Faith Lift
'...and they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy..." Lk 24.52
Gospel for the Feast of The Ascension: Luke 24.46-53
As some of you know, my Lent (and Easter) reading centered on Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth Part 2: Holy Week, which also covered the Resurrection and the Ascension. One of the most powerful "faith lifts" I received from reading this text was his contemplation on the Ascension into heaven of our Lord, and the disciples reaction to it.
Consider the scene: Jesus, who the disciples had followed for three years, suffers a bloody and painful death, and comes back to them, only to go away again to "sit at the right hand of the Father".
If you were there, what would your reaction be? I would think we would all be completely saddened and defeated, just like the disciples were upon his death. And yet Luke tells us "they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God. " (Lk 24. 52-53)
To help us understand their joy here is an excerpt from Pope Benedict's book where he discusses the Ascension:
The departing Jesus does not make his way to some distant star. He enters into communion of power and life with the living God, into God's dominion over space. Hence he has not "gone away", but now and forever by God's own power he is present with us and for us. In the farewell discourses of Saint John's Gospel, this is exactly what Jesus says to his disciples: "I will go away, and I will come to you (14.28) These words sum up beautifully what is so special about Jesus' "going away", which is also his "coming", and at the same time they explain the mystery of the Cross, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. His going away is in this sense a coming, a new form of closeness, of continuing presence,which for John, too, is linked with the "joy" that we saw in Luke's Gospel.
Because Jesus is with the Father, he has not gone away but remains close to us. Now he is no longer in one particular place in the world as he had been before the Ascension: now, through has power over space, he is present and accessible to all- throughout history, and in every place. ( Jesus of Nazareth Pt 2 pp 283-284)
And so, with the Ascension, Jesus has made himself available to the universe and beyond. He then makes himself available to you and I through the Holy Spirit- a reality which we celebrate next week.
He also makes himself available to us every day in the Eucharist.
For the Catholic Educator Talk to your students and your peers about the presence of Jesus in your life. Remind them that Jesus is present and available to us always, especially in the Eucharist.
For your personal reflection: What gives you "faith lift"? Besides the Scripture, what else have you been reading that has increased your faith in the Living God?
Consider the scene: Jesus, who the disciples had followed for three years, suffers a bloody and painful death, and comes back to them, only to go away again to "sit at the right hand of the Father".
If you were there, what would your reaction be? I would think we would all be completely saddened and defeated, just like the disciples were upon his death. And yet Luke tells us "they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God. " (Lk 24. 52-53)
To help us understand their joy here is an excerpt from Pope Benedict's book where he discusses the Ascension:
The departing Jesus does not make his way to some distant star. He enters into communion of power and life with the living God, into God's dominion over space. Hence he has not "gone away", but now and forever by God's own power he is present with us and for us. In the farewell discourses of Saint John's Gospel, this is exactly what Jesus says to his disciples: "I will go away, and I will come to you (14.28) These words sum up beautifully what is so special about Jesus' "going away", which is also his "coming", and at the same time they explain the mystery of the Cross, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. His going away is in this sense a coming, a new form of closeness, of continuing presence,which for John, too, is linked with the "joy" that we saw in Luke's Gospel.
Because Jesus is with the Father, he has not gone away but remains close to us. Now he is no longer in one particular place in the world as he had been before the Ascension: now, through has power over space, he is present and accessible to all- throughout history, and in every place. ( Jesus of Nazareth Pt 2 pp 283-284)
And so, with the Ascension, Jesus has made himself available to the universe and beyond. He then makes himself available to you and I through the Holy Spirit- a reality which we celebrate next week.
He also makes himself available to us every day in the Eucharist.
Now that's a "faith lift" !!
For the Catholic Educator Talk to your students and your peers about the presence of Jesus in your life. Remind them that Jesus is present and available to us always, especially in the Eucharist.
For your personal reflection: What gives you "faith lift"? Besides the Scripture, what else have you been reading that has increased your faith in the Living God?
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