Can you believe this weekend will already be Memorial Day Weekend? If it hasn’t already ended for you and your family, the school year is almost over and the summer looms large. Ordinarily, we would all be looking forward with great excitement and eager anticipation to getting away for some rest and relaxation. But, this isn’t an ordinary time, is it? Rather than excitement and eager anticipation, we’re feeling anxious and concerned. We want to get away but we’re worried. Is it safe? Do we have to make alternate plans? When will we know what’s the right decision to make? Who can we trust to give us the right answers and lead us in the right direction? These past several weeks have been tortuous, haven’t they, as we face the specter of terrible suffering and even death? One of my classmates, Fr. Joseph Zingaro, died of COVID-19 just yesterday. They think he contracted the disease when he went to the hospital two weeks ago after breaking his arm as he tripped and fell while he was leaving a cemetery following an interment. So many of us have similar stories to tell. When will all of this doubt and worry end? It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed.
This year it is easier than ever to identify with the first followers of Jesus during these weeks of Lent and Easter. Like us, they had plans that were thrown to the wind. They had found something very attractive about this charismatic man, a spellbinding preacher who also showed great power as he healed the sick, expelled demons and even raised people from the dead. They thought that he might be the savior they were all looking for – someone who would free them from the strife they were enduring under the oppressive Roman rule. But, they were focused on this world and didn’t pay much attention to Jesus when he told them that his kingdom was not of this world. And then, just like us over these past few weeks, the followers of Jesus were overwhelmed by what they experienced over the course of just a few weeks. They had accompanied Jesus to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast and then they witnessed or heard about his torture and death. As they hid for fear of their lives, some of them had seen and touched him; they had even eaten with him. Finally, as we heard in today’s first reading and we celebrate with today’s feast day, as they were looking on, Jesus was lifted up and a cloud took him from their sight. And, while they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them and asked, “Why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” Of course, this would immediately remind them of what Jesus had told them in the Upper Room at the Last Supper; we heard it just two Sundays ago: “I am going to prepare a place for you.”
So, standing motionless, staring up at the sky – probably with mouths gaping – that’s understandable! The Apostles were still reeling with their thoughts and feelings about all of these events. Matthew’s Gospel confirms this. As we hear in today’s Gospel account, when they met Jesus in Galilee, they worshiped him, but they doubted. Yet, Jesus has confidence in them.
His response to the doubting apostles is firm and immediate. As we hear in today’s Gospel, Jesus assures them by telling them: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded.” He has total trust in the Father and in his plan for the world, and he commends that plan to the apostles. He entrusts his power to them to be his witnesses to all the world – to go and make disciples, to baptize them, and to teach all that he commanded.
But he doesn’t leave them – or us – alone, staring up at the sky to question and doubt whether we can accomplish this great task. He remains with us as we accept and embrace his mission, guiding and empowering us through his Holy Spirit – as we will celebrate at Pentecost. He remains with us, nourishing and sustaining us for his mission with his body and blood each time we receive him in the Eucharist; that’s why I can’t wait until you’ll be able to be here in church again! He remains with us, teaching, and encouraging us in the community he established – that’s another reason why we look forward to getting together, for we are his Church, the Body of Christ.
As we approach the end of the Easter Season, today we celebrate the completion of Jesus’ mission here on earth as we recall his ascension into heaven. But, we can’t forget the other important moments of his great work among us. One of my favorite stained glass windows here in church is right in the middle of the east side; it depicts our Lord’s death on the cross and his resurrection, along with his ascension. It was in dying for us that he overcame the power of death in us and gave us the hope, not only of the new life he offers us in the resurrection but the eternal life he promises us in his ascension. And, as the angels told the disciples after his ascension, Jesus will return.
He will return to judge the living and the dead and will lead those of us who have been faithful to him and his mission back to heaven, where he is now with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
As Jesus trusted the confused and overwhelmed Apostles, he trusts us to believe in him and his mission. He trusts us to believe that he is the way, the truth and the life that leads and guides us until his return. And he is confident that we will continue to believe that he is with us, always, until the end of the age, even in the midst of these difficult days.
We all know that the lives of the first followers of Jesus were changed forever; much like ours are today. But, they continued to be people of hope and joy because they put their trust in Jesus and the Spirit that he sent them. We can, too. Like the first followers, we are in uncharted waters. And, like these first followers, we can rely on our Lord and the guidance of his Holy Spirit. And, we don’t need to fear death because it’s not the end for us; merely the passage to the place where our Lord has ascended to prepare a place for us. In fact, where he has gone, we hope to follow and, as I frequently remind people, you can’t get to heaven until you die; that’s where I pray my dear friend, Joe, is.
The followers of Jesus have always faced death without fear because they, like Jesus, are able to overcome death. And, even suffering has a redemptive value as we join our suffering to Jesus’ for the salvation of all. We were reminded of that just two Sundays ago when we heard our Lord teach us that whoever believes in him will do the works that he does.
Yes, these are confusing times and we wonder what the right answers are to all of the questions we have. I can’t tell you when it’s safe to go to the shore – you’ll have to listen to the same contradictory proclamations of the experts as I am – but I can tell you with absolute certainty that it’s always safe to follow where our Lord has gone – through suffering and death to the new life he offers in his resurrection and ascension. As we hear Saint Paul exhort us in today’s second reading, may the eyes of our hearts be enlightened that we may know what is the hope that belongs to our Lord’s call. Let us put our faith in the only one who has power over death and, turn our gaze heavenward, not in confusion and doubt but with full hope in the return of our Lord, for he will come to bring us – not to our house at the shore or up in the mountains – but to our eternal home in heaven.