He is still with us (Solemnity of Ascensión, 2021)

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The word “PROCESS” suggests that things happen in stages; and this calls for patience. So much of life is the experience of process, of moving from one stage of something to another. Our own individual lives can be understood as a process. As we go through life we find ourselves moving through stages or seasons. Moving from one stage to another always involves some form of “letting go” and “moving on”. Part of the challenge of life is to address and deal with the various moments of letting go and moving on that the process of living entails.


Like every one of us, Jesus’ life was a process that involved a succession of stages. His hidden years in Nazareth might be understood as one stage in his life; His public ministry as another stage. His baptism was the transition moment between these two stages. His death on the cross was another transition moment between His public ministry and the short period of His resurrection. The ascension that we celebrate today was the final transition moment, the moment between His resurrection and His abiding presence during which He is no longer present in a bodily form but visibly present in the Church.


His ascension does not mean that He is totally absent. In Mark 16:19, we are told that "The Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven." In the next verse, we are told that "The Lord worked with the disciples and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it." Yes, the Lord was taken up, he was taken away; yet He was still working with the disciples. He did not ascend to distance himself from us, but to be much closer to us. So, today's feast speaks more about the special presence of Christ than His absence. He is now visibly present in the Church of which you and I are members. Ephesians 4:1-13 reminds us that the Lord ascended in order to give gifts to his followers, "for building up the body of Christ."


Just like the disciples, "why are some of us still looking into the sky?" I don't need to look into the sky to see Christ. Since I have received His Spirit, He now dwells in me; and I have thus been configured to carry on His mission on earth. St Theresa of Avila says that, “Christ has no body now, but yours; no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks with compassion into the world. Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world.” Today's feast has put a task before us: the task of going into the world to proclaim Christ’s message by words and deed. He continues to work with us as much as we choose to work for Him.


Prayer:

May we remain faithful to the task of proclaiming the Gospel, and may we never forget that Christ continues to work with us and in us, Amen!


Have a blessed day!



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