The Ascension of the Lord

He answered them, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven."
--Acts 1: 7-11

In my mind, I can picture the Apostles there on the summit of Mount Olivet, standing looking intently at the sky. They had been with Jesus from the beginning, a ragtag collection --a tax collector, farmers and fisherman; they had left everything to follow Jesus, and He told them He would make them fishers of men. They had heard Jesus’ words of truth, seen Him feed the multitudes, cast out demons, cure the sick, and raise the dead! Even then, they did not fully understand, but in their hearts they knew that Jesus was the Way, the Truth and the Life. They had been Blessed to understand that Jesus was the Christ; but Jesus told them that He had come as a suffering servant to be condemned and executed. At the last supper, He washed their feet; then He instituted the Eucharist, giving Himself to us – spiritual food in material form – and He promised the coming of the Holy Spirit as our helper and guide. And then Jesus was arrested and tortured and condemned and crucified – imagine the confusion and horrible grief they felt. Then, on the third day, they found the empty tomb – Jesus had risen! And for forty days He again appeared to them; He walked and ate with them; He taught and He prayed with them. And they followed Jesus up the mountain, and He ascended into the clouds…

Last week, Dusty and Isabella came home from the corner smoothie shop with a couple of helium balloons. They let the balloons get away, and we watched them ascend into the sky. We were able to see them for quite a few minutes as we watched them go higher and higher and get smaller and smaller. Eventually, there came a point when we could no longer see the balloons. We stood there a few moments more, searching the sky to see if we could find the balloons, but they were gone.

I can picture Jesus followers standing on Mount Olivet, looking intently at the sky, looking for Jesus. I can imagine the uncertainty they felt, perhaps wondering to themselves, “What will we do now? How are we to go on without Jesus?” I can just picture them standing there in silence, maybe glancing at one another, not knowing what to say or do, and looking back at the sky. I’ll bet they didn’t want to come down off that mountain…

And then two men dressed in white garments – Angels – appeared beside them and asked them, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” At that point, they still lacked understanding because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon them. But Jesus had given them a mission – “be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.” And the men in white garments reminded them of this and told them that, "This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

There’s a lot going on in the world right now that causes many people a lot of fear and anxiety. I think there are a lot of people just waiting for God to do something, a lot like Jesus’ followers standing on the mountain of Olivet – but Jesus gave them a mission, just as He has given us His modern day disciples a mission. Just a few days ago in Aparecida, Brazil, Pope Benedict XVI echoed the words of Jesus – “be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth” -- in giving His Apostles and Disciples their mission: “I remind the lay faithful that they too are the Church, the assembly called together by Christ so as to bring His witness to the whole world.”

The Holy Father also said, “Christians are called to announce the Resurrection with force.” We are not supposed to stand around looking to the heavens waiting for God to act; we are to proclaim the good news boldly! How do we do this? My own personal opinion is that we do this in two ways: first, we profess our faith and we wear it on our sleeves; we let people know who we are and what it is we stand for. We wear the cross of Jesus and we display it prominently in our homes. When others are putting up secular holiday decorations, we decorate with religious Holy Day displays. We look for those who are seeking or troubled, and we ask if they would like to know Jesus. We don’t push ourselves on anyone, but neither do we hide our faith. How will anyone believe in Jesus if they don’t see that we believe in Him?

The second way in which we profess our faith is we believe in that we live it; we not only talk the talk, we walk the walk. We put God in the first place in our lives by believing in family and praying together as a family and making going to church on Sunday the highlight of our week, not something we squeeze into our busy schedules. We do our best to live by God’s Commandments, and when we stumble, when we sin, we acknowledge that it is by our own weaknesses and shortcomings; we do not deny the standard of Truth. When we fall, we seek reconciliation with our God. We seek to follow Jesus, to give as He gave, to forgive as He forgives, and to love as He is Love. This is what it means to believe; this is what it means to live as a Christian. If we truly believe, our works will show it.

If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
--James 2: 15-17

On May 2, 2007, the Blessed Virgin Mary in Medjugorje gave this message for the world:
"Dear children! Today I come to you with a motherly desire for you to give me your hearts. My children, do this with complete trust and without fear. In your hearts, I will put my Son and His mercy. Then, my children, you will look at the world around you with different eyes. You will see your neighbor. You will feel his pain and suffering. You will not turn your head away from those who suffer, because my Son turns His head away from those who do so. Children, do not hesitate."

Our Lady’s words echo the words of Sacred Scripture.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
--James 1: 27

Our Lord Jesus, the suffering servant who washed the Apostles feet, Himself said,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do…”
--John 14: 12

THE CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY
Feed the hungry.

Give drink to the thirsty.

Give clothing to the naked.

Shelter the homeless.

Care for the sick.

Visit the imprisoned.

Bury the dead.