The Commission and the Promise

Each year on the Solemnity of the Ascension we hear the last words of St. Matthew’s Gospel.
 
“The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, ‘All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the 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, until the end of the age.’” (Mt 28:16-20).
 
These words contain both the commission and the promise. First, the commission tells the Eleven what Our Lord wants them to do—to go, make disciples of all nations, to baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and to teach them all that He commanded them. This commission is meant not only for those Eleven, but also for the whole Church of every age, including each one of us. We, according to our state in life, are called to participate in the Church’s mission in proclaiming the Catholic Faith and helping others to receive the Sacraments. The promise is that Our Lord will be always with us until the end of the age when He returns for the final judgment. He makes this promise even as He prepares to ascend to the right hand of the Father.
            
Jesus keeps His promise to remain with us through the Church, which is His Mystical Body, and pre-eminently, through the Sacraments that He gave to the Church, especially the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.  It is particularly through His Eucharistic Presence in the Church that we receive the grace and strength to fulfill the commission He gave us to go out into the world and witness to Him.

The celebration of Ascension Thursday reminds us that Our Lord always gives us the ability to do what He asks of us. Even though He ascended into heaven, because of His love for us, He still remains with us and gives us His own life, His grace, to proclaim the Gospel to all the world. It is through His Presence in the Sacraments that He strengthens us to do His Will. It is because of His tremendous love for us that He always stays with us. On Ascension Thursday let us thank Him and adore Him and praise Him for His abiding Presence in the Church just as He promised!
 
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh