Posted by The WORD in other words (2009) by Fr. Cyril Ortega, SVD – Divine Word College of Vigan, Ilocus Sur
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord – C
Jesus stood before his disciples and talked about himself in the scriptures, in the Law of Moses, in the Psalms and the Prophets, what we now call the Old Testament. He opened their minds so they could understand. These men had been with him, had witnessed his teaching, his miracles, his suffering and death. They now stood with him after his resurrection. They understood that they would be taking the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins out into the world. And as they understood, He blessed them, and ascended until a cloud took him from their sight.
The Ascension is an ending and a beginning. Goodbyes are nearly always very painful. So too is it with today’s Gospel of the Ascension. But one of the first things that strikes you about this particular goodbye is that it isn’t an unhappy one.
What do the disciples do once Jesus has said his goodbyes and is gone? They go back to the temple joyous in their praise of God. For them this is a happy time – a time to be glad.
The ascended Jesus defines a new beginning for our relationship with God just as it did the disciples.These were the same disciples who, only a short time before, had been hiding in their upstairs room. They had seen their master and friend put to death in front of them; and they ran away afraid of reprisals. Even when they had heard the news of Jesus’ resurrection they probably would still have felt afraid and uncomfortably worried about what Jesus would say to them now, knowing how much they had let him down, denied him and doubted him.
Our failures are no barrier to God’s love. As Jesus assured his disciples that their failures didn’t change his love for them, we are assured of this as well. “Nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ” as St. Paul says in his letter to the Romans.
There are times when we may feel unable to pray, anxious over the things we have done and left undone. We need to leave the locked room of our anxiety and come out into the world.
So until that day, how are we going to add to the story? We are the church, we are Christ’s body, we continue his work as He has commanded us to do so.
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