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Two-Minute Homily by Fr Boni Buahendri SVD for the The Ascension of the Lord 2023.
“We need to ask for the gift of strong faith in every difficult moment. Faith to believe with all our hearts that Christ has risen and we will rise!”

• Two-Minute Homily Transcript

  Two-Minute Homily Transcript

  Author: Archdiocese of Brisbane

  Proclaim the risen Lord is the task of every Christian, you and me. But the very question that we need to answer today is very simple
  and yet challenging one. Are we willing or we are afraid, to do so especially in our time, with lots of challenges we are facing, for a moment. Today we celebrate the feast of the Ascension of the Lord. The Ascension of the Lord marks the official end of regular appearances of Jesus to his disciples, in the forty days after his resurrection. Jesus’ departure from the earth and his return to heaven, did not mean that his apostles and disciples would remain alone. No, not at all! Although he would no longer be physically present, he told them and therefore to us today, that “I am with you always; yes, to the end of time”.

  So, there is no need for us to worry or to lack confidence, because Jesus is always spiritually present, especially in the sacramental life of the Church. So as we hear in our Gospel today, as Jesus rises to heaven, He gives his Church, this mission on earth. He says, go and make disciples of all nations. Baptising them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them, to observe all that I have commanded you.

  We all have this mission to go out and make disciples; a mission to share the good news of Jesus and to bring salvation to others, to our neighbours, to our parish communities. Of course, all these beautiful truths are challenging, when we think of the problems that the world faces today, such as war and natural disasters, or other problems in our communities, in our families and even in our lives. But remember that our mission is still the same, even in difficult situations.

  So, we need to ask for the gift of strong faith in every difficult moment. Faith to believe with all our hearts that Christ has risen and we will rise! Jesus goes to heaven but he doesn’t leave us alone on earth. And I still remember once in his address on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, our Pope Francis reminded us to be not afraid to turn to Jesus, to tell him our fears and to ask his blessing and mercy as well. Pope Francis said, “Jesus is now present in all space and time, just next to each of us.” He always forgives us. He is our advocate, he always defends us. We must never forget this. Let us hold on to the promise of the Gospel today, Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.