Ascension of the Lord

Mark 16: 15-20

15And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. 16The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’
19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

Drunk any good poisons lately? How about snakes? Anyone out there picked up a viper or two and survived to tell the story? No? Why not? Apparently that’s what scripture says we should be able to do if we are good believers.

There’s always a tendency in people to be attracted to – or repelled by– the sensational. In reading the gospel this week, the phrases about picking up snakes and drinking poison are sure to raise even fleeting questions about one’s own faith levels given that most of us wouldn’t be too enthusiastic about putting our faith to the test by going out and finding a snake or looking under the sink for a poisonous substance.

As always, scripture must be read in context. This week there is a choice of two passages for the second reading and in one of the passages (Ephesians 4: 1-13) we are told “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.” And further on it says, “The gift he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors some pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry…” In the total context of all the readings, what is being said is that there are many signs that will accompany all believers, but not necessarily will all the signs accompany every believer. Not all of us will be evangelists, not all will be teachers and not all will pick up snakes. This is easier to digest. Each one of us is called. Each one of us has been Gifted and we are required to open ourselves to the Spirit so that our Gift will be used for the building up of the body and for the good of the whole world. If God decides at some point that someone should pick up a snake or drink poison in order to glorify his name that is well and good. It is not up to us as individuals to decide arbitrarily we should go snake hunting!

Jesus ascended into heaven after he completed his mission, but before doing so he indicated, “I have done all that I was called to do and now it’s your turn.” What we need to do is ask him, “What do you want from me, Lord? What is my Gift? Who and what have you called me to be? What is my mission?”

At this point most people would look at either their talents and skills or their vocation to determine what Gift God has given them for the building up of the body and for the good of the world. Some of you would say, “I am a mother or I am single or I am married. That’s my Gift for the building up of the body.” Others might look at a talent they have for singing or leading a group or for administration. Someone else might ponder the skills they have learned in school or elsewhere, ones they are good at, and see how those skills could benefit the body of Christ. For instance a doctor might donate her skills to helping the poor or a good cook might bring people together around her table for communion and fellowship, thereby building up community.

All these skills, talents and vocations are absolutely critical to the body of Christ and are used by the Lord for building up his people. But we all need to go one step further. Talents, skills and vocations can be lost due to circumstances of life or they can change or they can fade away eventually. Mothers will not always be involved in the intensive giving called for when children are living at home. Spouses can die suddenly. A singer can lose her voice due to old age or illness; a good reader can go blind. A carpenter can get arthritis. The Gift God gives for the building of the body will never die and never fade, though it is possible for it to be forgotten. A talent, skill or vocation is the medium through which the Lord gives the Gift. The Gift is the electrical current; the talent, skill or vocation is the wire. I will go even one step further and state that the one who is in the process of discovering her Gift is a heart who is discovering who she is in God’s eyes and has begun to understand her full personal value to him, to the body and to the world. The Gift is not only powerful, it is immensely attractive and has the capacity to inspire others to thirst for God himself as well as bring the bearer of the gift to spiritual fullness.

There is a great deal of agony when we discover that we can be fully engaged in the vocation we were called to and not feel entirely fulfilled by that vocation. Many mothers who yearned to be mothers and knew without a doubt that God called them to be mothers will tell you, if they are honest, that they go through a lot of pain and even guilt because they thought they would be inwardly fulfilled to the max by motherhood and it just isn’t the case. Certainly there are times of great joy in being a mother but there are more times of weariness, frustration, anger, resentment and boredom. The same is true for a woman in a chosen career or a woman who has chosen a celibate single life or a woman who is married without children.

The vocation is not the Gift. It is simply the vehicle God has chosen for you. Once committed to one’s vocation, one still needs to recognize and allow the Lord to develop the Gift.

By now you may have noticed that I have been capitalizing the word “Gift”. That’s because the Gift is a person. The Gift is a manifestation of Jesus himself and that is why The Gift of God is so attractive, so beautiful, so healing and so powerful. It’s also the reason why the Gift cannot fade, wither or die. Jesus is alive! He ascended to heaven so that we could become vessels of the Gift for the world, so that we can all become Christophers, which means “Christ Bearers”.

Listen to me! I did not say that you should simply act like Jesus. You are to become conduits of Christ himself so that in offering your Gift, what you are offering is an aspect of Jesus that he has anointed you (you!) to carry and give. What a Gift! If each of you were to freely offer to your family, to the Body and to the world the unique part of Jesus he has anointed you to offer, the church would be turned upside down and the world would be astounded. And you would experience a deeper spiritual fulfillment than you could imagine.

A prayer that you may hear at Mass this weekend is written by St. Paul and is the beginning of one of the alternative scriptures for the second reading (Ephesians 1: 17-23). Please read this slowly and prayerfully and know that I am truly praying it for all of you.

Sisters, I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of revelation and wisdom as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.

Amen and amen.

P.S. When I was typing out “…with the eyes of your heart enlightened”, I accidentally typed, “…with the yes of your heart enlightened”. I thought it was equally appropriate. Sometimes our “Yes” to God needs to be enlightened and filled with a deeper revelation of Him.