This weekend we reflect on the joy and burden of carrying on both what Jesus has begun and what our mothers have hoped for us. In the joy of the Easter Season we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus and we observe Mother’s Day. Just as it is important to recognize the meaning and importance of the Ascension, it is important to recognize the significance of motherhood in our lives- our maternal mothers, those who have shown motherly care and the place of mother church in our lives.
Did you notice the different ways that Luke presents the Ascension? In the first reading from Acts, Luke portrays the Ascension as occurring 40 days after the Resurrection while in the Gospel, Luke depicts the Ascension as on the same day Christ rose. The Gospel account suggests the resurrection and the ascension are one event, while Acts seems to say they are two separate events. What I have always found interesting is the reaction of the Apostles in the two accounts. In Acts, after three years of daily tutoring and devoted friendship, after the passion, death and resurrection, the Apostles still ask Jesus the wrong question: “Are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?” Even at this late moment, they still do not understand the meaning of Jesus’ life and work. (Clearly, there is hope for all of us!). Jesus tells them of the Holy Spirit and how they will be witnesses—but they need to be nudged along to take action.
In the Gospel, however, the Apostles are ready to act. In the hours they have been with Jesus since the Resurrection, they have been transformed—they are ready to be witnesses, to become his disciples in action.
For me, I relate better to the story from Acts. I need those 40-days often to strengthen my faith and my resolve to live my faith day-in and day-out. And, I need that periodic nudge just as the Apostles did, reminding myself that the Risen Jesus is to be found here on earth—here in the people around me and here in God’s creation—not looking up to the sky, so to speak.
And, I am reminded of what Pope Francis said to the cardinals in a very brief but very important moment before he was elected pope. He said, “the only purpose of the Church is to go out and tell the world the good news about Jesus Christ.” He goes on, “to the peripheries where people grapple with sin, pain, injustice, ignorance and indifference to religion” He concluded by saying “the next Pope should be someone who helps the Church surge forth to the peripheries like a sweet comforting mother who offers the joy of Jesus to the world.” We all know what happened after that!!
We gather here today to celebrate the Ascension—the final event of Jesus’ visible earthly life. It is through the Ascension that Jesus’ supremacy over creation is revealed—just as the Resurrection expressed the reality of Jesus’ triumph over death. The Ascension assures us that Jesus is eternally present to us with God.
But, how are we to share in all of this? The second reading from Ephesians gives us some guidance, “may the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory.”
But before we go to share in Jesus’ eternal glory, there is work to be done. When Jesus left us, he made it clear that he wanted us to carry on the work he had begun. He said that we could do the same things he did and even greater. So before leaving them, he tells his apostles to go back to Jerusalem and there wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
This experience will be their baptism when they will become filled with the very Spirit of Jesus as he establishes a new Kingdom. This kingdom will be open to all the people of the world. It will not be a political force or a military power. Rather, it will be an eternal and universal kingdom: a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, mercy, love, and peace.
The Apostles will soon learn this, accept it and promulgate it everywhere. And, after they receive the Spirit of Jesus themselves, they will begin to inaugurate the Kingship of God not only in Jerusalem and Judea, but in time to the very ends of the earth. This was their mission – and now it is ours: to carry the message of Jesus to the whole world.
The Apostles have a new lesson to learn, as we do: they will not find Jesus in the sky, in “heaven”. The Jesus they knew before the crucifixion has left them for good. But, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on them (the spirit of the Father and of Jesus) they will begin to grow in understanding. If they want to find Jesus, they will find him in the people around them, in those they mix with every day of their lives. The gift of the Ascension is that it makes room for the on-going work of the Holy Spirit in each of us.
Every time we receive the love of a brother or sister, it is the presence of Jesus. Every time we share our love with a brother or sister, we are making Jesus present to that person. We are to be Jesus in this world. We are to be the visible presence of Jesus. And, that is really a great challenge and a rather scary responsibility. In a recent gathering of over 100,000 teenagers in Rome, Pope Francis reminded them as he reminds each of us today, “The Lord, if you listen to his voice, will reveal to you the secret of love. It is caring for others, respecting them, protecting them and waiting for them. This is putting tenderness and love into action.”
When people see us, do they see Jesus? When people see us, do they want to know Jesus? When people see us, do they want to join our faith community, share our life, and take the Gospel as the foundation of their life?
Today, we gather here not only to remember something that happened a long time ago; we are also here today and each weekend to remind ourselves that when Jesus left us he gave us a very important mission.
That mission was and is to continue his loving and redemptive presence in the world—like our mothers have been for each of us. Let us ask Jesus today to help us, together with him, to carry out that huge responsibility in the way he wants.
As I mentioned, sometimes we need to be nudged along to be disciples in action—here is a nudge!. To reach the peripheries of our Archdiocese, we each need to financially support the Annual Catholic Appeal. There was a time when many of us were physically doing the works of mercy. Now, as we get older, it is our prayers and our financial support that we put into action to create a “Future Full of Hope.”