Ascension, Mother’s Day
This Sunday is the feast of Ascension. We commemorate the end of the Lord's public ministry in this world. It does not mean that he is no longer with us. The evangelist Matthew writes Jesus’ declaration: “I am with you always until the end of the world.”
Jesus has gone up to heaven but, in another identity, he is still with us in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
Our Lord’s Ascension teaches us that our final destination is not in this world but in the next life.
Unfortunately, many people today are more preoccupied with amassing wealth and worldly concerns. There’s nothing wrong about that except if done by illgotten possessions. However, God himself expects of us that we do not forget our moral and spiritual obligations. As the Lord said, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but suffers the loss of his own soul?” (Mt 16,26).
The time between Jesus’ Ascension and his return in the Last Judgment, we are told not to fix our concern solely on the afterlife but to establish “colonies of heaven” already here on earth.
That means we must work continuously to make God’s Kingdom on earth one that is characterized by justice, love, truth, and peace.
When Jesus will return at the world’s reckoning, he will judge us on the basis of our good or evil deeds. The righteous will be rewarded but the wrongdoers will be condemned to eternal torment (Mt 25, 35ff.)
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The spiritual writer John Dunne puts it: “I shall pass this way but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show, let me do it now. Let me not neglect nor defer it for I shall not pass this way again.”
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This Sunday is Mother’s Day. This recalls the story of a rescue operation in the sea. Ten men and one woman were clinging to a rope, hanging from a helicopter. They were overloaded. One person had to let go or they would all fall down and drown.
Looking at each other, no one wanted to volunteer. After a couple of minutes, the woman said, “Mothers are used to making sacrifices for their husbands and children. Since nobody wants to go, I’ll give my life for all of you.” The men were so moved by her speech that they clapped their hands...and all fell down. Only the woman was holding the rope!
The amusing story illustrates the heroic love of a mother willing to give up her life.
Tomorrow, Mother’s Day, we thank and pray for mothers, living or dead, for all their love, caring and sacrifices. There’s a Jewish saying which goes, “God cannot be everywhere so He created mothers.”
* * * Support Seminarians. Jesus is exhorting us to “lay up treasures in heaven where neither rust nor moth can consume.” Are we making provisions for the next life?
One way of doing this is by helping our less fortunate brethren or helping our poor seminarians under Adopta-seminarian scholarship program. (belsvd@gmail. com)