Ascend to Him

     Our hearts were healed by His presence. Jesus had risen from the dead as He had promised and He appeared to us a number of times. He opened Scripture to us and we began to understand that this – His story – had all been foretold by the prophets. He had not abandoned us – His love was true. Jesus was the Promised Messiah!


     We wanted to cling to Him and have Him remain with us, but He could not. He must return to His Father. Jesus was to go to prepare a place for us; come back for us and take us to Himself. Grief filled our hearts! Looking at us with love, Jesus promised to be with us until the end of the world. He would send Another – the Advocate – the Spirit of Truth, Who would guide us in all truth.

     He then gave us the great commission to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We were to teach them all that He had commanded us. He then raised His hands and blessed us. As Jesus blessed us, He was taken up to heaven.

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     What was it really like for the apostles experiencing the passion, death, resurrection and ascension of their Lord and Master? They must have felt as though their emotions were on a roller coaster: shame from abandoning Jesus in His greatest time of need; pain while remembering His scourging, crucifixion and death; abandonment after His death. Imagine their confusion of being told that He had risen, and the boundless joy at seeing Him once again, and spending time with Him after His resurrection.

     But then Jesus prepares them for His departure and His return to the Father. They must have felt as though their hearts were being torn out of their chests. Why couldn't He just stay? Why couldn't He remain and help them? Most of them were just fishermen and laborers of one sort or another. How could they even attempt to do what He wanted them to do – build His Church?

     The apostles could not do it on their own – left to their own devices they failed miserably. But Jesus promised to send them the Holy Spirit. They were to stay in the city until they were clothed with the power from on high: the great event of the birth of the Church – Pentecost.

     The feast of the Ascension of Our Lord, should give us both hope and great pause. Jesus has gone to the Father to prepare a place for us in heaven. But with the promise, a task that each of us is to fulfill: Go and make disciples of all nations.

     Like the disciples, we cannot do it on our own. We too need help from God. Through the grace of our Baptism, we have become Temples of the Holy Spirit and are able to be filled with His grace. We must allow the Holy Spirit to transform us into a disciple of Christ.

     When we become a disciple of Christ, we are Christ like. We continue to grow in holiness and bring others to God. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Mt. 7 vs. 21). By submitting our will to the will of the Father and emptying ourselves of all that does not reflect Christ, we become heirs to the kingdom of God.    
  
      “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you should love one another. This is how all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13 vs. 34). Striving to love all, without exception, is a mighty task we are called to carry out. We must work to become like the early Church who were known by their love for all.

      It may mean, biting our tongues when we want to make a snide remark; smiling when we don’t feel like it; doing our work to the best of our ability; being kind to someone you dislike; letting someone ahead of you in the supermarket or in traffic; going the extra mile; doing without so someone else may have something; and loving always.

     In these days before Pentecost, let us go to the upper room of our hearts, and pray and wait for the Holy Spirit to descend upon us in a powerful way. May we be filled with all the gifts and graces needed to continue to be true disciples of Christ; evangelizing by the way we live our lives and keeping our eyes set on our heavenly destination.