Why Are You Staring at the Sky?

readings for June 1, 2014

The Ascension of the Lord

Tlugħ il-Mulej fis-Sema

Messalin A pp 217 

Reading 1   -   acts of the apostles 1:1-11

In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While meeting with the them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water,  but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”  When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He answered them, “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 Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”  This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Ewwel Lezzjoni   -   Atti ta' l-Appostli  1, 1-11

Fl-ewwel rakkont tiegħi, Teofilu, tkellimt fuq dak kollu li Ġesu' kien għamel u għallem minn mindu beda sal-jum li fih kien meħud fis-sema, wara li, permezz ta' l-Ispirtu s-Santu, ta l-ordnijiet tiegħu lill-appostli li hu kien għażel. Wara l-passjoni tiegħu dehrilhom u tahom ħafna provi li hu ħaj; f'erbgħin jum rawh kemm-il darba u kellimhom fuq il-ħwejjeġ tas-Saltana ta' Alla.  Meta kien għadu magħħom, ordnalhom biex ma jitilqux minn Ġerusalemm,  imma joqogħdu jistennew sa ma sseħħ il-wegħda tal-Missier, "li fuqha  -  qalilhom – smajtu x'kont għedtilkom: Ġwanni għammed bl-ilma, imma intom, fi ftit ijiem oħra  titgħammdu bl-Ispirtu s-Santu." Kif kienu flimkien staqsewh:  "Mulej, hu dan iż-żmien li fih int se terġa' twaqqaf is-Saltna ta' Iżrael?" Hu weġibhom:  "M'hijiex biċċa tagħkom li tkunu tafu l-waqt u ż-żmien li l-Missier għażel bis-setgħa tiegħu. Imma meta jiġi fuqkom l-Ispirtu s-Santu, intom tirċievu l-qawwa, u tkunu xhieda tiegħi f'Ġerusalemm,  fil-Lhudija kollha u s-Samarija u sa truf l-art." Wara li qal dan, huma u jħarsu lejh, kien meħud 'il fuq, u sħaba ħadithulhom minn quddiem għajnejhom.  Waqt li kienu b'għajnejhom fis-sema jħarsu lejh sejjer, f'daqqa waħda dehru ħdejhom żewġt irġiel libsin l-abjad, u qalulhom:  "Irġiel tal-Galilija, x'intom tħarsu lejn is-sema? Dan Ġesu', li kien meħud minn magħkom lejn is-sema, għad  jerġa' jiġi kif rajtuh sejjer." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm  -  psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9

R/ Alleluia.

All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.                         R/

God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.                        R/

For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.                                  R/

Salm Responsorajli                       -   Salm 46(47)

               

R/ Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Popli kollha, ċapċpu idejkom,

għajtu b'leħen ta' ferħ lil Alla!

Għax il-Mulej, l-Għoli, hu tal-biża',

sultan kbir fuq l-art kollha.                                          R/

Tela' Alla b'għajat ta' ferħ,

il-Mulej bid-daqq tat-trombi.

Għannu lil Alla għannu,

għannu lis-sultan tagħna, għannu.                          R/

Għax Alla s-sultan ta' l-art kollha:

għannulu bis-sengħa għanja sabiħa.

Isaltan Alla fuq il-ġnus kollha,

joqgħod Alla fuq it-tron imqaddes tiegħu.          R/

reading 2                -           ephesians 1:17-23

Brothers and sisters:  May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,  give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him.  May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,  that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named  not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way. This is the Word of The Lord.

It-Tieni Lezzjoni   -   mill-Ittra ta' San Pawl lil Efesin 1, 17-23

Ħuti, Alla ta' Sidna Ġesu' Kristu, il-Missier tal-glorja, jagħtikom spirtu ta' għerf u rivelazzjoni biex tagħrfuh sewwa. Hu jdawlilkom l-għajnejn ta' qalbkom biex tagħrfu x'inhi t-tama tas-sejħa tagħkom;  x'inhu l-għana tal-glorja tal-wirt li takom taqsmu mal-qaddisin.  Tagħrfu x'inhu l-kobor bla qjies tas-setgħa tiegħu fina li emminna, skond il-ħila tal-qawwa kbira tiegħu li ħaddem fi Kristu, meta qajmu mill-imwiet, u qiegħdu fil-lemin tiegħu fis-smewwiet,  'il fuq minnkull Saltana u Setgħa, minn kull Qawwa u Ħakma,  'il fuq minn kull isem li jissemma, mhux biss għaż-żmien ta' issa, imma wkoll għal li ġej. Iva, qiegħed kollox taħt riġlejh u għamlu ras fuq il-Knisja kollha,  li hi Ġismu, il-milja ta' dak li jimla kollox f'kollox.   Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel             -        matthew28:16-20

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 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.” This is the Word of The Lord.

L-EVANGELJU  -  skond San Mattew 28, 16-20

F'dak iż-żmien, il-ħdax id-dixxiplu telqu lejn il-Galilija u marru fuq il-muntanja fejn kien ordnalhom Ġesu'. Kif rawh, inxteħtu quddiemu, għalkemm xi wħud iddubitaw, Ġesu' resaq ikollimhom u qalilhom:  "Lili ngħatat kull  setgħa fis-sema u fl-art.   Morru, mela, agħmlu dixxipli  mill-ġnus kollha, u għammduhom fl-isem tal-Missier u ta' l-Iben u ta' l-Ispirtu s-Santu, u għallmuhom iħarsu dak kollu li ordnajtilkom jien.  U ara, jiena magħkom dejjem sa l-aħħar taż-żmien.                 Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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COMMENTARY:

Why Are You Staring at the Sky?

By Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap

In the first reading an angel says to the disciples: "Men of Galilee, why are you staring at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken up from among you and assumed into heaven, shall one day return in the same way in which you saw him go to heaven."

This is an occasion to clarify once and for all what we mean by "heaven." Among almost all people, heaven indicates the habitation of the divinity. Even the Bible uses this spatial language: "Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace to men on earth."

With the advent of the scientific era, all these religious meanings attributed to the word "heaven" are now in crisis. The heavens are the space in which our planet and the whole solar system moves, and nothing else. We all have heard of the remark attributed to the Soviet astronaut after returning from his trip through the cosmos: "I traveled through outer space a long time and didn't see God anywhere!"

It is important therefore to try to clarify what we Christians mean when we say "Our Father who art in heaven," or when we say that someone "went to heaven." In these cases the Bible adapts itself to the common way of speaking (we do it today too, even in the scientific era, when we say that the sun "rises" and "sets"). But the Bible knows well and teaches that God is "in heaven, on earth and everywhere," that he is the one who "created the heavens" and, if he created them, cannot be "contained" by them. That God is "in the heavens" means that he "dwells in inaccessible light," that he is as far beyond us "as the heavens are above the earth."

We Christians also agree that in talking about heaven as God's dwelling place we understand it more as a state of being than a place. When we speak about God it would be nonsense to say that he is literally "above" or "below," "up" or "down." We are not therefore saying that heaven doesn't exist but only that we lack the categories with which to adequately represent it. Suppose we ask a person who is blind from birth to describe the different colors to us: red, green, blue. ... He could not tell us anything since we only perceive colors through our eyes. This is what it is like for us in regard to "heaven" and to eternal life, which is outside space and time.

In light of what we have said, what does it mean to proclaim that Jesus "ascended into heaven"? We find the answer in the Creed. "He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father."

That Christ has ascended into heaven means that he "is seated at the right hand of the Father," that is, as man too, he has entered into God's world; that he has been constituted the Lord and head of all things, as St. Paul says in the second reading.

In regard to us, "going to heaven" or going to "paradise" means going and being "with Christ" (Philippians 1:23). Our heaven is the risen Christ together with whom we shall form a "body" after our resurrection but also, in a provisional and imperfect way, immediately after our death. It is sometimes objected that no one has returned from heaven to assure us that it truly exists and is not just a pious illusion. It's not true! There is one who -- if we know how to recognize him -- returns from heaven every day in the Eucharist to assure us and to renew his promises.

The words of the angel -- "Men of Galilee, why are you staring at the sky?" -- also contain an implicit reproof: We should not just "stare into the sky" and speculate about the beyond, but rather we should live in expectation of his return, follow his mission, bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth, improve life in this world.

He has gone to heaven but without leaving earth. He has only disappeared from our field of vision. Indeed in the Gospel he himself assures us: "Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world."

[Translation from the Italian original by Joseph G. Trabbic]