To Know Jesus Christ And The Hope Of His Call – Sermon by Father Levine

Fr. Joseph Levine; Holy Family Catholic Church and Missions, Burns, Oregon; May 17, 2026

On this solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, let us begin by calling to mind our Catholic brothers and sisters throughout the world, especially those who, like us, are attending Mass this Sunday. Each one comes with his personal hopes and desires, sorrows and fears, trials and successes, gifts and weaknesses, each with his own burden of sin and blessing of God’s grace. Some have their gaze fixed more steadily upon Christ; others, burdened with sorrow or sin, or simply distracted by the things of this world, have let their gaze fall from heaven. Yet, we are all united in the one Church, the one Body of Christ, and our one head and king, the man, Jesus Christ, is now enthroned in glory at the right hand of his Father. We should all come with what we have, in order to receive and be transformed by what Christ wants to give.

The Solemnity of the Ascension defines the present state of the world until Christ returns in glory to judge the living and the dead. In the meantime, we, his ministers and his servants, must be about his work. This work is three-fold: the work he does in each one of us, in our interior; the work he does forming us together in the unity of his family, his kingdom; and finally, the work of extending the two-fold work, personal and social, to others, to the ends of the earth, to all nations, bringing them into his kingdom.

Christ’s command to his Apostles in today’s Gospel speaks of the work of extending his kingdom to all nations. Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all that I have commanded you. Through faith and baptism, people enter into the kingdom of Christ, the Church.

Jesus affirms that even in his sacred humanity he has received all authority in heaven and on earth; today’s 2^nd reading gives us the vision of the man Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world but in the world to come, who rules over the whole universe, but is uniquely the head of the Church, which is his body, the fulness of the one who fills all things in every way.

He gave the Apostles the authority to carry out his work on earth, extending his kingdom, and the authority of the Apostles continues until the end of the age in their successors, the Pope and the bishops of the Catholic Church.

St. Paul’s prayer for us speaks of the interior work of Christ in the soul, the work that qualifies us to share in his work, the work that is required to make the work of the Church truly fruitful.

St. Paul prays for all of us that we may receive a spirit of wisdom and revelation so as truly to know Christ himself.

What really does it mean to know Jesus Christ?

It means knowing the Son of God, the 2^nd person of the Holy Trinity, who became man for our salvation, suffered, died on the Cross, rose again from the dead, and is now, in his sacred humanity, enthroned in the glory of God. It means knowing the one to whom St. Stephen bore witness as he was being stoned to death, saying, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God. (Acts 7: 56) It means knowing the one whom St. Paul, after taking part in the death of St. Stephen and seeking the imprisonment and death of other Christians, met on the road to Damascus, when a light from heaven shone about him, and falling to the ground, he heard a voice telling him, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. (Acts 9:5) The head at the right hand of God and the members laboring upon the earth are one, so St. Paul, in persecuting the Church, was persecuting Christ himself.

It means knowing that the Jesus, about whom we read in the Gospels, whether as an infant lying in the manger, or teaching words of wisdom, or working miracles, driving out demons, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead, calming the storm at sea, feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fish, or sitting by the well of Samaria, weary from the journey, or weeping over the death of his friend Lazarus, or over the coming destruction of Jerusalem, or sorrowful to the point of death in the garden of Gethsemane, or hanging on the Cross, pardoning the repentant thief, entrusting his Mother to the beloved disciple, crying out in agony, I thirst, (Jn 19:28), from whose pierced side, as he lay dead upon the Cross, flowed out blood and water, (cf. Jn 19:34-35) is the same as the one to whom St. Stephen and St. Paul bear witness, who is now seated at the right hand of the Father.  This is the same one who, after he rose from the dead, revealed himself to St. Mary Magdalene weeping by his tomb, calling her by name and saying, Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. (Jn 20:17) Ascending to heaven, he took the hearts of those who knew him when he walked upon earth and carried them out of this passing world – and would that this would happen also to our hearts – to fix them where he is seated at the right hand of God. To know Jesus Christ is to know that this same one has not left us orphans but remains with us hidden in the Holy Eucharist until the end of the age. Jesus in the Holy Eucharist binds us both to Jesus walking the earth and to Jesus at the right hand of the Father, because it is the same Jesus. To know Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit, is to say in truth, Jesus is Lord. (1 Cor 12:3)

To know the hope that belongs to his call is to know that our hope is fixed in heaven where Jesus is, because his desire for us is that where he is in the bosom of the Father (Jn 1:18) we might also be, so as to behold the glory the Father has given him from before the foundation of the world. (cf. Jn 17:24)

To know the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones is to know that even now, through the working of the Holy Spirit, we are given by grace to share in his life as true children of God. This is to know his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature. (2 Pe 1:4) This is the life that at present is hidden with Christ in God, but when he appears, will make us to appear with him in glory. (cf. Col 3:3-4)

To know the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might. This is to know the power of the One who transformed St. Peter from the one who out of fear denied Jesus when questioned by a serving maid in the courtyard of the High Priest, to the one who boldly proclaimed his name just a few months later, when standing trial before the same High Priest, (cf. 4:5-22) and to one who after many years proclaiming the name of Christ in Judea and elsewhere, gave his life, turned upside down on a cross in Rome in Nero’s Circus in the Vatican. This is to know the power of the One who transformed St. Paul from the great persecutor of the Church to the great Apostle of the nations, who labored more than the other Apostles (cf. 1 Cor 15:10), who, together with St. Peter, gave his life in Rome, being beheaded by a sword. This is to know the same power that would work in us, transforming our lives, from the inside out, making us like Christ himself.

All this is to know Jesus Christ, to know the hope that belongs to his call, the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might.

To know Jesus Christ is to know the One who said, He who sees me has seen the Father, because the two are One God, together with the Holy Spirit. (Jn 14:8)

If we know him, like St. Peter knew him and like St. Paul knew him, then we, like they, will hunger to bring the knowledge of him to others. St. Paul wrote, The love of Christ impels us, because we are convinced that one has died for all, therefore all have died. And he died for all, that those who live may no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. (2 Cor 5:14-15)