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Dear Friend, When we have had a
pleasant or touching experience we like to have a memento of that experience
or person to treasure and cherish that moment and relive it. Though we like
to remember people who have loved us and whom we love, we know that sometimes
those out of sight are out of our mind. When people have gone away they are
gone! Sometimes their going is final and permanent. But Jesus goes away to
come again in a new and permanent way through his Spirit. His Spirit is never
absent, but always there. Have an expectant weekend awaiting his coming! Fr. Jude Botelho |
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St. Luke wrote two closely connected books: the
Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Acts of the Apostles. The ascension is the
turning point between Jesus’ own ministry and the era of the mission of the
Church, a time which looks towards the return of the Lord. At the end of
Luke’s gospel we find the apostles waiting joyfully in Jerusalem for the
coming of the Spirit. The opening verses of the Acts point out that Jesus
will no longer be bodily present but his presence will be felt in and through
the Holy Spirit. The emphasis is on forward looking and on getting on with
their mission instead of wasting time gazing in the sky wondering when Jesus
will come again. The disciples are called to be apostles, men with a mission
to spread the good news till the ends of the earth. It is difficult to
imagine how the ascension took place and the account is full of imagery.
There is the cloud, always a symbol of the divine, into which Jesus is drawn
up; and the men in white, angels, who encourage the disciples to go on their
mission. Jesus’
ascension is not the ending of Jesus’ presence on earth, but a constant reminder
of the fact that Jesus lives. In the second reading Paul tells his listeners
from Ephesus that the ascension is the logical conclusion and completion of
the resurrection. The Risen Lord is above all other beings due to his
position as the crown of creation, the first-born from the resurrection, in
fact, first in every way. If Christians are united by baptism with him they
too will rise with him and ascend with him in glory at the final
resurrection. The basis of Christian hope is Christ’s ascension which assures
us of our own. If Christ has been glorified we too will be glorified with
him. The Divine Fool The context of today’s Gospel, is the
ascension of Jesus into heaven. The Gospel of Matthew which opened with the
promise of ‘God with us’ ends with Jesus’ assurance: “I am with you always to
the end of time”. No matter when, where and how, Jesus ascended, before he
left he commissioned his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations.
Though the commission is brief it is a communication of authority that is his
both in heaven and earth. One word that is full of power is the word “Go!” It
must have been a overwhelming task for the apostles to fulfil that command:
“Go out and conquer the whole world!”
This mission applies to all of us believers even now. Our mission is
not our own, our mission is not an option we may fulfil but an obligation for
everyone who believes. Our mission is to all nations, to all people, to
baptize and to teach. We do this not on our own authority but ‘in the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This amazing command can be
fulfilled by us because of Jesus’ concluding words: “I am with you always.”
In the face of current happenings and difficulties in the world and in the
Church, we who believe in Christ’s ascension, must not just passively sit and
wait. We must have an urgency in our waiting, an urgency that leads us to
active commitment to work for our hoped-for future. We are not alone, his
Spirit is with us always till the end of time. “The Ascension is not an event to be studied in
isolation but as part of the Easter mystery. Between Easter Day and Pentecost
we celebrate that time of transition during which the Risen Jesus vanishes
from the sight of his disciples, only to open a new way of relating to them –
a way so efficacious that everything is filled with his presence. As if by a
bridge spanning a river, so the disciples had now to leave the familiar bank
of the natural presence of Jesus and cross to the other side –as yet unknown
territory- where they will be taken hold of by the Spirit of the Risen Lord.
The new Elijah has been removed from them, but Emmanuel, God with us, remains
ever present in his Church, enthroned by God in his kingdom. Certainly, after
his last apparition, Jesus seemed to depart from his disciples. But his
invisible presence becomes more intense in depth and extent in a way that
would have been impossible had his former bodily presence continued. Thanks
to the Holy Spirit, this new presence of Jesus is established forever just
where Jesus himself had always taught his disciples to discern him: in his
word, the sacraments, our neighbour and, especially, the apostolate. It is then
a question not of ‘looking into the sky’, but of being witnesses of the Risen
Lord on this earth of ours, and of cooperating with him in the work of
extending his kingdom.” – Glenstal Bible Missal Passing the Baton All’s well Many years ago, a great Arctic explorer started on an
expedition to the North Pole. After having spent two years in the freezing
and lonely place, he wrote a message, tied it to the leg of a carrier pigeon,
and let it loose to make the two thousand mile journey to Norway. The bird
circled thrice, and then started its southward flight in the freezing cold
for hundreds of miles; it travelled and crossed the icy frozen oceans and
wastelands until it reached and dropped into the lap of the explorer’s wife.
The arrival of the bird proved that everything was well with her husband in
that deserted and frozen arctic North. –Likewise the coming of the Holy
Spirit on the day of Pentecost proved to the disciples that Jesus had entered
the heavenly sanctuary after his ascension as he had promised. Now he was
seated at the right hand of God the Father, for His redemption work was over.
The coming of the Holy Spirit was the fulfilment of the promise of Christ. John Rose in ’John’s Sunday Homilies’ “I’m just sitting here in case she needs something” In his book The Friendship Factor, Alan Loy McGinnis
relates a beautiful story about author Norman Lobsenz. Young Norman’s wife
was in the midst of a prolonged, serious illness. Norman was emotionally and
physically drained. The ordeal was taking its toll on him. One night he was
on the verge of collapse. Suddenly a long-forgotten incident from his
childhood flashed into his mind. The incident took place during an illness of
his own mother when he was a child. He had gotten up in the middle of the
night to get a drink of water. As he passed his parent’s bedroom he saw his
father sitting at the bedside of his mother. She was fast asleep. Norman
rushed into the room and cried, “Daddy, is Mom worse?” “No,” said the father
quietly. “I’m just sitting here waiting in case she gets up and needs
something.” The memory of that incident gave Norman the courage he needed to
carry on. Our God is always with us! Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’ May we go forth in His name
and manifest His power working in us! Fr. Jude
Botelho |
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Other Sunday Homily Websites Daily Reflections Immaculate Heart Retreat Center Gospel Commentary from Ireland Daily Scripture |
Recent
Sunday Reflections Sixth Sunday of Easter 27-April. 2008 Fifth Sunday of Easter 20-April. 2008 Fourth
Sunday of Easter 13-April. 2008 Third Sunday of Easter 06-April. 2008 Second Sunday of Easter 30-March. 2008
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