The First Lesson
Acts 1:6-14
When the apostles had come together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in 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 out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
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This reading depicts for us the life of the Church. Before long, having completed the Fifty Days of the Paschal celebration, we shall enter once more into the liturgical time known as the Time of the Church, that vast season between the Day of Pentecost and the Advent fast.
In this reading, we find the apostles and the faithful women who have witnesses the Ascension in waiting upon the Lord. They have received the angelic message that the victorious Lord would return from heaven as they saw him depart.
We who stand today with them know by faith what this return means. This Advent of Christ ushers in the day when suffering is no more, when sin is put into bondage and defeated once and forever, when death itself shall be pronounced dead. This Advent will bring about the fullness of the Kingdom of God in perfection.
In this reading, the faithful are called to wait. We are among those faithful who wait, longing to see not by faith but by sight the victory of our God. Nearly 2,000 years have passed in which the faithful have been waiting. The waiting does not diminish the hope. The time has not yet come, but it shall come, and when it does, it shall be the perfect time. It must be so, for it is God's time, not ours. And so we wait. And as we wait, we pray. We pray for the world, for the Church, for all persons according to their need. We long to see the fullness of redemption. We do not loose heart. Instead, as time rolls on, our expectations become greater, and our faith and hope stronger. For with each passing second, we draw nearer to that moment in which our faith and hope shall be confirmed by sight.
Father Tim+
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