My dear brothers and sisters in Our Lord Jesus Christ. Today we celebrate the feast of the Ascension of Our Lord to heaven. He ascended to heaven, in human form, so that He may sit at the right hand of the Father, forever interceding for us.
Contemplating the Gospel for this feast the following words attracted my attention:
When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
This sentence captures perfectly not only the attitude that should be ours on this feast, worship; but also the sentiment that often accompanies our response to Our Lord and Saviour, doubt.
The human being has worship in his DNA. Look all around us, not just Catholics, but every single human being, from every religious denomination, including those who claim to have no religion. You will see that as a species we are driven by a desire to worship. It is for this reason homo sapiens is also known as homo adorans – the worshipping man.
This drive for worship, however, can sometimes take us down the wrong road, where rather than worship God, the maker and the creator of the universe, we begin to worship his creations, whether other persons, spirits, nature, or indeed, ourselves.
We were warned in Sinai, when we were given the Ten Commandments:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. (Ex 20: 2-3)
And because it may be difficult to follow a God who has no name, and whose face we cannot see, in His bountiful mercy, God the Father, provided us with His Son, who deigned to take human form, and make it easier for us to worship Him.
Praise and sacrifice, the two components of worship are, once again, universal. Every member of homo adorans has an innate sense of it. Whether by human sacrifice, or the sacrifice of things we hold most precious, or with the use of hyperbole, homo adorans recognizes that there is no gift we can give that is sufficient for the one who created us.
We Catholics know that in His goodness, recognizing that there was no gift that we could bring that was worthy, God the Father guided us through history, training the people of Israel, preparing them – through their rituals and sacrifices – to anticipate the one single and perfect sacrifice, the offering of His Son on Calvary. Through the singing of the psalms in the Divine Office, which priests are obliged to offer five times a day, we are given hymns of praise which are not only fitting for the worship of God, but also as in any perfect worship, form us to be perfect. Having prayed the Divine Office for some years now, I heartily recommend this discipline to all who are serious about deepening their faith, and improving the quality of their worship.
Even though Catholics have these wonderful resources, we are, nevertheless, like the apostles, our fathers in the faith, prone to doubt.
“Is Jesus the Only begotten Son of God, or just another prophet, a learned teacher whom we have much to learn from?”
“Do I really need to go to Mass? Isn’t it enough that I am a good person?”
“Aren’t all religions equal?”
Worse, “Is Jesus really present in the Blessed Sacrament?”
Rather than attempt to answer these questions today, since they have answers that require time to be appreciated, I will respond by recommending that we turn back to worship as a way of obtaining answers to these questions. Worship properly undertaken will offer answers even to the most critical mind.
And so, go to Mass every Sunday, if not every day. Pray the rosary, take up parts of the Divine Office, perhaps just lauds and vespers for now, spend time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Genuflect before the Blessed Sacrament, kneel at Mass, receive communion on the tongue. Orthopraxis, right action, will eventually lead you towards orthodoxy, right praise. Act right and all will be revealed to you.
I leave you, as a blessing, this quote from the extract of St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that we read today:
May the eyes of your hearts be
enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call
(A series of three homilies in preparation for the Solemnity of the Ascension preached at the Parish church of N.Srª da Immaculada Conceição, Pangim, can be found here.)
(Image reference: The Calling of the Apostles, Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1481, The Sistine Chapel, Rome.)
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