Ascension Thursday, May 29, 2014
Fr. Joseph Eddy, O.
de M.
Michael W. Smith is arguably the most famous contemporary Christian artist in the United States. In 2007, he wrote a beautiful and relatively obscure song entitled “How To Say Goodbye.” This short song recounts a father’s difficulty in coming to grips with saying goodbye to his daughter as she grows up and gets married. The lyrics go: “Tell me when the time slipped away, Tomorrow turned to yesterday and I don’t know how.” It continues: “Here I stand arms open wide, I’ve held you close, kept you safe till you could fly.”
The above video is of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy.
Now this song is about a father and his daughter, but it may help us understand how Jesus and His disciples felt as their relationship also radically changes. For Jesus, the Ascension is a moment to fulfill the Father’s will and “let go” in the sense that He will no longer be present in the same way to the disciples. Jesus is God, but in his human nature He must have experience some anxiety and/or sadness leaving His disciples. He is entrusting them to the Holy Spirit who is more than capable, but they will have to choose to respond to God’s grace and the Indwelling Spirit. Jesus has metaphorically “held them close, kept them safe” and taught them “how to fly”.
For three years, the Lord walked with them and taught them. Then, for forty days after the Resurrection he picked up the pieces of their shattered earthly dreams and taught them to proclaim the heavenly Kingdom he was establishing. Now, the apostles are commanded to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…” Are they ready? Will they pass the test? It is up to them.
Two of Three Theological Virtues
We can presume that the disciples are feeling anxious, filled with doubts, and do not have any idea what lies ahead. They have faith in God who raised Jesus from the dead. They know He has suffered, died, and rose to open the doors of heaven for all. The disciples have two of the three Theological Virtues:
Faith and Love. What they lack is Hope. Hope is the supernatural virtue by which we desire and expect Eternal Life and the means to obtain it. As the disciples watch Jesus ascending into heaven, it is safe to assume that they are wishing they could drag Him back down to earth! Or, grab ahold of His feet and go with Him into heaven away from the troubles of this earth!
We know this because the two angels have to tell them to stop staring up at heaven and “get to work” doing what the Lord has commanded. They need Hope. Over, the next nine days, these weak men will get this supernatural virtue. Praying together with the Blessed Virgin Mary they will find strength in Jesus words and example. Finally on the last day of their novena, the disciples will receive the Holy Spirit from heaven.
Prompted by the Holy Spirit
We too struggle with hope. Our relationship with God is similar to earthly ones. It changes, goes through trials, and at times is broken by serious sin. Often times, God appears to be distant, but really wants us to mature in virtues such as Hope.
How blessed are we that we have received the Holy Spirit in Baptism! We can vivify our hope through time spent with the Risen Lord in the Eucharist. We can allow God to mend the wounds of our sins through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. All of these things are good, but there is still one step we must take. We must be willing to follow the disciples and step out in hope when prompted by the Holy Spirit. Yes, we are expected to respond to the same call of the disciples to take the Gospel to all the nations. This takes acts of Hope; stepping out to evangelize even when the odds are against us. This is how eleven uneducated men changed the world!
Our relationship with God must not be a static thing. We must not stand still staring up into heavens waiting to go home or wishing for better times. Each moment is a graced time with the Holy Spirit present within us. God does not waste time nor is He bound by it. Instead, He gives us opportunities to mature more and more in the virtue of hope. This will happen if we pray, frequent the Sacraments, and walk in the Spirit. We will grow each day in hope until it is at last fulfilled in heaven.