Texts taken from the missal “On Your Word” May-June 2025
Ascension of the Lord (solemnity)
proper
FIRST READING
From the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:1-11)
In the first account, Theophilus, I dealt with everything that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up into heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them over forty days and speaking about the things concerning the kingdom of God. While he was at table with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the fulfillment of the Father’s promise, “the one,” he said, “you heard from me: John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” But he replied, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he went, suddenly two men in white garments stood beside them and said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing looking at the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” – The word of God.
Commentary on the first reading
While no one saw the Lord’s resurrection, the apostles witnessed his ascension into heaven directly. We are told that this event was not particularly spectacular or glorious: no trumpet blasts, no dazzling heavens opening, no praising heavenly hosts... It is simply said that, when he had finished speaking, Jesus was lifted up and, after a few moments, they could no longer see him. It was a simple, almost homely event. In fact, it was not so much a genuine transfer from one place to another, from earth to heaven, as a withdrawal from sight while remaining with us. We can say that the Lord did not go far; on the contrary, he drew closer. The ultimate reality, in fact, is expressed by Jesus in the Gospel of John: “Remain in me and I in you” (Jn 15:4). The place of the risen Lord is in that “in,” that is, in the soul in a state of grace. This is why the angels make an observation: “Why are you standing looking at the sky?” As if to say: look within yourselves now, because you are God’s heaven. Can we believe this without fainting?
SECOND READING
From the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 9:24-28; 10:19-23)
Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a representation of the true one, but heaven itself, to appear now before God on our behalf. Nor does he have to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the sanctuary every year with the blood of another; in that case, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. Instead, now, once for all, at the culmination of the ages, he has appeared to do away with sin through the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for human beings to die once, after which comes judgment, so Christ, having offered himself once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, without any relation to sin, to those who are waiting for him for their salvation. Brothers and sisters, since we have full freedom to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, the new and living way that he inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart and in the fullness of faith, with our hearts purified from every evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold firmly to the profession of our hope, because he who promised is faithful. – The Word of God.
Commentary on the Second Reading
The passage from the Letter to the Hebrews read today contains a rather unusual expression: it says that Jesus “will appear a second time, without any relation to sin, to those who are waiting for him for their salvation.” The Lord’s second coming, the so-called “Parousia,” is a dogma of faith, and therefore a certain event. Some theologians and Church Fathers place this second coming at the end of time; it would be the Last Judgment, when the Lord will judge the living and the dead and there will be the resurrection of the bodies of all people of all times. Others, however, place this second coming within time, in this human reality, which would mean the establishment of a period different from the present one, with greater peace and greater unity in the Church and in the world—a period that can be identified with the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary foretold at Fatima. This would explain the expression that Jesus will return “without any relation to sin” (therefore not at the Last Judgment at the end of time), and to those who are waiting for him for their salvation—that is, to people who invoke the Savior.
GOSPEL
From the Gospel according to Luke (Lk 24:46-53)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Thus it is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all peoples, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending upon you the one my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out toward Bethany and, lifting up his hands, blessed them. While he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they prostrated themselves before him; then they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising God. – The Word of the Lord.
Commentary on the Gospel
Jesus leaves, but the apostles experience great joy. The Lord does not go to heaven to separate from them, but to unite with the Father in the manner proper to him, after having completed the sacrifice and risen from the dead. Hence the attitude of praise and exultation that takes hold of the disciples after the Lord’s departure: they know that they will now be able to find him in the temple (in fact, the text says that they were always there), but also at home, in their workplaces, everywhere, because the Lord withdraws from visibility simply because, by ascending to heaven, he enters the definitive dimension where he is wherever he loves (this characteristic of being everywhere is called ubiquity). Christ ascended into heaven is wherever he wishes to be, and before ascending, he assured us that he would always be with us: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). The ascension into heaven is in fact the manifestation of Christ’s perpetual presence, of his being there, of his “staying” and remaining: “Remain in me, and I in you” (Jn 15:4a). How can we be sad if Jesus is truly with us? Sadness, Saint Francis used to say, is Satan’s evil. He is indeed always—truly always—sad.
