Peace and goodness, dear brothers.
There comes a special moment in everyone’s life: farewell. Time to say goodbye (“Go with God”, said the classics). Jesus says goodbye to his friends. Christ’s unexpected, surprising encounters with his friends end, encounters capable of restoring hope to a group of frightened disciples, and the Church’s time begins. It is the festival of Ascension.
Luke the evangelist speaks of the greatness of Jesus. It is not something that can be seen and is difficult to explain. But it is clear to us that Jesus ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. We may not understand what it means. On Good Friday afternoon, we meditated on how one person of the Trinity suffered and died for us. Today, Ascension Day, we can meditate with the same wonder that one of us has been lifted up above all to share in God’s immortal life.
After the victory of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and resurrection, he appeared to his disciples. His disciples were sure of their victory over death, their faith strengthened, they regained their faith… But the time has come to leave… They want their Guru to be with them forever!
We must understand that thanks to God, thanks to Christ, the doors of heaven are open to us. We too have a glorious destiny, and the path Jesus has already traveled will pave the way for us. All is not lost. Now the door is open, and it shows us that everything that happens in the world (failures and victories, injustices, sufferings, early deaths …) all falls into the plans of God.
And Jesus’ words, “It is for your good that I go away” (John 16:7) continued to echo in the ears of Jesus’ friends. The promise of the Spirit is a comfort during that separation. Perhaps that is why the apostles saw the Lord go with joy (Luke 24:52). A new time had begun, the time of a new, missionary church, ready to reach the ends of the earth. It can be said that this is the age limit of our church.
Of course, not everything is easy. The second reading reminds us that it is difficult to understand this without God’s help. It is difficult to know how we should live. So Paul asks believers for wisdom. We are not talking about human wisdom, but about intelligence, the ability to understand the mystery of God and the mystery of the Church. The apostle prays that you — and may we — understand the greatness of the faith to which we have been called. If in the first reading we are called not to sit still, to engage in the daily problems of this world, in the second we are reminded that our life is not limited to the limited horizon of this world, but that we are always waiting. Christ’s glorious coming to take us firmly with Him.
When we live the personal experience of meeting Christ for the first time, when we know him so intimately, we do not want him to leave us, we want to always feel his presence. But thus we shall be with God only in the kingdom of heaven. Here on earth, knowing God, we must learn to love ourselves. Only through trials can we learn true love. After experiencing our own suffering, we learn to be kind and compassionate to our neighbors, as Jesus experienced.
At times, we may have to go through a drought of prayer, a “desert” and abandonment of God. This is an experience experienced even by well-known occultists. For example, The Dark Knight by St. John of the Cross”. The way to learn true, selfless, unconditional love is the same as God has for us. Love God only for God’s sake. Faith and prayer. And so we grow in faith, hope and love.
But even if we overcome these trials, we are still weak creatures, and therefore, God is with us to the end. Ascending to heaven, the Lord sends the Holy Spirit to the apostles, who is a “gentle breath” in our lives (cf. 1 Kings 19:12). We do not see the Holy Spirit, but He is with us, strengthening us and guiding us. Always. It is enough to believe that and live in such a way that the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
Dear brothers and sisters, like the apostles who believed in the truth of our faith, let us carry the burning torch of God’s love in our lives, and let this light illuminate the path not only for us, but also for our neighbors, brothers and all who cross our path. Let us note that we are believers. Fear not, let us grow in love, and give our hearts to God!
Your brother in faith,
Alejandro Carbajo, CMF
