First, let me say that in some Dioceses the Ascension of our Lord is celebrated today, on the Thursday of the sixth week of Easter. However, in our Diocese of Jackson and in most Dioceses throughout the United States, the Ascension has been transferred to this upcoming Sunday, since more of the faithful come to mass on Sunday, so we can celebrate the Ascension with the faithful on that day. Today, in our Diocese of Jackson, we celebrate the Thursday of the sixth week of Easter. Today, in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear about Paul going to the city of Corinth, about all the challenges he faced in trying to bring God’s Word to the world. Paul initially was a persecutor of the followers of Jesus before his dramatic conversion. It is amazing to see where Paul was called to go as a follower of Christ himself, to hear about the different hardships and adversity that Paul himself faced in trying to bring Good News of Jesus to others. Paul received the calling to bring the Good News to the Gentiles, to those outside of the Jewish world, to those whom many Jews would have considered unclean and beyond the realm of God’s salvation. God can call us to things that we would have considered unimaginable.
I thought about the Doctors of the Church that we have celebrated in the last few weeks. One was John of Avila, a great preacher, theologian and mystic who lived in Spain in the 16th century, in the era of the Protestant Reformation and the Spanish Inquisition. We also celebrated the feast day of Catherine of Siena several week ago. Catherine was an Italian lay woman from the 14th century who was affiliated with the Dominicans. Without much formal education, she was considered one of the greatest theological minds of her era. She became an advisor to popes and kings, not being afraid to speak the direct, blunt truth to those in power. The saint we celebrate today in the Venerable Bede. I have always loved his name, since the term “venerable” denotes the great respect that Bede was accorded due to his wisdom and knowledge. A Benedictine monk, priest, and historian, he lived in England in the 7th and 8th centuries. A great translator and linguist, he translated the Latin and Greek writings of the Church Fathers into the Anglo-Saxon language. He is most remembered for being the Father of English history. Indeed, I remember reading a book of his in my Western Civilization course in college, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The term “the Venerable Bede” comes from the inscription on his tomb in Durham England in Latin: “HIC SUNT IN FOSSA BEDAE VENERABILIS OSSA.” In English, it says: “Here are buried the bones of the Venerable Bede.”
When I go on pilgrimage in Spain, I so love the history of our faith, the traditions and old buildings, and the way that we are a part of something so much bigger than our little corner of the modern world. Today, we honor Paul and his companions who brought the faith to the people of Corinth, a Greek city-state located about halfway between Athens and Sparta. We honor the English historian the Venerable Bede who lived in the England so many centuries ago. Our faith is so rich full of history, isn’t it?
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