Homily for the Ascension of the Lord, Year C
Acts 1.1-11 Psalm 47 Ephesians 1.17-23 Luke 24.46-53
It’s easy to imagine why the apostles are just standing around after Jesus ascends into heaven, blindly looking up at the sky, wondering what they’re supposed to do next. For so long, they have been used to being followers. They have had Jesus with them to tell them exactly what to do and how to do it. And most of the time, they didn’t really have to do much themselves; they simply listened to Jesus preach or watched him do miracles. Now, he’s gone; he has returned to the Heavenly Father. And the apostles are left with a very specific task – but without their leader to show them the way. Their task – to witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ and to do that to the ends of the earth. They know what to do, but they don’t know how to do it. And so, for a moment, they just stand around and look up at the sky, trying to figure out what to do next.
In many ways, our task today is the same. We as a Church have an outstanding message – the message of a God who created us and loves us, who came to die for our sins that we might have eternal life, a God who sent the Holy Spirit to live in each and every human being and to give them life, dignity, value, and the ability to love. The Christian message has been transforming hearts for thousands of years. But there is another part of our task that is much more of a challenge. How do we communicate that age-old message in a way that is compelling, in a way that is able to be understood by people in the world of today, in a way that can lead them to Christ? Over the years, the Church has communicated its message in many different ways. Jesus himself used parables, stories that connected to the lives of the farmer, shepherds, fishermen, and travelers he met. St. Paul and many others in our history used writing to spread the gospel – they used letters or autobiographies or essays or newspapers that were circulated on paper. Medieval artists used stained glass windows to tell the story of the life of Christ. Archbishop Fulton Sheen used his famous television show to reach millions of people. These people all had the same message, but they adjusted the method to fit the people and the society and the technology of their time, to meet people where they were. And wherever the people of God gather, there we must take the gospel.
And that brings us to today. As a Church, we are being challenged in 2010 to take the message of gospel to a new place, to the world of social networking. We have had an internet presence for quite a while, and we’re getting pretty good at e-mail. But our latest challenge is to bring the gospel to the world of blogs and Facebook and Twitter and YouTube and texting and wherever else it is that people congregate in the digital world. These social networks can open up new opportunities for evangelization and catechesis, they can be today’s platform for the message that has been entrusted to us, a message of unconditional love and forgiveness, a message of truth and hope. Certainly nothing can replace face-to-face ministry and the personal sharing of our faith. And there is plenty about digital media and social networking that we must be cautious about. But, at the same time, we can only stand around for so long, looking at the digital world and wondering what we should do.
And so today, I have a challenge for all of us. As a parish, we have begun exploring ways to bring the gospel message to the world of digital media and social networking. Our webpage has great information on it, I have a personal blog where I post the text of my homilies, we have parishioner e-mail distribution lists, and we have a presence on Facebook. But there is so much more that we could do. The challenge is this – how can we, as a parish, expand our digital presence and find compelling avenues to proclaim the gospel message in new and creative ways? Alongside our traditional methods of communication, how can we use the latest technologies to introduce people to Christ and the Church? How can we put digital media at the service of the Word of God and even “give a ‘soul’ to the fabric of communications that makes up the ‘Web?’” (Pope Benedict XVI, Message for the 44th World Communications Day; January 24, 2010.) That is our task. And to do this, we need to work together. If you have ideas, send me an e-mail or a Facebook message, or even tell me face to face, and then we will put together a plan for digital ministry. We have a message to proclaim, a message that can change the world. And wherever the people of God gather, whether in person or virtually, it is our responsibility to be there to lead them to Christ.
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