Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Jesus says, “I will be with you always, unto the end of the world.” He says this to each one of us, and to the whole Church. We don’t have to be afraid of anything. The season of Easter is almost over, but for a Christian we are always in Easter especially when we celebrate the Eucharist, where Christ rises again for us. Anytime Christ takes us from something that kills us or makes us anxious, this is an Easter experience, an experience of the resurrection today, in my life.
Today on this Solemnity of the Ascension we have a fantastic news: Christ ascended into heaven!! And he wants to bring us with him. This Eucharist today is heaven; it is an experience of the resurrection. If it does not bring you peace, then your heaven may be to have a bigger house, or better job, or cleaner bill of health. But these things will never bring you peace; it will only be a source of frustration.
Your problem and mine is not that we don’t have enough money or we are alone or whatever. It is that we don’t have Jesus Christ in us. Allow him to bring you to heaven, to give you joy and peace. Look for the things that no one can take from you. Our real problem today are the things that take us from heaven; the heaven God wants us to have, not only when we die, but today and whenever we feel alone or afraid.
The two men in white tell the apostles why do you keep looking up to heaven. Enter it. Why do we keep looking at the life the other one has; enter the life Christ gave you and you can find heaven, you can be at peace. The Kingdom is very close to us, but we keep chasing things that cannot last. Did you not learn this during this pandemic?
The way that Jesus departs today is the way he will return, at the end of time. He will come to us today, on the altar before us; he will become food for us. It will be the same Jesus who rose from the dead, who cured the lepers, who raised Lazarus. He makes himself food for us. He wants to enter your life, which at times is very poor. He wants to give you something that no one can take away. Let us be filled with joy this Ascension as the disciples were. It was a strange reaction; their master is leaving and yet they are full of joy. Why is this? Because they have a new kind of life that never ends. Let us ask the Holy Spirit this week as we approach Pentecost for this new life in God.