It is early morning of Tuesday, October 6, 2015, and I am staring up into the sky on the top of Mount Olivet (Mount of Olives) in Bethany, Israel, next to the Chapel of the Ascension. I am imagining that I am one of the Apostles looking at Jesus as he ascends into heaven. This happened after I exited a 12 by 12 meter octagonal structure known as a martyrium (memorial) in which can be found a glass-encased rock on which rests the footprint of Jesus prior to His ascension into heaven.
No, I did not literally see Jesus for those who might be asking that question. My reason for doing this was to experience as best I could how the Apostles must have felt after spending three years in the flesh with the Son of God. My initial reaction was both eerie and sad that He is physically gone. But, as I looked down, I realized that everything else is still the same, except I need to follow through with the commission He gave to them and to all of us who are baptized: Evangelize; Heal; Experience the Power of the Holy Spirit; and the Presence of Jesus.
Evangelization is the duty of every Christian to communicate the life vision contained in Christian testament and in the Gospel. In the Diocese of Orange, it is the first of five key themes in the five-year Strategic Plan through 2023 as adopted from the Mission Statement which quotes Jesus words before His ascension to spread the Gospel message. It focuses on a vision to promote a personal relationship with Jesus and celebration of the sacraments to increase Mass participation, to expand the number of Catholics in Faith formation and to increase youth and young adults active in the Church. Call the parish office to become involved.
Healing for a Christian primarily addresses reconciliation of the sinner and his or her soul. In doing so, we sometimes neglect the whole person who needs healing in spirit, mind, feelings and body, as well. Salvation affects all who we are. This is especially important in a world that is striving to make sense of what is essential to not just maintain life, but make it thrive.
Power is an ingredient we don’t often hear about when it comes to the teaching of Jesus unless it refers to God using His power to punish those who disobeyed His will. With Jesus in heaven, it is the power of the Holy Spirit here that provides us with tools of strength in times of weakness, hope to offset fear or despair and meaning to handle all sorts of life situations.
Presence takes a two-prong approach. First, it’s the presence of Jesus as He works with and through His Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, who He sent here after His ascension into heaven. Second, it’s our presence with the help of the Holy Spirit to give all He has created a new life in the Church. It comes to us through multiple sacramental rites, keeping the faith and spreading the Good News.
The feast of Ascension is not to commemorate a departure, but the celebration of the living and lasting presence of Jesus in the Church. It was time for Him to rejoin His Father, send us the Holy Spirit and to prepare for the day of His return sometime in the future. We need to carry on with this perfect plan of God’s.
Let us take this time between now and Pentecost, the following weekend, to prioritize what specifically we need to do to evangelize, heal, power up and be present as Jesus’ calls us to “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” We might surprise ourselves with what we discover to do. And, if we decide to take it a step further and do something about it, we might be blessed in so many different and wonderful ways because we said “yes” to Jesus’ command and an opportunity to serve Him and all His creation.
Reading 1: Acts 1: 1-11
Reading 2: Ephesians 4: 1-13
Gospel: Mark 16: 15-20
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