The Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, Sunday, May 29, 2022

Mark 16:15–20

Jesus said to his disciples: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

The Gospels of Sts. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all end with the Lord commanding the Apostles to preach the Word of God in every land and then ascending into heaven.  With that command, he assures them of his continuing assistance.  St. Mark’s account contains elements not found in the other two Gospels.  For instance, the revelation that “whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.”  While this teaching is clear and stated in other ways in all four of the Gospels, only Mark records it in this place.  It is significant that the Lord says this here and that it is recorded for us.  It certainly made an impression on St. Peter, from whose recollections Mark produced his Gospel.  The Lord is underlining for the Apostles the urgency of their mission to convert the world.  Now, when the Lord says, “Whoever does not believe will be condemned”, he means those who have heard their preaching, understood its meaning, and have rejected it.  He is not saying that those who do not hear their preaching will be condemned.  We do not know what happens to those but we pray that they may be saved too.  The urgency is to bring the message of God’s love and care to those who live in the despair on unbelief so that they may have joy, serve God in this world, and be happy with him in heaven.  The urgency is also for the Apostles themselves, that in zealously pursuing the work of God they may attain heaven.

“These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  Grace is not without visible effect.  It is invisible and for that reason very powerful, influencing and transforming what is inside a person with exterior signs of that influence or transformation.  “They will drive out demons.”  Some will exorcise through the authority of the Church, but all will drive out the power of the devil in this world by their prayers and good deeds which bring others into the Faith.  “They will speak new languages.”  The teachings of Christ will spread to places unheard of by the Apostles, and to distant times when new languages have developed.  “They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.”  That is, they need not be afraid of danger or persecution.  They should not seek them out, but bear with them when they come.

“They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  This refers to the miracles of the saints as well as to those healed through the Anointing of the Sick.  It also means the conversion of the unbelievers, “sick” in their sins.

“So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.”  He was taken up publicly and visibly so that the Apostles and disciples knew that they would see him no longer on earth.  There was no longer a compelling reason for them to stay in one place together, moving with the Lord up and down Israel.  They could now go forth to all the world: “They went forth and preached everywhere.”  And as the Lord had confirmed his own teaching with signs, so he confirmed that of his Apostles and those who came after them “through accompanying signs.”  Prompted by the Holy Spirit and in service to the commandment of the Lord Jesus, we go out to the world as well, either physically, as St. Francis Xavier, or with our strengthening prayers, as St. There’s of Lisieux, or converting others in our daily lives through our words and acts of mercy, as St. Monica.