José Ricardo F. Bezerra
“At that time, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (Mt 28:16-20)
Introduction
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. In some places it is celebrated on Thursday itself, forty days after the Sunday of the Resurrection. In Brazil and in many other countries, however, for pastoral reasons, it is transferred to the Sunday. In Year A we meditate on the Gospel of Matthew 28:16-20, five verses and all the richness of the Word of God.
A first point to notice is that the Ascension itself is not narrated in today’s text. In Saint Luke and Saint Mark there are accounts of Jesus’ ascent into Heaven, but not in Saint Matthew, who ends with a final encounter of Jesus and the disciples in Galilee. Here Jesus makes a sending and a promise — the “Go and make disciples” and the “I am with you to the end of the age” — that illuminate the whole passage.
It is good to remember the depth of the mystery we are celebrating. In the Bible, Heaven is not a physical place in the sense we know — the space above the earth. If Jesus had ascended into outer space, even travelling at the speed of light, in 2000 years he would not yet have left the Milky Way, which is just one of the galaxies in the universe. Heaven is, first of all, another spiritual dimension, a state of the soul. One day, when Jesus returns, it will also be a physical place: because we believe in the resurrection of the flesh, and the flesh needs a place.
And this is our faith as we celebrate the Ascension (which is different from the Assumption of the Virgin Mary): our flesh will be raised with Christ and will go to Heaven, as we profess in the Creed: “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” Jesus ascended to Heaven with our human flesh, as the firstfruits of humanity. There is someone like us in the divine eternity and not only Him, but also Mary most holy, Our Lady, whom the Catechism calls the “eschatological icon” (CCC 972), a sign of what we will be forever.
We have chosen five points for this week’s meditation, based on the podcast, which you can watch with subtitles in your language.
1. The mountain to which Jesus had directed them
“The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them” (Mt 28:16)
Which mountain is this? Exegetes speculate on several possibilities — Tabor, Hermon, and others. But the Gospel does not identify it. And when the Word of God does not name, we may place ourselves there — as we did when meditating on Thomas, the Didymus (twin), and the beloved disciple.
In the Bible, the mountain is, par excellence, the place of encounter with God in prayer. Moses goes up Mount Sinai to speak with God; Elijah goes up Horeb to meet Him; Abraham goes up Mount Moriah with Isaac to offer the sacrifice. Jesus himself, throughout his public life, goes up the mountain several times to pray.
Therefore, the mountain we are summoned to climb is the “mountain” of prayer, where each one meets the Lord. Not only the apostles who were called to that mountain in Galilee: we too are called, each day, to our place of prayer. And we can say with Saint Peter at the Transfiguration: “Lord, it is good for us to be here” (Mt 17:4).
2. When they saw him, they worshiped him… but some doubted
“When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted” (Mt 28:17)
Prostration has two meanings. First, it is a sign of adoration and reverence before the Lord who manifests himself. But prostration is also dejection, surrender, the acceptance of a situation before God. It is the posture of the priest at the beginning of the Good Friday liturgy and that of candidates for priestly and diaconal ordination, who lie prostrate on the ground during the Litany of the Saints.
If you are prostrate, downcast in the midst of some trial or with doubts, surrender yourself to the Lord; simply stay before him. And see what the evangelist says in the continuation of that same verse: “And Jesus came and said to them.” Also in our prayer, Jesus comes near to us and speaks to us.
In whatever difficulties or tribulations, seek the Lord in prayer, and he will come to meet you. If possible, kneel down. As Father Saulo, of the Shalom Community, says: “When my soul finds it hard to pray, when my mind is full of things, I kneel down — because if my mind is not praying, if my soul is not praying, at least my body will be praying.”
3. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mt 28:18)
Jesus’ authority was given by the Father. Jesus is King, the Sovereign over all. Today’s Psalm is applied to the Lord: “God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne” (Ps 46(47):9). The Roman emperor who then ruled the world is no longer the lord of this earth. Jesus is Lord — Kyrios — and “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil 2:10-11), Saint Paul will say.
Before beginning his public life, Jesus was led into the desert and there the devil tempted him: “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours” (Lk 4:6-7). It was an empty promise, for the devil did not have such authority and power. The authority now belongs to Christ, who has received from the Father all power in heaven and on earth.
There is yet another aspect of the word “authority” — in Latin, auctoritas — which comes from augere, meaning “to cause to grow.” Whoever holds authority — whether in a company (or any other), in a family, in the Community, as a Community Formator, or in any position of leadership — must be the one who helps those under him to grow. Jesus has this authority from the Father and communicates it to his own: when he constitutes Peter, he gives him authority to confirm the brethren, to feed the sheep, to make the Church grow. “Strengthen your brothers” (Lk 22:32) — this is the Christian sense of authority.
4. Go and make disciples
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Mt 28:19)
The mission now expands. During his public life, Jesus had sent the disciples two by two, first “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 10:6). Now, before ascending to Heaven, the sending is universal — to “all nations.”
There are two movements in this mandate: the “go” implies an uprooting, leaving the “comfort zone.” To be a disciple of Jesus is to go out, to evangelize. “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16), says Saint Paul. Let us not sit waiting for the sheep to come to the Church. It is told that the holy Curé d’Ars, when he arrived in that village lost in the mountains almost no one went to Mass. He then began to visit his parishioners, making himself available and hearing confessions. In a short time, people came from all over France to that small town to meet the holy Curé.
And the “make disciples” is teaching, catechesis. Not only the first kerygmatic proclamation, but the continuous formation in the faith, the teaching of doctrine. Today, many Catholics remain with only the catechesis prepared for First Communion and, not knowing their faith better, become vulnerable to preachers from other denominations. Hence the appeal: do not be content with the knowledge of doctrine you have. If you have doubts, look for a priest or a well-formed layperson. Begin with the reading of the Word of God and of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, available on the internet and in Catholic bookstores. Before reading the mystics like Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Ávila, read the Catechism. First seek the foundation, then go deeper. Many evangelicals seeking the Truth, upon studying the Fathers of the Church — especially on the Eucharistic mystery — return to the Church. As Saint Irenaeus said about the Eucharist: “It is Jesus, and that’s that.” It is what Jesus solemnly affirmed: “This is my body” (Mt 26:26).
5. I am with you
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age!” (Mt 28:20)
In the Gospel of Matthew we have at its beginning and at its end the same affirmation. At the beginning, the angel announces to Joseph that the child Mary had conceived was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel which means: ‘God with us’” (Mt 1:23). And here, at the end of the Gospel, Jesus himself confirms it: “I am with you.”
The “with you” is plural, for Jesus had said: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). But the Lord is also with us in personal prayer, in the Eucharist, in the Word, and in the least of our brothers. And this calls to mind Saint Pio of Pietrelcina who has a most beautiful prayer: “Stay with me, Lord.”
It is in prayer that Jesus reveals himself and in that revelation reveals to us who we are. In this sense the two Carmelite Teresas complete each other. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus would say: “I am what God thinks of me.” And Saint Teresa of Ávila would pray: “Soul, seek yourself in me, and seek me in yourself.” Without that daily intimacy with the Lord, life is lost.
Steps of the Lectio Divina
Reading (Lectio)
Take the Bible and read attentively those five verses of Matthew 28:16-20. Read it once through, and then read it again more slowly. What word, what phrase, what detail of the scene most caught your attention?
Meditation (Meditatio)
Return to the five points of the meditation: the “mountain” as the place of prayer; prostration as adoration and as surrender; the authority that Christ received from the Father; the missionary sending; the promise of Immanuel, God with us. Pause at the one in which the Spirit is speaking to your heart today. Why precisely this one?
Prayer (Oratio)
Respond to the Lord with your own words, as the Holy Spirit moves you. If you wish, pray the closing prayer, the beautiful prayer “Stay with me, Lord,” by Saint Pio of Pietrelcina.
Contemplation (Contemplatio)
Rest, in silence, in the mystery of today. Jesus ascended to heaven with our human flesh — as firstfruits. There is someone like us, body and soul, in the divine eternity. And there is also Mary, eschatological icon: the sign of what we will be. Let this certainty enlarge your heart.
Action (Actio)
And now, in light of what you have prayed: in which area of your life do you still need to submit to the lordship of Christ? Who is the concrete person to whom the Lord is sending you this week to announce the Gospel — by word, by witness, by listening? Is there someone whom you can help grow in the faith?
Until next week!
Shalom!
Closing prayer: Stay with me, Lord!
Stay with me, Lord, for I need your presence so as not to forget you.
You know how easily I can abandon you.
Stay with me, Lord, for I am weak and I need your strength so as not to fall.
Stay with me, Lord, for you are my life, and without you I lose my fervor.
Stay with me, Lord, for you are my light, and without you darkness reigns.
Stay with me, Lord, to show me your will.
Stay with me, Lord, that I may hear your voice and follow you.
Stay with me, Lord, for I long to love you and always to remain in your company.
Stay with me, Lord, if you wish me to be faithful to you.
Stay with me, Lord, for, however poor my soul may be, I want it to become a place of consolation for you, a nest of love.
Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day draws to its close; life passes, and death, judgment and eternity draw near. I need you to renew my strength and not to halt on the way. It is getting late, death approaches, and I fear the darkness, the temptations, the lack of faith, the cross, the sorrows.
Oh, how I need you, my Jesus, in this night of exile!
Stay with me tonight, Jesus, for, throughout life with all its dangers, I need you. Grant, Lord, that I may recognize you as your disciples recognized you at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion may be the light that dispels the darkness, the strength that sustains me, the one joy of my heart.
Stay with me, Lord, for in the hour of death I want to be united to you — if not by Communion, at least by grace and love.
Stay with me, Jesus. I do not ask for divine consolations, because I do not deserve them, but only for the gift of your presence; that, yes, I implore of you!
Stay with me, Lord, for it is you alone whom I seek: your love, your grace, your will, your heart, your Spirit, for I love you and the only reward I ask is to be able to love you ever more.
With this resolute love, I desire to love you with all my heart while I am on earth, so as to continue loving you perfectly for all eternity. So be it.
Podcast video: https://youtu.be/6VPBJmMseRw
