Mk 16:15-20
15[Jesus] said to [his disciples], “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. 18They
will pick up serpents [with their hands], and if they drink any deadly
thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they
will recover.”
19So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. 20But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
Reflection:
Proclaim the gospel to every creature.
The Lord’s Ascension reminds us of our final destination. Jesus
“ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
The God-man who lived in this world is no longer bound to the earth. He
awaits us in heaven.
Our goal is to be one with Jesus and
with the Father in heaven. But before we can get to heaven, we must
undergo what Jesus underwent. We must live our baptismal commitment and
carry our cross. We accept our Good Friday to get to Easter Sunday and
our final reward of heaven.
To join Jesus in his ascension to heaven
is to go all the way with him in his life and his ministry. As St.
Catherine of Siena says, “Nothing great was ever done without much
enduring. The more affliction for Jesus in this world,
so much the glory
of Christ in the future.”
The Ascension also reminds us of our
mission. With Jesus returning to the Father, our share of the mission
now
begins. We are being sent out “to go into the whole world and
proclaim the gospel to every creature.” We proclaim how much God loves
us. We bear witness to what God does for us. We go in the name of Jesus
to the poor, the lonely, and the abandoned. We go to those in need of
God’s mercy, forgiveness, presence, and love.
You are a missionary by virtue of your baptism.How are you fulfilling your God-given mission?
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