31/05/2025
BUNDA CSO ALUMNI ASSOCIATION SUNDAY REFLECTION
THE ALUMNI PULPIT
The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord - 1st June, 2025.
LITURGICAL READINGS
First Reading: Acts 1:1-11
Second Reading: Ephesians 1:17-23
Gospel: Luke 24:46-53
STOP LOOKING AT CHRIST AND BE CHRIST LIKE!!
Today we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. Jesus is returning to the Father, not to leave us behind, but to lift us up and to empower us. In Acts 1:1–11, the disciples stand gazing into the sky, longing for Jesus to stay. But angels interrupt: “Why do you stand looking up to heaven?” The words of the angels should whisper to us that don’t just stay here looking at Christ who has disappeared from us but now it’s our turn to continue what Jesus was doing during His earthly life. The solemnity of the ascension of the Lord is the celebration and a reminder that the mission Jesus should continue through you.
In Luke 24:46–53, Jesus opens their minds to understand the Scriptures and commissions them as witnesses to the ends of the earth. Yet, they return to Jerusalem with great joy. Why joy at a departure? Because they now understand: Jesus ascends not just to abandon them, but to empower them and as a sign that He trust humanity to be the continuation of His mission.
The Ascension reminds us that faith does not stop at admiration—it moves to action. We are not to stand frozen in nostalgia or fear. Christ has entrusted us with His mission: to proclaim, to forgive, to build peace, to love.
The world still looks for the face of Christ, and the ascended Christ calls us to be His visible presence. As St. Augustine said, “You are the body of Christ. In you and through you, the work of the Incarnation must go forward.” Let us ascend with Christ by lifting others.