A blessed choice

Cycle C – Ascension

FIRST READING: Acts 1: 1-11. In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom he had chosen. To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me, for John baptised with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.’ And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’

SECOND READING: Ephesians 1: 17-23. May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come, and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

GOSPEL: Luke 24: 46-53. Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high.’ Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God.

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The building up of the Kingdom of God—or better the community of universal brother- and sisterhood—has something supernatural to it. It is not wholly natural, at least not in its maintenance, protection and preservation. Mutuality might indeed be natural, a phenomenon also shared with all living beings from time immemorial, but to positively choose a life of love and, furthermore, to uphold it is something that goes beyond natural instincts and a mere ordinary character. In itself, it is a miracle. And this miracle, as Luke’s witness in the Acts shows, is what Jesus brings about while being simultaneously absent and present: absent physically; present mystically. Jesus’ miracle lives in us who choose love as a way of life together with others.

As Paul proclaims, this choice ‘is the hope to which he has called [us], ... the riches of [Jesus’] glorious inheritance in the saints, and [...] the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe’. Indeed, Paul can rightly say that the community of love, in a mystical way, is Jesus’ ‘body’.

This supernatural nature of such a community is ‘blessed’. This is why Luke’s narrative gives witness and proclaims that Jesus ‘parted from them while he blessed them’. It is only through Jesus’ blessing—that is, through his endorsement of our choice of love—can the communial life we build together exist at all and endure.

Jesus our hope

Cycle C – The Immaculate Conception

FIRST READING: Genesis 3: 9-15, 20 – After Adam had eaten of the tree, the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise its heel.” The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

SECOND READING: Ephesians 1: 3-6, 11-12 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

GOSPEL: Luke 1: 26-38 – The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

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Mary is not a goddess, much less God. Mary is not a redeemer, much less the Redeemer or the Mediator of salvation. Some really go over the top. Mary, like all of us, is part of Jesus’ community; one amongst all, even if the most excellent.

The story of Adam and Eve is just a story. It never happened. It is a story with a moral, and a very important one at that. It reminds us that life on earth is a conflict which we all have to undertake. This conflict is against all those who are in opposition and go up against any community living, preferring to disunite us in order to manipulate us and exploit us. This hostility is basically against equality, freedom and fraternity. It is what we have to put up with because of people’s greed and lust for power.

 We are called to love, as Paul reminds us, and love is not about greed or power; it is about regarding everyone on an equal footing, respecting everyone’s freedom of thought and action, and endeavouring to build up the community amongst all human beings.

 Jesus, the ‘great’ one, is the way to this new creation. His coming into this world through the womb of Mary is what gives credence to our faith, reason to our hope, and joy to our love.