Feast of the Ascension

Why are you standing there looking at the sky?

When someone leaves us, we experience a profound sense of absence. In the Ascension, Jesus leaves but remains present within the disciples as they take up his mission to go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.

The disciples return to the Upper Room to grieve, to ponder the meaning of what they had experienced, and to wait for the Spirit Jesus had promised. They are changed and emboldened as they live in their new reality. Their response enabled our faith.

This feast is an excellent day to reflect on how we respond to the gift of the Lord’s presence and Spirit that we have received in the sacraments, in the witness of others, and in the love that has been poured upon us. Has our encounter with Him changed our reality?

Do we go through life looking up at the sky, waiting for the Lord to come back and take care of our problems? Do we look up at the sky to avoid looking at what is around us? To avoid seeing who is waiting for our witness of the Lord’s love and care in their lives. Or do we believe that we will be able to speak new languages and that signs will accompany us here and now if we take up the mission we have been given?

Our coming together as a eucharistic community signifies that Christ is with and within us. Each time we reach out to those who are forgotten by society or deemed unacceptable, we speak, and others hear a new language—the language of love and hope.

To whom am I being called to proclaim the gospel?

Let us pray:

May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call…and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe. Lord, we ask you to open our eyes and expand our hearts to know and live the mission you have given us.