Homily for Ascension 2006

This is National Reconciliation Week (Ascension to Pentecost) when we are called to work and pray to heal the deep wounds that divide the Christian Churches and also the deep wounds of dispossession, violence and humiliation that divide indigenous people themselves, and between them and the rest of Australia. The recent spotlight that has been shone on violence in indigenous communities should spur us on to that work of reconciliation.

I mentioned last week that the “Da Vinci Code” is fiction. Yet it raises all kinds of issues. One of which is that generally speaking very many people have little knowledge of Christian history or of the scriptures. We live in a post-Christian age as has been said. For many people the only knowledge they have about the Church is what they see on TV. So the Church is easily seen as representing things like child abuse, the denigration of women, a strict sexual morality, etc., and a history littered with the blood of the crusades and inquisitions. It is no wonder that people are ready to believe the conspiracy and intrigue of a novel like the “Da Vinci Code”.

And for all the speculation about Mary Magdalene, the book neglects the important place she has as a woman who is the first witness to the resurrection. This is recorded in the verses immediately preceding (Mark 16:9) today's excerpt from Mark's Gospel (Mark 16:15-20). This neglect of Mary Magdalene is true not only of the “Da Vinci Code”, of course, but of much of Christian history. Once Mary was incorrectly identified with the unnamed prostitute who repented (Luke 7:36-50) everything else about her faded into the background. (In John 12:1 Mary, Lazarus' sister, who anoints Jesus at Bethany is certainly not seen as a sinner.)

At the same time novels like this appeal to a world that craves entrance into mystery. That there are secret codes and hidden truths to be found is engrossing stuff. However, there is no substance to the mystery, it is fiction. But even the atheist suspects that there is more to the world than we can see.

Ascension Day is not so much a feast to celebrate Jesus return to the Father. Jesus and the Father are one as Jesus said (cf John 14:8-14). That unity was never broken by the Incarnation. This is a feast which recalls the end of Jesus' earthly sojourn and the beginning of the mission of the Church: “Go out to all the world and tell the good new to the whole creation.” Yet, as the cloud which took Jesus from the sight of the disciples in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles should suggest to us, Jesus has not left the disciples alone on their mission. It is the same cloud of the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:7). It is the same cloud that led the Israelites through the desert (Exodus 13:21). It is the same cloud of Mt Sinai (Exodus 18:9, 16). God was with his people throughout their journey. Jesus is with us in a new way unhindered by space and time.

Would that we could all spend time just reflecting and meditating on the words of Paul we read today in our second reading (Ephesians 1:17-23). The whole of the letter to the Ephesians is about our access to the mystery of God through Christ.

The Mystery is so close to us we can overlook it. Paul prays that God open our minds so we can see the hope, and the rich glories he has promised. And how “infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers.” Could I suggest you to realise the answer to that prayer as you reflect on your family? Look at your children. The mystery of God's love is right before your eyes in them. This mystery we will celebrate at your children's Confirmation and First Eucharist in a couple of weeks time (June 9). Just think about all the ways in which our society indulges children. The endless advertising campaigns to get the child dollar reflects our desire to give children the best we can. But to give the best we can does not cost dollars. It costs our love. We do not have to look very far at all. The mystery of God's spirit is within you; an unshakeable hope and a richness of love. Begin the mission right there at home. Why stand there looking up into the sky?

Fr Graham