Seventh Sunday of Easter: Embracing the Ascension – Homily Insights

Readings and Virtual Homily, June 1, 2025, Seventh Sunday of Easter and Feast of the Ascension; Sayonara, Class of 2025; Officially on Sabbatical; Moving Right Along at San Gabriel Media

Readings for Mass this Sunday:

• Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11

• Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9

• Ephesians 1:17-23

•    or

• Hebrews 9:24-28; 10:19-23

• Luke 24:46-53

Dear Friends and Family:

The Feast of the Ascension offers a variety of homiletic possibilities.  Among other things, I have used the readings for this feast to preach on the nature of the glorified body, on the goodness of the material creation, and on what we know about life in Heaven.  Rather than re-tread any of those, I think this week I will just go with a brief look, as I sometimes do, at each reading, and leave it to the Spirit to connect the dots.

The first reading from the opening of Acts of the Apostles is, of course, Luke's description of the Ascension itself.  Luke tells us that the disciples ask Jesus if he is, "at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel" (vs. 6).  Jesus explains that it is not for us to "know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority" (vs. 7).

The disciples clearly were not yet fully on board, in terms of understanding their mission, let alone the general plan of salvation.  Many, if not almost all, citizens of Israel in the first century were looking for the Messiah, and the Messiah, they almost all thought, would "restore the kingdom of Israel."  That is, the Messiah would overthrow Rome and establish Jerusalem as the world's true capital, the world's spiritual capital; mother city to the nations.  In fairness to the Jewish people at the time, the future of Jerusalem is so described repeatedly in the prophets and the psalms.  It is easily understandable that the people were looking for a military conqueror, in the Messiah.

Jesus then advises the disciples to sit tight in Jerusalem until they "receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you," further assuring them that they will be his "witnesses...to the ends of the earth" (vs. 8).  In this promise, Jesus gives the disciples a deep insight into the matter and manner of their imminent mission, which mission, of course, comprises the rest of the book of the Acts of the Apostles.  Luke then describes the Ascension itself.

"When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.  While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them" (vss. 9-10).  

The two men -- angels, of course -- inform the disciples that Jesus will return from heaven, just as they have seen him ascend toward it (vs. 11).

Psalm 47 is a rousing paean to the Kingship of Christ, though of course, it could be read as simply testifying to the Kingship of God.  The Jewish people to this day doubtless read the psalm in that way.  But that it refers to Jesus (who is, of course, God) may be inferred from its description of God mounting his throne amid great celebration.  The clear implication is that God is "ascending" to his rightful place.  Describing the Lord as "the Most High...the great king over all the earth," (vs. 3) the psalmist continues

"God has gone up with a shout; the Lord, amid trumpet blasts.  Sing praise to God, sing praise to our King, sing praise.  For God is king over all the earth...God rules over the nations; God sits upon his holy throne..." (vss. 6-9).

Viewed through the Christian lens, this is unmistakably ascension imagery.  

There is an option with regard to the second reading.  The first of the two possibilities, that from Ephesians, describes Jesus as raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father 

"...in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.  And he (that is, God) put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things..." (vss. 20-22).  

Again, the imagery is of Jesus "ascending" to his place of glory and honor, a place above the entire created order.

The other option for the second reading is a passage from the Letter to the Hebrews, a book which contains substantial Ascension, or, "Christ in heaven" imagery.  Here the author of Hebrews (who is unknown) reminds us that Christ, our High Priest, in ascending to the Father

"...did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf...therefore, brothers, since through the blood of Jesus we have confidence of entry into the sanctuary by the new and living way he opened for us...and since we have a 'great priest over the house of God,' let us approach in absolute trust..." (9:24, 10:19-22).  

Here, the author of Hebrews reminds us that where the head has gone, the body will follow.  And this feast should, of course, remind us of the glory that awaits us over the threshold of eternity.

The Gospel passage is the very end of Luke's Gospel, and unlike the detailed version of the event provided at the start of Acts, here Luke merely mentions the Ascension.  Mark's is the other Gospel to speak of the Ascension, and his description, too, is prosaic; matter of fact, accomplished in one verse (Mark 16:19).  It is the description from Acts that really "visualizes" the event, astounding as it must have been, for the disciples.  

I'll close with a fairly obvious observation, but one worth making all the same.  Jesus arrived at the joy and glory of the Ascension only after enduring Good Friday.  It can be helpful, when we find ourselves experiencing our own Good Fridays, to remember the joy of the Ascension; it can help us hang on in hope through life's darker moments.  

We officially wrap the semester and the academic year this week.  As I am writing this Thursday afternoon, I still have a make-up final to administer for several students who missed the deadline for their in-class final project, tomorrow.  I will be grading, as well, now through the weekend.  But the Baccalaureate Mass is tomorrow (Friday) evening and graduation Saturday morning.  My cherished Class of 2025 will proudly and joyfully walk the commencement stage and -- leave O'Dowd.  

I will miss them, but as I have said before, I myself will not be back at O'Dowd next semester; this weekend officially starts my sabbatical.  Seven months of creative work, underwritten by my breezy and joyful responsibilities here at St. Clement.  I have told friends this will be sort of like a seven-month summer, as I have spent my ten summers here in the parish pursuing just those two happy sets of responsibilities: creative work, parish ministry.  

I do have some travel plans, but they amount to barely fifty days, spread out across seven months (that is, 226 days -- not that I have been counting, or nothin').  Earlier this week, I drew up a start-of-the-sabbatical to-do list, that is, bullet points outlining what I hope to have done before my first overseas trip (ten days in Paris and London) July 1.  The list is seventeen items long and the items involve writing, filming, editing, getting to LA for meetings, Zoom calls with the marketing team (who are far-flung, not just in the state but across the country) and so on.  

I'll have a list maybe twice this length, when I return from that first trip; I plan to spend two straight months, July 10 to past Labor Day, working on San Gabriel projects, before venturing off for another overseas trip.  The idea is to get a lot, a lot done, the first several months of the sabbatical and then -- if I have gotten enough done -- reward myself with a couple of nice trips in the autumn.  

Meanwhile, the timing of it all, as mentioned last week, seems unmistakable, given the You Tube marketing rollout.  Last week at this time we had 23,000 subscribers; this afternoon we are headed toward 43,000.  We are picking up close to three thousand new subscribers a day.  This is awesome.  It is also provoking in me a new sense, a profound sense, of expanded responsibility and I don't doubt I'll be sharing some of that sense with you, over the coming months.  How much of a relationship can I really hope to develop with my subscribers, who already have my deep gratitude?  You know I am gonna be grappling with that question!

Well, remembering the gentle admonishment from a couple weeks ago ("That was one LONG homily, Father!") and acknowledging that I have ignored concerns about length, with this week's homily, I will close here.  

Here's to summer!  Here's to a "seven-month" summer!

Take care and God bless.

Love and Joy in Our Ascended Lord,

Fr. Brawn