HOMILY ASCENSION 2025
UNIVERSAL MISSION TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
Lk 24.41-53 AA 1.1-11 Eph 1.17-20
In the midst of the terrible continuing conflict between Israel and Gaza, there are small signs of hope, with Gershon Baskin, Israeli Jew, veteran and hostage negotiator and Samer Sinijlawi, a like-minded Palestinian advocate, both peace activists, out here to present “a shared vision for an end to the war and a revived 2 state solution”, out here to speak about negotiating peace, in what appears to be an insoluble scenario. There are still moderate people of hope and reason who see ways forward, despite all that has gone in the wrong direction, of suffering, death and disaster.
Mark Zirsnak, a Uniting Church Social Justice Advocate, attended their talk this past week, and quotes Holocaust survivor Edith Eger, who said: “There is no hierarchy of suffering. There’s nothing that makes my pain worse or better than yours, no graph on which we can plot the relative importance of one sorrow versus another.”
Freelance writer Nicola Redhouse writes of the error of “conflation of the Jewish people’s identity with the state of Israel”, with Jewish tradition requiring a reverence for truth, and “one measure of our capacity to love Israel truly is our willingness to be ashamed of it when it acts shamefully – not because we hate it, but because we long for it to be better than it has become, for it to act in ways consistent with what is best in our religious and philosophical traditions.”
In the scheme of things, one could assume that most Palestinians and Israeli Jews wish for peace, for themselves and their children and future generations, with the understanding that both peoples have a past tied to the same land. We pray and hope that peace will prevail in the end, despite the mutual hostility of what amounts to a minority of extremists on both sides. Sadly, it’s impossible to argue with fundamentalists!
This leads me into the reflection for this weekend, where Ascension contains a clear message of continuity of the Gospel message Jesus preached and lived, as he commissions his disciples in a final farewell appearance, before returning to the Father of life and love, as they await the coming of the Spirit, 50 days from Easter to Pentecost for Luke, and the evening of the same day of Resurrection for John, where Jesus breathes the Spirit upon them. Luke prefers an orderly transition, in a biblical time frame. In the end, the message is the same, as a call to faith and universal mission, to the ends of the earth. So, here we are, called to continue that mission in living the Gospel and leading by example, not imposition!
It is significant too that Luke’s Gospel begins in the Temple, with the angel appearing to a sceptical Zechariah, with the promise of a son, to be named John (what better?!), who is to prepare the way for Jesus. Then Luke concludes his Gospel with the disciples returning to the Temple in Jerusalem, after the Ascension of Jesus, so the continuity between new and old is clearly emphasized, as they prepare to go out and build faith communities. Notably, too, the emotions are mixed, with joy and wonder, but also anxiety about how the future would pan out, without Jesus’ physical personal presence to guide them. But isn’t that what faith is about? Taking a considered leap forward, believing in the Gospel as truly Good News, and then applying it to our own lives?
As new Pope Leo XIV, said in his first urbi et orbi blessing (‘to the city and the world’): “We must seek together how to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges, dialogue, always open to receive… with open arms, everyone, everyone who needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love.” And so, he’s telling us to get out there with open arms, responding to the needs of those around us, to look outwards, not navel gazing inwards! That’s surely the meaning of Jesus’ farewell words we hear in today’s Gospel!
The question asked at the end of the first reading, is a good one to conclude on here: “Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky?” The obvious follow-on is to now to move to the horizontal from the vertical, to look around, and get on with the job of living the Gospel, as we walk this earth!
And this weekend we have the Vinnies winter appeal, to support the good work of our members in serving those in need, often enough hidden in our community and beyond, so please make a contribution.
john hannon 1st June 2025