Sermons
Feast of the Ascension / Mourning and Suffering Will Turn Into Joy
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
MP3 Disc 10 Received from Breslin
These Sermons were taped by Daniel Peper who
traveled and taped Fr. Hardon from 1990 to 1995
- Homily on the Feast of the Ascension
- Homily on Mourning and Suffering Will Turn Into Joy
1. Feast of the Ascension
Reading from the Gospel according to St. John
…according to John.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Within a short
time, you will lose sight of me, but soon after that you shall see me again.”
At this time all of the disciples asked one another, “What can he mean, within
a short time you will lose sight of me, but soon after that you will see me
and he did not say that he is going back to the Father?” They kept asking,
“What did he mean by this short time?” “We do not know what he is talking about.”
Since Jesus was aware that he wanted the question
to be asked. “You’re asking one another about my saying within a short time
you will lose sight of me but soon after you will see me. I tell you truly
you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices, you will grieve for a time,
but your grief will be turned into joy.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Homily
On the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord, which is the closing of our Lord’s
stay visibly on earth, this is both a commemoration and a promise and a condition.
It is first of all, a commemoration. Christ really rose from the dead. Christ
really ascended into heaven. Forty days after his resurrection, our Lord disappeared
visibly from this earth and physically, geographically, historically went to
heaven. Christ’s Ascension is a historical fact.
The Ascension of our Lord is also a promise. It is a promise because no less
than Jesus, we were conceived, born, we shall die, we shall rise from the dead
and, please God, we too will be assumed into heaven. What is the promise?
The promise is that provided we have followed Jesus Christ during our mortal
stay here on earth, we will rise from the dead. Let’s be clear. Our bodies
will rise from the dead. We never die, comma, we never die, one
more comma, we never die. Our souls live on, but we too will have our
rising from the dead and our being assumed by Christ ascending into heaven.
The ascension has to do with the body. I repeat. The ascension has to do
with the body. Christ, therefore, having lived visibly on earth, having risen
from the dead, ascended visibly into heaven, and we too will one day, please
God, in our bodies go to heaven.
But finally, today’s feast is also a condition, we shall rise from the dead,
but our bodies will conditionally go to heaven to join the ascended body of
Jesus Christ, on one condition that like Him we have to pay the price. We have
to pay the price of our ascending in body to our heavenly destiny. What’s the
price? The price is pain with our body. Suffering is a condition for our bodily
resurrection, that’s coming out, and our bodily ascension, that is, going up.
All the sufferings of the body, all the trials of our body, all the resisting
of the temptations of the body, all the control of our bodily passions, all
the sacrifice of our bodies, all the acts of charity that we’ve got to practice
with our bodies. All of this, we believe, is to be rewarded. Today is then
both the promise of our reaching heaven with our bodies, but it is also a sobering
condition.
We are living in the laziest society of human history. Americans work the
least. Americans eat the most. Americans sleep the longest. Americans exert
themselves the least with their bodies. American bodies live longest of any
major nation in the world. Oh, how we cater to this body.
I repeat. We too are to have our Ascension Thursday, but there is a condition
that we use our bodies by sacrificing them, that we use our bodies to suffer
with them, that we use our bodies in joining with Jesus Christ in undergoing
His Passion, His Death, so that like Him having risen from the dead, we too,
will one day ascend into heaven. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. Mourning and Suffering Will Turn Into Joy
Reading from the Gospel according to St. John
Alleluia, this is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad, Alleluia.
The Lord be with you.
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.
Response: Glory to you O Lord.
Jesus said to His disciples, “I tell you truly, you will
weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve for a time, but your
grief will be turned into joy. When a woman is in labor, she is sad that her
time has come. When she has born her child, she no longer remembers her pain,
for joy that a man has been born into the world. In the same way you are sad
for a time, but I shall see you again. Then your hearts will rejoice with a
joy no one can take from you. On that day, you will have no question to ask
me.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Response: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
Homily
Throughout these days between Easter and Pentecost, as we’ve been saying, the
liturgy concentrates on the Gospel of St. John. In here, Christ’s promise of
joy, you might say ironically or mysteriously, Christ predicts that His followers
will mourn and will suffer, at the same time promises them joy.
What does He mean?
Well, He means both. On earth we are to serve God, follow Christ and pay the
price and the price is high. And the price is very high. We are to finally
reach heavenly beatitude. We were not made to be sad, but dear God, the price
of eternal happiness, Jesus, we repeat is high.
There is, however, a joy we are to experience already on earth. What is that?
The joy of anticipating a heavenly eternity. In other words, our joy here on
earth, is a joy of anticipation; and provided we believe strongly enough, and
hope deeply enough, there will be a measure of joy already here on earth, because
we are sure, absolutely sure, that provided we are doing God’s will here on
earth, we will be at peace already here, dear Jesus. Nobody else is at peace
except the one who is doing Your will. But then, everlasting joy in the world
to come. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Copyright © 1998 Inter Mirifica
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