With the Great Commission at the point of His Ascension and the hesitation of the few to worship Him, we have our mission cut out for us.
Christ was unequivocal in His command to go and baptise all nations in the name of the Trinity. The readings revolve around the mystery that His departure was not the end but rather the beginning of the Church’s mission.
The word “mission” involves sending and we generally associate it as a movement that goes out. We have been sent into the world to evangelise, to preach the good news. The 2nd Reading provides a clue that this sending involves an inward movement.
St Paul, at the time of his writing to the Ephesians, was a prisoner. He exhorted the faithful to lead a life worthy of their vocation as baptised. We bear with each other charitably to preserve the unity of the Spirit. As there is only one Body, one Spirit called to the same hope, it makes a lot of sense that we come to the table each with our gifts to enrich the whole Body. This mission ad intra is important because the unity of the Body is both a mission and a gift.
Sadly, when it comes to the mission ad extra, we have been forced into the corner of mediocrity. The reason is because the mission ad extra is much more difficult. Ever since the beginning of the Church, we have been racked with internal divisions. Disagreements were necessary as they arose out of the need for doctrinal clarity. Once the Ecumenical Councils clarified the doctrines and established the dogmas, there should have been unity but it was not always the result. The unity of the Church is broken through schisms and heresies and Christians have killed each other in the name of God and in the name of “truth”. The mission ad intra is definitely a playground for the father of lies and disunity. Indeed, the outcome has been a disservice to the mission ad extra.
As a result we have to cook up theological gymnastics that justifies that God’s salvation is more extraordinary than ordinary. What this means is that the Church is not central to the work of Christ’s salvation. And if that be the case, then the mission to evangelise is not central to Christ’s work of salvation. Our lack of unity has made it easier to accept that all religions are the same. It is the lazier option.
Crippled by our disunity, all we can muster is to concentrate on doing good and for that we collaborate with people of goodwill. Is not presently, the greatest good to basically “reverse climate change”?
The question that is almost never asked is one which challenges as well as highlights a truth about temporality. Nobody ever asks the question if the prolongation of time and space is equivalent to salvation. Seated at the right hand of the Father, He will come to judge the living and the dead. It is uncomfortable or an inconvenient truth that no matter how we try to “save” the here and now, it will inevitably come to an end. The question of salvation must be asked by each person: Will I be saved?
It is for salvation that Christ came and now at the cusp of His Ascension, He send us on a two-fold mission which is most demanding. Firstly, go out into the world to preach the Gospel. Secondly, with signs to accompany the preaching, tidy up our life and our communities. Christ’s mission is easy to understand but infinitely a challenge to embrace. The mission is ongoing. The challenge continues—the difficult but necessary personal conversion and a concerted public witnessing to the world. He gave us a promise that at all times, we will never be alone. He will be with us until the end of time.
