By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM
Those people who believe in the Lutheran myth of “sola Scriptura” have a big problem to solve. They cannot explain the fact that Jesus spent forty days with His apostles, teaching them, reminding them of what He had taught them before, and preparing them for their mission, but there is absolutely nothing written in the Bible about that mountain of teaching. What did He say?
That is why St. John says that if all of Jesus’ signs and teachings were to be recorded, the whole world would not be able to contain the books that could be written. . . .
So, after that crash course on Catholic apologetics that He gave to the apostles, on the fortieth day after His Resurrection, our divine Savior ascended into Heaven. And His apostles saw Him ascending (Acts 1:1-11). The Nicene Creed, which we say every Sunday at Mass, proclaims, “He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
What does this expression “at the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3) mean? It is only figurative, of course, and must not be taken literally. There is no physical throne in Heaven, however covered in gold or rubies it may be, upon which God is seated.
It is figurative because God, being an infinite Spirit, has in Him nothing that is corporal or physical. However, Holy Scriptures and the Church employ this expression to demonstrate the sublimity of the triumph granted to Christ in the heavenly sanctuary of the divinity. And our mission in Heaven will be to contemplate the infinite marvelousness of the eternal act of God, which will fill us with absolute and unceasing delight, world without end.
“At the right hand” is also a Hebrew expression to signify perfect equality to the one already seated. Something similar to King Solomon’s first royal act: to have a throne erected for his mother (1 Kings 2:19) and she sat at his right hand. In this way he wanted his mother to be honored as the Gabirah, the Queen Mother. And Jesus, prefigured by Solomon, wants us to honor His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the Queen Mother of His reign.
So, when we say that Jesus is “seated,” we mean to signify that He has entered forever into possession of that eternal repose merited for Him by His glorious combats. From this repose He continues to exercise the omnipotence communicated to Him by the Father in order that He may, through His Mystical Body, the Church, rule, sanctify, and judge all mankind.
The Ascension brings to an end our Lord’s visible sojourn on this Earth. We shall not see Him with our earthly eyes until He comes again in glory, just as the apostles saw Him go (Acts 1:11). We are sad at His departure, but it was expedient for us that He go (John 16:7), so that we might receive the Holy Spirit, cling to Jesus with deeper faith and grow in our longing to join Him.
I remember as a child asking myself: Why did He have to go, why didn’t He stay here with us, to tell us stories at bedtime. . . . Now I know that Jesus, our Redeemer, ascended into Heaven to prepare a place for us, as He Himself explained (John 14:2). He ascended into Heaven for other great reasons: “to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Heb. 9:24) and to occupy the royal throne of His Kingdom.
The Ascension is the glorious completion of the redemption and signifies Christ’s final and irreversible entry into divine glory.
But there was more: On the ninth day after His Ascension, and the fiftieth after His Resurrection, Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. Just as He had promised, He sent the Third Person of the divine Trinity and thus the apostles were filled with truth, enlightenment, love, and fortitude. The Church was founded. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paschal Mystery was brought to its completion. That is why we say that the Holy Spirit is “the soul of the Church.”
The day chosen by Jesus to send the Holy Spirit was carefully calculated. The Holy Spirit came on the day known to the Jews as the “Feast of Weeks,” also called Pentecost, a Greek word meaning “the fiftieth day.” It was a special day, because on Pentecost the Jews celebrated the completion of the grain harvest and the giving of the Covenant of Sinai (Exodus 23:16; 34:22; Lev. 23:15-21; Deut. 16:9).
Thus, the coming of the Holy Spirit marked a new Pentecost, when the apostles went out to gather the harvest of souls and announce the New Covenant.
We know the tremendous success of St. Peter first preaching: “Those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41).
The Holy Spirit, sent by the Father through the Son, is the enduring fruit of the redemption. The Holy Spirit is the life and soul of the Body of the Church, and came to be with the Church forever. Pentecost celebrates the Gift of the Holy Spirit and His abiding presence in the Church.
Pentecost is, as it were, the birthday of the Church, when she came forth publicly into the world. What Christ did once, before a few, in one small country — the Holy Spirit enables the Church to bring to all people of all places and all times.
The mission given by Jesus to the apostles to go and preach to all nations everything He had commanded them would be impossible to be accomplished if the apostles were able to count on their personal abilities. But with the gift of the Holy Spirit they were able to spread the message far and wide, and consecrate other apostles to carry it on after their deaths.
That is why the Catholic Church is, in her very nature, missionary. But today, unfortunately, due to a misguided “ecumenism,” many Catholics have ceased to promote a missionary Church to become maintenance Church. Something like becoming holy janitors who look after buildings….
But the truth is that the Holy Spirit brings us to Christ and imparts to us the life won by Christ’s Paschal Mystery. Christ takes us to the Father. Through Christ, in the Spirit, we have access to the Father (Eph. 2:18).
Next article: How are the fruits of Redemption applied?
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(Raymond de Souza, KM, is available to speak at Catholic events anywhere in the free world in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Please email SacredHeartMedia@Outlook.com or visit www.RaymonddeSouza.com or phone 507-450-4196 in the United States.)
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