Yesterday some 3,300 people gathered for the Ascend Eucharistic Revival at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, which concluded with Mass. Below is the homily. Once photos are available they will also be posted here.
I’m grateful to Fr. Nicholas Wichert and all the other many individuals who helped coordinate this historic gathering of Catholics from across the Archdiocese of Seattle. The faith is alive and well!
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we gather on this vigil of the Ascension, I am reminded of a text from St. Augustine who taught that Christ “did not leave heaven when he came down to us; nor did he withdraw from us when he ascended.”
We believe that Christ indeed is not absent. He is present in a new and deeper way, present in his Church, present in the Holy Spirit, and present in the Eucharist.
The Mission of the Church
In the Gospel, Jesus gives his final command which is known as the great commission:
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations…” (Mt 28:19) The Ascension is not an ending, it is a sending. It is the beginning of the Church.
In our First reading, the apostles stand on the mountain, looking upward. The angels redirect them:
“Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” (Acts 1:11) In other words: Do not remain looking upward, go outward.
This is the moment the Church becomes missionary. But notice something very important: the mission does not come from human strategy or energy.
The Church does not invent her mission; she participates in the mission of the Son of God. Mission does not arise from human zeal alone, but from abiding in the inexhaustible love of Christ.
That is why a Eucharistic conference is the perfect place to reflect on mission, because mission flows from communion. Without communion, mission becomes activism. With communion, mission becomes witness.
Before his ascension, Jesus commissions and sends the apostles into the world while at the same time making them a promise:
“And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt 28:20)
This is the key to everything. Christ ascends—but he does not leave. Christ does not give something of himself. Rather, he gives himself entirely” in the Eucharist. In every celebration of the Mass, the same love that beat in the Heart of Jesus on Calvary is made present sacramentally.
The Ascension does not remove Christ from the world. It makes possible a new mode of his presence
• Through the Church — his Body on earth
• Through the Holy Spirit — poured into our hearts
• Through the Eucharist — his real and abiding presence
As St. Paul tells us tonight, God has made Christ “head over all things for the Church, which is his body.” (Eph 1:22–23) The Church is not merely an institution. She is the place where Christ continues to act, teach, heal, and save.
In Acts, Jesus tells the apostles: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” (Acts 1:8) The mission is impossible without the Spirit. This is not optional—it is essential. It is so essential that the Church continues to confer the Holy Spirit upon the baptized through the Sacrament of Confirmation.
(In a gathering this size in the Easter season – I feel like I should be confirming a large number of you!) Hopefully you have already received this great gift!
In confirmation we are conformed more fully to Christ and thus can say that Christ dwells in the heart of the believer, shaping the believer’s heart according to His own. This is the teaching of St. Paul when he said: “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 5:5)
The Ascension prepares the early Church for Pentecost. Christ goes so that the Spirit can come.
And when the Spirit comes, Christ is no longer only beside us — he is within us.
This is the mystery:
The mission of the Church is not just something we receive from Christ nor simply something we do for Christ. The mission is more of an identity received at baptism. The mission of the Church is Christ living and acting in us through the Holy Spirit.
At this Eucharistic conference, we must be very clear: The Church’s mission flows from the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the privileged place where the Church encounters the living Heart of Christ. The Heart of Jesus is revealed most fully in the permanent gift of the Eucharist.
This changes everything. More specifically, Jesus Christ changes everything. The permanent gift of Jesus in the Eucharist along with his gift of the Holy Spirit who remains the inspiration and game changer of the Church underpin the life of every believer.
We do not go on mission alone. We go on mission from the altar.
The same Heart that was pierced on the Cross—
the same Heart that loves with an “ardent charity”—
is given to us in Holy Communion.
And what happens then?
Eucharistic communion is conformation, transformation — the shaping of our hearts according to Christ’s.
We receive Christ…
and we become like Christ…
so that we can bring Christ to others.
So what does this mission look like?
Not power.
Not strategies alone.
But a heart like Christ’s.
When the Heart of Christ becomes the treasure of the Church, her mission takes on his form — marked by humility, mercy, patience, and self-giving love.
This is essential in our time. People today are not first persuaded by arguments. They are moved by love. They are searching — often unknowingly — for the Heart of Christ.
And so the Church must become what she receives:
• A Church that is Eucharistic
• A Church that is missionary
• A Church that is meek and humble of heart
The angels’ words still echo tonight:
“Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” We have work to do! We ARE mission!
Do not remain passive. Do not remain inward. Do not be afraid.
Christ is risen.
Christ is ascended.
Christ is present.
Present in his Church.
Present in the Holy Spirit.
Present in the Eucharist.
And so he sends us:
“Go… make disciples… I am with you always.”
Here we are, Jesus. Send us forth as missionaries of your love for the life of the world.
Brothers and sisters,
Tonight, at this Eucharistic conference,
we do not simply adore Christ.
We are formed by him and sent by him.
May the Sacred Heart of Jesus shape our hearts.
May the Eucharist strengthen our mission.
And may the Holy Spirit send us forth and inspire us always! to bring Christ to a world that longs for his love.
0 Comments