May
8, 2016
Solemnity
of the Ascension of the Lord
Acts
1:1-11; Psalm 47; Eph 1:17-23; Luke 24:46-53
Mother’s Day
There is this
story about a priest who said in his homily: “We bring nothing with us when we
die. There is no money in heaven! People in heaven have no money!” The whole congregation
fell silent. Then a little girl whispered to her mother loud enough for all to
hear: “Mama, mama, we are in heaven already!”
Today we are celebrating Mother’s Day. I am sure that even without money, a mother’s love has a way of making us
feel that our home is heaven on earth. Can we just greet the beautiful mothers
around us and say “Happy Mother’s Day!” Aside from Mother’s Day, we are also
celebrating the feast of Jesus ascending into heaven. If Jesus loved his disciples,
why is there a need to leave his disciples on earth? Isn’t it that it is better
for Jesus to accompany His disciples and guide them as they fulfill their
mission? Why did Jesus have to leave?
Let
us reflect on this in three points:
THE
LORD’S ASCENSION IS THE HOMECOMING OF JESUS TO THE FATHER. The Ascension
of Jesus tells us that His real home is to be with God
the Father in heaven. Now what does this mean for us? Let us remember
that the Church is the Body of Christ. We are the body of Christ. If Jesus who
is the head of the body is in heaven, then there is hope that we will one day
be with Him in heaven. Isn’t that beautiful? We are certain that we can call
heaven our home. We can call paradise our home because Jesus is already there
preparing a place for us
and waiting for our homecoming back to the Father. This is one of the consoling
truths revealed to us by the mystery of the Lord’s Ascension into heaven. Did
Jesus really leave us when He went up to heaven?
THE
LORD’S ASCENSION DOES NOT MEAN THAT JESUS HAS ABANDONED US. We
oftentimes see the Lord’s ascension as Christ leaving us - that Jesus will go
to a distant place where we can no longer see Him. But the mystery of the Lord’s
Ascension tells us that even without His physical presence, Jesus continues to
remain in us. We need new eyes to see Jesus. We need to see things in the eyes
of faith to recognize His presence, to realize that He did not leave us
forsaken. Now that Jesus is in heaven, His presence cannot be limited only to
one place. In every adoration chapel throughout the world, in every sacrament,
in every mass celebrated, in every experience of love, in every prayer
experience of prayer Jesus is present. We can personally encounter Jesus
anytime and anywhere. This is a proof that the Lord has never abandoned us. Now
that Jesus is in heaven, what is He doing there?
JESUS
IS NOW WITH THE FATHER INTERCEDING FOR US. Oftentimes when
we are in an exalted position, we tend to forget the misery of others. Let us
not forget this especially tomorrow, as we exercise our vote to elect leaders of
our country. Let us choose leaders filled with the sense of mission to serve. Not just those who are filled with sense of
ambition to be put into positions of power. Jesus was filled with that sense of
mission. Even if Jesus is with the Father, hindi lang siya nagpapakasarap sa langit.
He uses this opportunity to intercede for us, to empower us to continue His
mission. What is the mission that Jesus gave us? To go out to all the world and
proclaim the Good News. But Jesus does leave us on our own. He will intercede
for us. He will continue to work with us now that He is in heaven.
And so my
brothers and sisters, as we go back to our own homes after this mass. Go and tell
the world about the good news of Jesus. This is part of our mission. May we
hopefully become His instruments so that many people will also come to
experience His love. Amen.
