# Get to Work! - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon

An episode of [Daily Sermons With Bishop Robert Barron](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6783446284), 12 Jul 2026, 14 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72754552/get_to_work_bishop_barron_s_sunday_sermon.mp3



## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Peace be with you. Friends. We come to the wonderful
[0:02] Speaker 1: feast today of the ascension of the Lord, a very
[0:06] Speaker 1: important feast and one that has all sorts of interesting
[0:09] Speaker 1: theological and spiritual implications. I want to draw your attention. First.
[0:13] Speaker 1: It's our first reading from the Actually Apostles, very beginning
[0:15] Speaker 1: of that great text. The risen Christ has gathered with
[0:19] Speaker 1: his disciples on the mountain. Listen. Now, when they had
[0:22] Speaker 1: gathered together, they asked him, Lord, are you at this
[0:25] Speaker 1: time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? So here,
[0:28] Speaker 1: if they've witnessed the resurrection, they know this man's been
[0:32] Speaker 1: preaching the coming of the kingdom, and so this must
[0:35] Speaker 1: be the moment. Jesus answered them, it is not for
[0:40] Speaker 1: you to know the times or seasons that the Father
[0:42] Speaker 1: has established by his own authority. But you will receive
[0:46] Speaker 1: power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you
[0:49] Speaker 1: will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and to all the world.
[0:54] Speaker 1: Now here's the important thing for us, like the disciples,
[0:58] Speaker 1: we very often want to ask the Lord. Okay, Lord,
[1:01] Speaker 1: when is all this going to come to fruition? So
[1:05] Speaker 1: we're living in this time of struggle and difficulty, and
[1:08] Speaker 1: we're trying to live the moral and spiritual life. And
[1:10] Speaker 1: you're telling us that you're going to bring about the kingdom?
[1:12] Speaker 1: Is it going to happen? What's it all about? When
[1:16] Speaker 1: is all of this going to make sense? You know,
[1:19] Speaker 1: reasonable enough questions, I suppose, and we hear the same answer.
[1:25] Speaker 1: It's not for you to worry about. That's not the
[1:28] Speaker 1: question you need to get resolved. That's a matter of
[1:31] Speaker 1: God's providence. So think of all the years of the
[1:35] Speaker 1: history of the Church. People in every age would have
[1:37] Speaker 1: asked a question like this, and we ask it and
[1:40] Speaker 1: the answer comes back. That's not for you to worry about.
[1:43] Speaker 1: Rather what the Holy Spirit will come upon you with
[1:47] Speaker 1: power and now go and witness to me around the world.
[1:52] Speaker 1: In other words, don't worry about the ultimate resolution of
[1:55] Speaker 1: all of this. Rather get to work. In a way,
[2:01] Speaker 1: I always think the ascension is the feast of get
[2:03] Speaker 1: to work, because the Lord moves to a higher dimension
[2:08] Speaker 1: and then sends the Holy Spirit. That's next week Pentecost
[2:11] Speaker 1: will celebrate. That sends the Holy Spirit so that we
[2:14] Speaker 1: can be empowered to do christ work in the world.
[2:17] Speaker 1: The ultimate question, when will it all make sense? Don't
[2:21] Speaker 1: worry about it, get to work now I talked about
[2:26] Speaker 1: Jesus moving to a higher dimension. I want to stay
[2:29] Speaker 1: with that because I think it helps to illuminate this.
[2:32] Speaker 1: Don't think of the ascension as Jesus moving, you know,
[2:36] Speaker 1: up through space within our dimensional system. I mean, if
[2:40] Speaker 1: that were true, even if he's moving at the speed
[2:42] Speaker 1: of light, he would be barely out of the Solar system.
[2:45] Speaker 1: So don't think of it in terms of this dimension. Rather,
[2:49] Speaker 1: the ascension means that Jesus has now been translated into
[2:53] Speaker 1: a higher dimension. Now we call it heaven. Heaven's a symbol,
[2:58] Speaker 1: you know, the heavens, the sky, and the clouds. That's
[3:01] Speaker 1: a symbol for what transcends our ordinary experience. And here's
[3:07] Speaker 1: my example. Think of a point. Think of a one dimension,
[3:11] Speaker 1: now two dimensions. Think of a line. How many points
[3:15] Speaker 1: are in a line? Infinite number points in a line.
[3:19] Speaker 1: The line, which is at a higher dimension, can include
[3:24] Speaker 1: in infinity from that lower dimension. Now think of lines
[3:29] Speaker 1: forming A square is in a two dimensional system. Now
[3:32] Speaker 1: raise that to three dimensions. The square becomes a cube.
[3:36] Speaker 1: So imagine that how many squares can fit in that cube? Well,
[3:41] Speaker 1: an infinite number. At the higher dimension, it becomes inclusive
[3:48] Speaker 1: of what is at the lower dimension. Jesus has ascended
[3:54] Speaker 1: into heaven, and don't think of it, he's staying within
[3:56] Speaker 1: our dimensional system. That means, like a spaceship going up
[3:59] Speaker 1: into space. He's moved to a higher pitch of existence
[4:05] Speaker 1: now listen, which can include even an infinity of what
[4:12] Speaker 1: lies at the lower dimension. And so we speak indeed
[4:16] Speaker 1: of the mystical body of Christ, which includes all of
[4:22] Speaker 1: us across space and time. The body of Jesus that
[4:27] Speaker 1: made its way around Galilee and Judea in the first century, well,
[4:31] Speaker 1: that's in a particular time and space. But now the
[4:36] Speaker 1: ascended Christ in the heavenly realm, at a higher pitch
[4:40] Speaker 1: of existence, can include, yes, an infinity of us, all
[4:47] Speaker 1: of us across space and time, members of his mystical body.
[4:51] Speaker 1: To see the point of your friends, To speak of
[4:53] Speaker 1: the ascension of Jesus, therefore, is not to say he
[4:57] Speaker 1: gets farther away. On the contrary, the ascended Christ can
[5:03] Speaker 1: be closer to us than he ever was when he
[5:07] Speaker 1: walked the hills of Galilee. That's why you know when
[5:11] Speaker 1: he appears to Saul, who's going to Damascus furiously to
[5:16] Speaker 1: persecute the church, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me. See,
[5:23] Speaker 1: in persecuting the church, they're members of his mystical body.
[5:28] Speaker 1: Saul was persecuting Jesus himself. That's how close the ascended
[5:34] Speaker 1: Christ is to us. Okay, with that image in mind,
[5:39] Speaker 1: I want to look at two further dimensions of this.
[5:43] Speaker 1: The first image I want to use is a kind
[5:45] Speaker 1: of military one. And let me quote now from the
[5:49] Speaker 1: second reading, from that wonderful beginning of Paul to the Ephesians.
[5:54] Speaker 1: Get out your bibles and look in that first chapter
[5:57] Speaker 1: of Paul to the Ephesians. This ecstatic him to Christ,
[6:01] Speaker 1: and we're reading part of it. Listen, raising him from
[6:07] Speaker 1: the dead, raising Christ and the dead, and seating him
[6:10] Speaker 1: at his right hand in the heavens. Again, don't think
[6:13] Speaker 1: like he's beyond the moon somewhere. Think he's in this
[6:16] Speaker 1: higher dimensional system, far above every principality, authority, power and
[6:24] Speaker 1: dominion and every name that is named. Not only in
[6:27] Speaker 1: this age but in the one to come. He put
[6:31] Speaker 1: all things under his feet. So this is the image
[6:37] Speaker 1: now of the ascended Christ, who reigns and commands the
[6:45] Speaker 1: way a military leader, certainly in the ancient world, would
[6:50] Speaker 1: have gone up to a height from which he could
[6:53] Speaker 1: survey the entire field of battle, see the moves of
[6:56] Speaker 1: the enemy, see his own army, and give the commands
[7:00] Speaker 1: how best to direct it. So the Ascended Christ above
[7:09] Speaker 1: every principality, authority, power and dominion, all things under his feet.
[7:15] Speaker 1: He's the commanding lord now of the Church which participates
[7:21] Speaker 1: in him, the mystical body which is now being directed
[7:26] Speaker 1: by the risen and ascended Christ. Go right back to
[7:30] Speaker 1: the beginning now of my servant. Stop looking up into
[7:33] Speaker 1: heaven wondering when he'll come back, but rather get to work.
[7:37] Speaker 1: He's going to send the Holy Spirit in power, and
[7:42] Speaker 1: then he's going to direct you. Think about this for
[7:45] Speaker 1: a second. Think of a foot soldier in Eisenhower's army
[7:49] Speaker 1: nineteen forty four and the Normandy invasion. Now he's making
[7:53] Speaker 1: his way across the countryside and his immediate commander tells him,
[7:58] Speaker 1: you got to take that hill. Well, that's part of
[8:02] Speaker 1: this grand strategic plan that Eisenhower has in mind. But
[8:08] Speaker 1: this foot soldier, this infantry soldier, doesn't really understand all
[8:12] Speaker 1: of that, but he's heard the command you got to
[8:15] Speaker 1: take that hill. Well, see, we're a bit like that,
[8:20] Speaker 1: all of us. Members of the mystical body. Do we
[8:24] Speaker 1: see the grand plan? Hey? Lord, are you going to
[8:26] Speaker 1: bring the kingdom to fruition? Hey hey, that's not for
[8:29] Speaker 1: you to worry about. You worry about doing what the
[8:35] Speaker 1: Spirit commands you to do. So think now, all those
[8:38] Speaker 1: listening to me. You know, we all have a role
[8:40] Speaker 1: to play in this great theodrama. We all have a
[8:44] Speaker 1: mission in this great army of Christ. It might be
[8:49] Speaker 1: something that never gets the attention of the world who cares.
[8:53] Speaker 1: It might be something the purpose of which you don't
[8:56] Speaker 1: fully understand, but you've been commanded to do it. So
[9:00] Speaker 1: do it, you know, speaking to you as a priest,
[9:04] Speaker 1: this comes very naturally. You know. When I put my
[9:07] Speaker 1: hands like this into the hands of Joseph Berney, who
[9:10] Speaker 1: ordained me a priest many years ago, and I said,
[9:13] Speaker 1: I promise obedience to you and your successors. I mean
[9:18] Speaker 1: I didn't know. I barely knew him, knew nothing about
[9:21] Speaker 1: a successor. But I did what I was told to do.
[9:27] Speaker 1: Did I understand the grand plan that the cardinal head
[9:30] Speaker 1: of mind? No, much less the grand plan the Christ
[9:34] Speaker 1: had in mind? But I had a confidence I still
[9:37] Speaker 1: have it that in obeying that command, I was doing
[9:41] Speaker 1: what I was supposed to do. I was making my
[9:43] Speaker 1: contribution to the great task. So that's if you want
[9:48] Speaker 1: the sort of military side of the ascended Christ as
[9:52] Speaker 1: he commands his church. The second part of it, it's
[9:55] Speaker 1: not so much in our readings for today, but you
[9:58] Speaker 1: find it in the Great Letter to the Hebrews. When
[10:01] Speaker 1: you finished reading the beginning of Ephesians, take out your
[10:04] Speaker 1: Bible again and read the Letter to the Hebrews. The
[10:08] Speaker 1: author of that letter we don't know quite who he was.
[10:11] Speaker 1: He was certainly someone very well acquainted with the sacrifices
[10:17] Speaker 1: and operations of the temple. He knew about the high
[10:22] Speaker 1: priest on the day of Atonement going into the Holy
[10:25] Speaker 1: of Holies with the blood of the animal, and then
[10:29] Speaker 1: putting it around the Holy of Holies, then taking that
[10:31] Speaker 1: blood out and then sprinkling upon the people. In that
[10:35] Speaker 1: great act of atonement. He was reconciling divinity and humanity.
[10:41] Speaker 1: But the author of that letter sees so beautifully and
[10:43] Speaker 1: so clearly, is that Jesus, on his cross shedding his blood,
[10:48] Speaker 1: is the true high priest. His blood is the blood
[10:52] Speaker 1: of our own reparation. Because he stands in for us,
[10:56] Speaker 1: he becomes sin on the cross, as Paul says, at
[11:00] Speaker 1: the same time, his blood poured out is God's blood
[11:04] Speaker 1: poured out upon us. Jesus cross is the point of
[11:08] Speaker 1: reconciliation between divinity and humanity. But now listen, here's where
[11:13] Speaker 1: it links to the ascension. Because Jesus is not just
[11:17] Speaker 1: an ordinary human being, because he's God from God, Light
[11:22] Speaker 1: from light, true God from true God. That act of
[11:25] Speaker 1: his on the cross has an eternal dimension. It's not
[11:31] Speaker 1: just happening at that one place in time two thousand
[11:33] Speaker 1: years ago, but it's been brought up into the heavenly
[11:40] Speaker 1: Temple where Jesus now eternally presents his sacrifice to the Father.
[11:48] Speaker 1: That's the ascended Christ, dwelling as it were in the
[11:52] Speaker 1: heavenly Temple. And every time we gather from Mass and
[11:58] Speaker 1: we represent the sacrifice of Jesus, where are we we
[12:04] Speaker 1: are in that same heavenly place, remember participating in him
[12:10] Speaker 1: so doing what he commands, yes, and joining our prayer
[12:16] Speaker 1: and sacrifice to his. That's why at every Mass you
[12:21] Speaker 1: should think about the ascension Jesus in that heavenly Temple,
[12:28] Speaker 1: and we join our prayer and sacrifice to his. And
[12:32] Speaker 1: this has been true for Christians up and down the ages.
[12:36] Speaker 1: Because Christ eternally stands outside of time, he can include
[12:40] Speaker 1: all of these people across space and time in his
[12:43] Speaker 1: great Temple sacrifice. So, looking up to heaven, Hey, when's
[12:51] Speaker 1: he coming back? Lord? Are you going to restore the kingdom?
[12:54] Speaker 1: What's it all about? When will all this make sense?
[12:57] Speaker 1: Don't worry about it. Don't worry about that. Rather, when
[13:00] Speaker 1: the spirit comes, get to work. Do what you're told,
[13:04] Speaker 1: follow the prompting of the spirit, even if you don't
[13:06] Speaker 1: fully understand what you're doing. And I would say, participate
[13:11] Speaker 1: in the great sacrifice of the Mass. In both those
[13:15] Speaker 1: ways we realize the importance of this feast of the
[13:20] Speaker 1: ascension of Jesus and God bless you.

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