There's work to be done! ~ Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord ~ Women's Day 2012

The Ascension of the Lord

Acts 1:1-11

Ps 47:2-3,6-7,8-9

Eph 1:17-23

Mk 16:15-20

"What are you standing there for?  There's work to be done!"  Ms Carol Dufresne, our speaker for St. Elizabeth's 20th Annual Women's Day, spoke about the Ascension of the Lord in terms of what was to come next!  We generally think of the Ascension by picturing a glorified Jesus rising and the apostles gazing skyward, watching.  But there is more to the story than that.

The angels in white understood it, even though the apostles were still overcome by what they had just witnessed.  Had they forgotten that Jesus told them he would have to leave them in order for them to receive the Holy Spirit?  The apostles needed the power and understanding that the Spirit would impart to them so that they could be Jesus' witnesses in preaching about the Kingdom of God to the ends of the earth.

Carol reminded us that Jesus had thus passed the baton to the apostles; and from them and their successors down to the present day to us.  By virtue of our baptism, WE are to continue the work of Jesus.  We are to relieve the pain and injustice in the world.  All of us have a part to play.  It requires teamwork and that we do the best we can in our particular roles.  Only if we work together in the spirit of Jesus can we be the witnesses that he wishes us to be.

We ask the Father to give us a Spirit of wisdom and to enlighten us in such a way that we recognize the hope that belongs to his call... that we believers also become the inheritors of his Kingdom.


 ~ The Ascension of Jesus by Harry Anderson