On the Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord, Jesus gives the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
This Commission is the heart of evangelization. We cannot be like the Apostles of the First Reading who are standing around after the Ascension looking into the sky. We are a missionary Church that must go out to proclaim the Good News. We have an example of this in our Second Reading in St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. St. Paul states: “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.”
This should be our prayer as we respond to the Lord’s Great Commission. In this task we find great encouragement from Jesus in the Gospel. He reminds us that we are not alone in this task: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”