Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Easter Season is nearly over, and I hope you have had an experience of the Risen Lord, of the Resurrection in your life. When Christ comes to us nothing is the same. So, if your life has not changed in these six weeks don’t give up. Especially during this week before Pentecost, God can act very powerfully.
The good news this week is not only that Christ has risen and will also raise us, but that he also goes to heaven and has the power to bring us with him. Our temptation these days is to forget about heaven, so this event of the Ascension is a gift for us to think about our life and where we are going.
The gospel says that when Jesus was taken up to heaven the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and continually praised God. It is an unusual reaction, no? If their Lord and Master was taken away from them, shouldn’t they be sad? But they realize that he has a new presence with them, a continual closeness that is permanent and more powerful than before. This is the source of their joy!!
The cloud takes him up to heaven says Luke in The Acts of the Apostles. This can remind us of the words of the angel Gabriel to Mary about how she was to conceive this child. He said the power of the Most High will overshadow you and you will conceive son. It can also remind us of the column of a cloud that led the people of Israel in the desert for so many years. The cloud is a theological sign of the presence of God, of the Father, in our life.
Jesus does not go away to a distant star. He is at the right hand of the Father and enters the mystery of God, this time with his humanity. He is present with us and for us and this is why the disciples are full of joy. It is this great paradox when Jesus says, I will go away, and I will come to you. It sounds like a contradiction, but not for him.
Maybe one event in the gospels can help us understand Jesus’ new presence better. He had just finished the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish and he goes off to the mountain to pray and be in communion with the Father. In the meantime, the apostles are in their boat and a very large storm rises up and almost sinks them. Jesus sees their and comes to help them. It is the same for us. Christ who is now at the right hand of the Father is not in some far-off place. He sees our difficulties and can come to us at any time. We just need to call on him. Be certain of this, brothers and sisters, he is very close to us and will come to us especially in our difficulties.
The same is true for the Church, which at times looks like it will sink; however, the Lord is close by and will always save her. There is no reason for us to lose our peace, no matter what happens to us.