Ascension

Dominica Post Ascensionem (Extraordinary Form)
29 May 2022

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST.  AMEN.

                In the mystery of the Ascension of the Lord, properly observed this past Thursday, we reflect that it was an integral part of our Blessed Lord’s mission to take up his resurrected Body, our very flesh, into the life of Heaven and to return with our flesh to his rightful place within the life of the Blessed Trinity.  We observe in the Ascension a type of farewell.  But not a farewell that amounts to being abandoned or the Lord being distant.  No, he tells his Church, “I will not leave you orphans” (cf. John 14:18), and “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away” (cf. John 16:7a).  Perhaps it is not immediately obvious how the Ascension is not an abandonment and how it would be better for the Lord’s disciples that he go away.  Those disciples who walked the earth with the Lord certainly seemed downcast and ill at ease, perhaps a revelation of the same limitations of mind that caused them to feel as if an abandonment was taking place.  But the Lord continued with further words adjoined to that last quote that tell us why this farewell and departure was an integral part of the Lord’s saving mission: “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (cf. John 16:7).  The Counselor, a name for the Holy Spirit of truth, will not come to the Church in the way the Lord intends unless he goes away.   With this critical lesson in mind, then, we might say that the departure, the farewell, of the Ascension, in part, permits the Lord’s presence to pass into the sacraments, which means his presence, power, and life will be with all disciples in all places in all times, no longer limited to one time in history in ancient Palestine.  And furthermore, this departure and farewell means that the Lord’s presence can come to actually dwell within disciples who prepare themselves to receive His seven-fold gifts.  And thus, the farewell of the Ascension is not an abandonment but the opportunity for a deeper indwelling of God.

                The promised Holy Spirit of truth is often imaged as the mutual self-giving Trinitarian Love exchanged between the Father and the Son.  “God is love” (cf. 1 Jn. 4:8), says St. John.  As we pray in these days for a renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which we will observe at Pentecost, we recall that the awaited Holy Spirit is the fullness of charity.  And so, the epistle of this Holy Mass charges us in this time of watchful prayer to “have a constant mutual charity among yourselves: for charity covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pt. 4:7-8).  Charity, love, covers a multitude of sins.  We are familiar with that idea.  And it is most often understood as an admonition that benefits each of us in our interactions with one another.  In other words, the idea most immediately understood is that the sins “covered” by charity are those of the person who loves.  Expressed differently, if I have charity, if I love, my many sins are covered and I have the hope of God’s mercy because of my charity.  That is well and good and true.  It is a new testament proverb.  Yet, it is interesting that this new testament admonition, has an Old Testament root in the Book of Proverbs where that Hebrew proverb says, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses” (Proverbs 10:12).  What is interesting to note, is that the Hebrew interpretation of this proverb was different.  I suggest we can borrow that Hebrew interpretation and, thus, have a fuller more amplified understanding of the admonition to have charity.  The Hebrew interpretation of that proverb was directed toward the people being loved.  In other words, whereas we often consider charity covering the sins of the one doing the loving, the Hebrews understood it as the sins of those being loved who were being covered.  Charity goes outward toward those persons being loved and helps to cover their offenses.

                That is the focus I want to suggest today.  That is the direction of charity I want to highlight today for a more amplified understanding of charity.  In our day and age, how different would things be if Christians believed that their charity was going outward to the recipients of their love and covering the faults of those to whom charity is shown?  This is a facet of charity and its power to cover sin that I want to highlight because we all know well how many a person has adopted an inadequate and impotent notion of charity in our time.  In our society we “go along to get along”.  We don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable with truth that demands something of them.  Those ubiquitous “COEXIST” bumper stickers speak the contemporary gospel and many a person is lulled into a slumber of damnation thinking that “being nice” and “keeping the peace” will result in the virtues that please God and will be the mark of charity that cover one’s own sins.  But what if we viewed charity from that more amplified perspective?  If we received the gifts of the Holy Spirit and understood our charity as covering the offenses of others, might we be more willing to speak the truth?  Might we have the perspective to act in a bold and truthful charity believing that it was an act of love and hope that gives others, that is, the recipients of our love, the greater possibility of salvation?  I suggest this understanding, adopting this fuller appreciation of how charity covers a multitude of sins, is an antidote to our time.  Furthemore, it can serve to give us the impetus to do the very thing that Jesus said in the Gospel passage today.  He promised the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, who will give testimony to him.  And the Lord adds, that his disciples should give testimony as well.  If we believe we have been given the Spirit of truth, the very presence of the God Who is Love, then shouldn’t we understand and embrace the call to give testimony to the Lord?  And to do so, in charity, so that others may have the hope of God’s mercy and the offer of salvation?  Yes, the impotent approach to charity by which we keep our mouths shut so that no one feels uncomfortable has had its day and it was never true to begin with.  Lord knows, generations have been misinformed and deformed by that false charity.  We celebrate that recently a bishop of our country has finally spoken up and issued a sanction of a politician who obstinately promotes abortion.  But even that has taken, frankly, far too long.  While it was a just and the right decision, we would be foolish to think that the very episode itself doesn’t tell us how far off we are from receiving the Spirt of truth and living in authentic charity.  Building a society, a culture, a generation of authentic and amplified charity begins here and now with you and with me.  As we pray in preparation for Pentecost, we know the Lord has not abandoned us but sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us.  May we so desire that others have the hope of salvation that we share the Spirit of truth with them in a charity that is authentic and mutual.

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST.  AMEN.