Let us not miss the opportunity to pray and contemplate the amazing mystery of the Ascension of Christ!
"The feast of the Ascension commemorates that day when the apostles and the entire community of faith was deprived of continued physical contact with the risen Lord. No longer would the Church have the comfort and support of direct association with the Master. Once the risen Lord was taken from their sight, the members of the Body of Christ themselves would have to comfort and support one another in His name. Because they could no longer see His face, they would have to become icons of Christ for each other. Once they were admonished for gazing up into the heavens, they would have to look into the eyes of their brethren to recognize His presence in all its distressing disguises. Once the Master was again seated at the right hand of the Father, they could no longer sit at His feet. Now they would have to listen for the sound of His voice in the teaching of their elders. Since the Lord was no longer physically in their midst, they had to depend on His word that he would be with them whenever two or more gathered in His name."
Thus begins the sermon Fr. Jerome Merchar, prior at the Abbey of the Genesee. You can read the entire message on the website for the Abbey www.geneseeabbey.org (homily for May 15)
As Jesus left the physical presence of the disciples, he had accomplished the mission of warming their hearts, infusing them with peace and equipping them with Holy Scripture. Their further "progress" as messengers of Christ emerged, then, as they allowed their activities and relationships to point at all times and in all places to the amazing power and love released in the resurrection.
I wonder.... how will this day provide opportunities for us to experience Christ's presence as we look into the eyes of another...or hear a word from an "elder"...or receive comfort and guidance from one God's children? Let our eyes, ears and heart be open!
2 comments:
This posting takes me to a matter that I have learned with some struggle and difficulty.
There was a time when I was disappointed and fearful that I was not doing enough in the grand scheme of things to please God. I envisioned Him sitting upstairs and looking down with a frown at my pitiful attempts to do something 'important' in his name, for example like a Mother Theresa to use a universally known figure.
Slowly and with some help, I learned that in every moment as I looked into the eyes of others around me, that my work was indeed cut out for me! My work was right in front of me. My sister and brothers in crisis were my task. And that immediate problem, that issue large or small, was as important to them as anything else. So if God wanted me to comfort and support them in His name, I would indeed be comforted in the daily rhythm of life and thankful that I could, in fact, be there for the necessary purpose.
Every day is fulfilling now as it helps me to be more vigilant and aware of ways to carry out the role for which God placed me on this earth. No task is small or unimportant and only God decides and grades.
Although I don't know the details about the formation of a saint, I would suspect that at some time even Mother Theresa needed to learn that reality about serving according to God's good pleasure and will.
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