the last book of Scripture were written.
God continues to be revealed to us, continues to animate and live with us, and continues to guide us.
So that means we always have to be open to those promptings, because we can rest fully assured that he's here. He's with us now.
He's in us and with us.
Those first disciples, when the church began upon his ascension, understood that, and they lived it out. It's up to us to continue to understand that reality and continue to follow where we're left.
