HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF THE ASCENSION (C)

Fr Billy Swan

Dear friends. On this feast of the Ascension and as we come to the end of the Easter season, the question is put before us – who is Jesus Christ for me? Is he a vague figure we admire from a distance for his goodness and kindness but who makes no real difference to us? Or is he someone whose presence and Word within us influences and shapes our thoughts, words and actions every day?

The importance of these questions is front and center on this feast of the Ascension. Why? Because it is about Jesus being raised up to the right hand of the Father as Lord. But what does this mean, you might ask? The word ‘Lord’ comes from the Latin ‘Dominus’ from which comes the English word ‘to dominate’. Jesus Christ wants to dominate us. That is why St Paul in the second reading today from the letter to the Ephesians speaks of the authority of Christ being ‘above Sovereignty, Authority, Power and Domination’.

We might well feel uncomfortable with this notion of Christ or anyone else dominating us because it implies a certain surrender of our freedom and the conformity of our will to that of another. Yet that is precisely what Jesus is asking – that he who never imposes himself on us – for that is what love does not do – gently knocks on our door and asks to come into our lives today. He asks to come in as a friend, but yet as a dangerous guest who wants to enter not just one room in the house of our lives, but every room. He wants to change things in our house and move around the furniture.

C.S. Lewis once wrote that our lives in Christ are meant to be like a kind of ‘good infection’ where the life of Jesus does things to us from within. His spirit slowly begins to work in us, turning us around to become more like who he is. His Holy Spirit and his Word invades our hearts, minds, imaginations, attitudes and actions. Eventually, we become so united to him in love that we can say he lives his life in us. That is why St Paul could say: ‘It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me’ (Gal. 3:20).

If all this is a bit scary then this is how it is meant to be. I think for many of us, we like to have Jesus in our lives, but from a safe distance so that he won’t make too many demands of us and won’t ask us to change. We like Jesus to be our friend but at the same time hope that he won’t come too close, leaving our own plans and projects intact.

But if this is our strategy, then not only will we never know him but we will never be changed by him or grow in love like him. It’s like we will stay paddling in the safety of the shallow waters, afraid to leave the harbour and go out into the open seas.

Friends, we are not made for the harbour but for the open sea. This is the adventure of love as a response to God’s love that comes first. Here is a love that invades us from within, grabs hold of us and sends us to where God wants us to go.

Look at the example of the Apostles. They were uneducated fishermen who were chosen to be witnesses to Christ that would lead to the world being changed. This happened because they were filled with the Holy Spirit and with power from on high. For them, Jesus wasn’t just an example or a memory. Rather his spirit possessed them from within in a way that changed them forever. This is the transformation we are called to as well. To be touched by love and changed by love so that we can share that love. Let us be witnesses to that great love this week.