HW: When is an ending not at ending (at all, at all!!)

A reflection for Ascension Sunday, inspired by Matthew 28:16-20, written and spoken by Kieran J. O'Mahony OSA

Gentle piano music to close the meditation

Transcript

John’s Lane
D08 F8NW
17 May 2026
The Ascension
Matthew 28:16-20

Welcome
Welcome again, everybody. We all approach reading differently. Whenever I have an article to read — to do with the news or even with biblical studies — I start by reading the first and the last paragraph. It does take some of the surprise out of the reading but it has the advantage that you know where the author hopes to arrive!

All writers choose how to end an article or a book or a podcast and how they choose the end is revealing. The famous ending of James Joyce’s Ulysses (yes, yes, yes) is, well, justly famous. The author of Mark’s Gospel ended the original text in an arresting way: “They (the women) said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.” The last line of the Acts of the Apostle is striking: “He (Paul) proclaimed the Kingdom of God and the Good news about Jesus Christ fearlessly and unhindered.” The very last word in Greek is “unhindered”! Likewise, our Gospel today shows how Matthew chose to end his story of Jesus:

‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.’

Topic
This majestic scene has many layers: a kind of background, a kind of foreground and a distinct message for us today.

Steps
The background is rich. The figure of Jesus as teacher echoes the figure of Moses and his final speech in the book of Deuteronomy. “All authority” is an echo of a key passage in the book of Daniel. “I am with you always” echoes Isaiah, “they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means God-is-with-us”, already quoted in chapter 1 of the same Gospel.

There is also a kind of foreground. Matthew wants the teaching of Jesus to be at the centre of Christian faith — to observe everything Jesus said. There is plenty of that teaching in the Gospel according to Matthew. Such deep hearing is the path of discipleship, a path we all started out on at Baptism. Baptism, too, is in our reading, with a surprisingly early reference to the words still used today when each of us was baptised.

In just a few lines, Matthew manages to say so much! But what about today? Once more, both as individuals and as a community of faith, we find ourselves at a critical juncture. The symptoms are clear enough: lower congregations, the missing generations, the shortage of vocations, the parish partnership proposals. Underneath the presenting symptoms, there are two choices in front of us, one of which is tempting but ultimately moribund. That temptation is “maintenance”, keeping the show somehow on the road. Maintenance, without reading the signs of the times, leads to stasis, leading inexorably to the eventual seizing up of the whole system, before its natural and perhaps merciful demise. It is tempting because it keeps all involved enjoyably busy — but busy doing what?

The alternative is to become a mission-oriented community. This is much harder, even hard to imagine these days, but the only way forward. I couldn’t tell you how many books and programmes have been written and devised, in the last 10 to 15 years, to wake up the church. The best of them all resemble each other and core message is simple: only a church which is actually growing is truly alive. In a word, we have to move from maintenance to mission.

The future has to be primarily about the Good News of God in Jesus Christ. Only then can we in any sensible way try to reimagine church so as to serve best the Good News in our time. Our faith vision is not first of all about an institution but first of all about a message, an event and a person.

Conclusion
So, when is an ending not an ending? Mark’s ending is not an ending: the writer knows that the next “instalment” is not in the pages of a book but in the lives of all who hear his words. Likewise, Luke’s ending in the Acts constitutes a vast opening out: proclaiming the Good News about Jesus Christ fearlessly and unhindered. In the very same energetic, missionary vein, Matthew challenges us today to live the Good News in such a way that we ourselves may draw life from it and that others may drawn into the great adventure of faith. We can do this because the Lord is with us always, yes, to the end of time.