Feast of the Ascension
Ascension Sunday Mass Readings
On this the feast of the Ascension, one sentence in the second reading caught my attention. Ephesians 1:14 says, “May God give you wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him.” It is my intention to reflect on this sentence in this reflection. Examining our religious history we realize that the knowledge we have of God is the result of a gradual process. The earliest stories of Abraham and Noah tell us almost nothing about God except that God abhors immorality and loves unconditional obedience. Later, when Moses is called by God to sent to the Hebrew slaves, Moses asked a very legitimate question: “What shall I tell the people when they ask me who sent you?” Moses was asking such a question because his knowledge of God was limited. God did not say much. Rather, “I AM,” is the only answer Moses received. However, through the Exodus event God reveals himself as one who cares about those in suffering, as a redeemer, and as one who seeks a relationship. God does that through the Covenant at Sinai. God reveals to the people that God is a God of fidelity and steadfast love. Much later, when Israel had settled down as a nation, through the prophets God revealed himself as father, mother, lover, friend and even husband. But we know God most intimately in Jesus. God is revealed to us as one who loves unconditionally - even to the point of the death. So, What does St. Paul mean when he prays that the Ephesians receive “wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him?” I think he is praying that what they know about God may become their personal experience.
From our daily life we know that the personal experience and knowledge we have of people who are close to us comes from two sources: first, what they tell us about themselves, and second, our personal experience of them. Both of these are a lifelong process. Thus there are people we know about - Gandhi, Martin Luther King Junior, Nelson Mandela. And then there are people we know from our personal relationship with them – our parents, spouse, children and friends. St. Paul’s prayer is that each of us knows God like we know those we love.
A personal experience of God is what makes all the difference. Without this bond, this personal experience and knowledge of God, religion is drab: scriptures don’t make sense, mass is an obligation, and our faith has but a secondary influence in our lives. But with it scripture become like our personal album, mass becomes a personal encounter with Christ and religion becomes our personal guide to holiness.
May Jesus who ascended to the Father’s presence and promised us his Holy Spirit give us the gift of the “knowledge of God,” and may our prayer, our reading of scriptures reveal to us the mysteries of God.
- Fr. Satish Joseph