Ascension Day
The feast of the Ascension is about letting go and living a
new life as well.
With the departure of a
friend to another country we have al experienced the strange new sensation of
going back to ordinary tasks and routine in their absence. There is a lingering
sadness at their departure and a ‘picking up of the pieces’ as we re-arrange
our house of guest room to the way things were. With Jesus however there is a newness,
things are not the same as before. We are to live a new life with new ways of
doing things and with a new joy.
Jesus takes the disciples to the outskirts, to the edge, to
the periphery if the city – symbolic – to be taken aside, away from the crowd,
to experience silence, quiet and to be blessed. We too must continually draw
apart from the bustle and the noise to the periphery of life, even for a short
while, to once more hear the reassuring
words of Jesus and to be strengthened and renewed for our mission in life.
We cannot have our heads stuck in a cloud. We have work to
do. Christ has ascended into heaven and where He has gone we hope to follow,
where our loved ones, please God, await us. We are not to be so heavenly minded so as to be of no
earthly use. Recently Pope Francis was asked what do think of priests
wearing cassocks or soutanes –‘ I don’t mind so long as they have their sleeves
rolled up!’
He will judge us in the measure that we have loved and have
shown compassion.
Who?
Us .We are witnesses to His death and resurrection.
We are witnesses to this - to the repentance for the
forgiveness of sins – the joy of being forgiven is the greatest joy of all.
There is a sense of a handing over of a special task – an
office of responsibility, an inheritance – something to be handed on
–‘something I want you to have’.
Witnesses when and where?
At every opportunity at home, in the family circle, in the
workplace and above all our social responsibility in society. God is to be
found in the pots and pans as well.
What?
To speak the truth in charity – a difficult and important and
delicate task – to those who need to hear the truth of change. Anyone who has
lived or worked alongside an addict knows the difficulty in speaking of the
need for change, and the criticism that ensues. Having the duty and
responsibility to tell the truth hurts, but the truth sets us and others free.
As Catholics in particular we are called to speak up for the most vulnerable
members of society, the poor, the disadvantaged and those whose lives are
threatened – especially the defenceless unborn.
It is then that we realise that there is a cost. To be a
witness for the truth is to be cross-examined, to be public, to be scrutinised,
and observed, to be open to the possibility of contradiction and ridicule. In fact
nearly every one of the disciples who witnessed Jesus’ ascension witnessed to
the point of death. The Greek word for witness is MARTYR. We must be credible
witnesses. In the year of faith we must endeavour to learn more about our faith
in the Year of Faith. The book YOUCAT is a great resource for just that.
The last
command of Jesus is related to the lives we are called to lead at the final dismissal
at every Mass - Go the Mass is ended – glorifying the Lord by your life.
Sixth Sunday of Easter
When two friends or relatives unavoidably separate for what
they know will be a considerable length of time, they make a commitment to stay
in touch somehow. There are fewer excuses not to do so in the modern world - cards
and letters have given way to faster and immediate means of communication such
as Facebook and besides texts and
emails, we have Skype and the like. While often ‘absence makes the heart grow
fonder’ somehow over the passage of time, both people's lives change as newer lives and
work commitments take shape, and newer friends are made. The same regularity and
enthusiasm for contact isn’t there for some reason. Eventually birthdays and Christmas are
the only reminders of the friendship. How are we to keep the spirit of friendship
alive?
But added to that, the permanent separation of death as I discussed last
week brings even more challenges to keep the memories alive. To somehow
remember the one loved and lost but yet to let go and move on as well is a delicate challenge. Not to dwell in the past but to
see the preciousness of life at all, of living life to the full, the fullness of
life that the parted one would want for us, not squandering time or talents,
but being the best version of myself that they would want me to be and to keep
the spirit of love for them alive.
This is what Jesus asks of us in the Easter season.
There are as it were, two departures of Jesus, His death on Good Friday, and his ascension into heaven which we re-commemorate next week.
We are in the middle of these partings.
And if we can imagine Jesus ‘packing to go’ as anyone close to us leaving us to go on a long journey, there are the last minute jobs, the parting instructions and the personal words of re-assurance that we will see each other again. There are also parting gifts. Today Jesus’ last words of advice and comfort are ‘do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.’ And ‘peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give.’
There are as it were, two departures of Jesus, His death on Good Friday, and his ascension into heaven which we re-commemorate next week.
We are in the middle of these partings.
And if we can imagine Jesus ‘packing to go’ as anyone close to us leaving us to go on a long journey, there are the last minute jobs, the parting instructions and the personal words of re-assurance that we will see each other again. There are also parting gifts. Today Jesus’ last words of advice and comfort are ‘do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.’ And ‘peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give.’
External (worldly) things – not wrong in themselves – can and
do give temporary, but not lasting, peace. And only Jesus gives us peace we all
seek.
Riches make you comfortable, but not happy. There is no geographical cure for worry.
The amazing thing about peace is that it is somehow gently infectious. We see people calm and collected in a crisis, people unperturbed at a delay in traffic or in an airport or shopping queue, a patient parent with a stroppy child, a person – maybe a saintly person – who radiates joy and peace and kindness. We see a parent with a special needs child, and somehow our worry (and our lack of patience) pales into significance. They have inner peace. And we want that for ourselves! Not that their lives are cross-free, but they have some ‘secret’ of happiness and contentment amidst the trials of life. They do not seek, or do not need to seek, peace through diversion into addiction or compulsive behaviour.
Riches make you comfortable, but not happy. There is no geographical cure for worry.
The amazing thing about peace is that it is somehow gently infectious. We see people calm and collected in a crisis, people unperturbed at a delay in traffic or in an airport or shopping queue, a patient parent with a stroppy child, a person – maybe a saintly person – who radiates joy and peace and kindness. We see a parent with a special needs child, and somehow our worry (and our lack of patience) pales into significance. They have inner peace. And we want that for ourselves! Not that their lives are cross-free, but they have some ‘secret’ of happiness and contentment amidst the trials of life. They do not seek, or do not need to seek, peace through diversion into addiction or compulsive behaviour.
The Spirit that Jesus will give is the Spirit of peace. Jesus
first words to His disciples at his resurrection were ‘peace be with you’ as He
breathed the Spirit on them. The peace
He gives them then is tied up with the forgiveness of sins. And that is a step
all too few make – to seek the peace that a guilt-free conscience can bring in
the sacrament of Reconciliation (confession).
The Spirit gives us peace through the sacraments that we receive
of Baptism and Confirmation and the Eucharist – and we keep the spirit alive in
our hearts also in the practice of fidelity to daily prayer.
We must ask ourselves therefore what kind of spiritual lives
we lead. The acid test is the level of worry and anxiety we experience and what
means we turn to in order to cope in the long term. The modern world offers us counselling
and meditation techniques instead of what God through His Church, i.e., the sacraments
and prayer, can offer for free! A peace the world cannot give - that is my
gift to you. The Spirit of peace – Christ’s parting gift - keeps our
relationship with Christ alive in our hearts. As we prepare to say farewell at
His Ascension we thank Him for the gift of the Spirit in our hearts.
Peace be with you!
Fifth Sunday of Easter
We have all had the experience of hearing the death of a friend
or colleague – and are left reeling. We are shocked and try to recall our last
meeting or encounter with the person we will never see alive again. It is
awful, and yet we run and deep down we know we cannot hide from the inevitability
of even our own death.
These sombre thoughts come to mind when we recall Jesus’ words
to his disciples at the Last Supper in today’s Gospel –‘I will not be with you much longer.’
These terrifying words are on our minds when we hear the news
of someone’s diagnosis of a terminal illness. Now everything in our
relationship with them changes, be it months or weeks, now every meeting could
be our last. We go gently with them. And when the illness takes a terminal and
rapid downward spiral, everything stops. All the things we considered important
are now side-lined, and we keep vigil. Every word and gesture is crucially important
and indelibly stamped on our memory.
So it is with the Last Supper. The words we hear today are
put in that context. Jesus begins his Last Supper Discourse as it is known,
when Judas departs, with these solemn words:
I will not be with you much longer. Where I am going you
cannot come.
This is what we are commemorating in the Easter season. It may
seem strange to refer back to the Last Supper on Holy Thursday night when in
fact we have celebrated Christ’s resurrection and all the subsequent appearances in
the Easter Octave and we are now in the Fifth Sunday of Easter.
Now however, we are being prepared (liturgically) for Christ’s
departure at His Ascension and He will send us His Holy Spirit. So these words:
‘I will not be with you much longer.
Where I am going you cannot come‘ take
on a new significance other than on their own in the circumstances in which
Jesus first uttered them before His impending death. There is not the same ‘mourning
or sadness’ or weeping (as described in the Apocalypse also) when we hear them
now.
Yet when someone we love has gone from our sight, their spirit remains. We somehow ‘feel’ them around us in a new way. Conscious reminders, photographs, songs, sayings, milestones, and even unexpectedly too, the loved one comes back to us forcefully in a way we cannot readily put into words as these are deeply felt and deeply personal to each individual, even in members if the same family.
Yet when someone we love has gone from our sight, their spirit remains. We somehow ‘feel’ them around us in a new way. Conscious reminders, photographs, songs, sayings, milestones, and even unexpectedly too, the loved one comes back to us forcefully in a way we cannot readily put into words as these are deeply felt and deeply personal to each individual, even in members if the same family.
Going back to the feeling and atmosphere of vigil, after
the person has gone we try somehow to honour their memory afterwards in a mortuary
card, the words chosen for the headstone, and even trying to honour them in a
particular way if they asked something of us. I think of people – siblings –
who reconcile – at the request of a dying parent. They do so out of respect and love.
The words: ‘do this for me’ are embedded in us, and that is why we hear those solemn words: ‘Do this in memory of me’.
At every Mass, therefore, we commemorate and honour Jesus’ final request at the solemn moment of His last get-together with his friends and disciples, and He becomes tangibly present to us in the Eucharist.
The words: ‘do this for me’ are embedded in us, and that is why we hear those solemn words: ‘Do this in memory of me’.
At every Mass, therefore, we commemorate and honour Jesus’ final request at the solemn moment of His last get-together with his friends and disciples, and He becomes tangibly present to us in the Eucharist.
We are called each day – and again this week - to follow Jesus’ new commandment and as we
depart from Mass too, to live out those words we heard today, which Jesus asks
of each of us (three times) ‘Love one another’.
Vocations Sunday
Perhaps you can picture the scene – two or three young people
at a table in coffee shop or restaurant – all ignoring each other’s company,
but there is free WiFi so they are
busy texting or playing games or surfing the internet for emails or Facebook alerts or tweets. None of them
are in conversation with each other. A similar incident was remarked on by a
friend of mine who saw three girls on their respective phones to other people –
but not to each other in the present moment. We can all get up in the false and
illusory hope that we are missing something – where in fact we are by ignoring
the present moment and present company.
I remember walking in to a person’s house a couple of years
ago where I was about to say a house Mass – a member of the family was too busy
or lazy (but also definitely too rude) to get up and greet me – and he was a
grown man – the person they were on-line with so far away was more important
than a flesh-and-blood visitor to the house.
All of us have an inner voice – we can’t describe it but all
of us can relate to the idea of an inner spokesperson for what is true and
right and morally preferable – as well as for what is above all, the truth. The inner promptings of the voice of
conscience – that inner voice we might call our good angel on our shoulder – and the call to be more than I am at times
of frustration, bewilderment, confusion and restlessness ; the call and the
challenge to be stretched – beyond the boredom of so many young people today.
It is difficult however to hear any interior voice over and
above the clamouring for attention in the media superhighway - the internet
traffic, the email alerts and so on. We are in danger of becoming distracted by
technology as well as artificial deadlines to what really matters. But in a
world of instant tweets, there is much lack of true communication – and there
is no instant button for changing the mood of loneliness depression or sadness.
Even through conversations – do we really take the time to
listen to others? Or is it all about me and waiting for others to stop talking
so that I can get my spake? People complain to me often how hard they find it
to find someone who will really listen to them and engage with them instead of
competing with them for attention.
But if we are too busy to listen to each other and end up
ignoring each other, where can God enter?
Today therefore is an
appeal to listen, to
put down the phone or the remote control, to turn off the TV and not just mute it! To stop for a change, and to listen
for God’s voice – in the silence, in what the poet Seamus Heaney calls ‘the
music of what happens’; to reflect, and to discern what God wants of us now and
from this day forward.
What therefore is my vocation?
The voice of conscience – that strange indescribable yet
inescapable inner voice - the call to be more than I am - the call and the
challenges to be stretched – beyond the boredom of so many young (and
not-so-young) people today – the call to do what God wants (as well as what
others may want) – the call to follow – the way of the Cross – the way of
salvation – and the way to heaven.
All of us are called in particular way to follow and are
confused and bewildered by competing voices.
If you have ever had the experience of hearing your name being called
above other names in a crowd of people – it may in fact be someone else and
then you realise in semi disappointment that it is not you who is so popular or
wanted, that it is somebody else instead…
But today God is calling each of us by name even in the crowd.
We must strain to listen
To sum up
We are called today to make time to listen
1.
Firstly,
to make time to listen to others
2.
Secondly,
to listen to the inner voice of conscience in the silence of our hearts
3.
Thirdly,
to listen to what God might be telling us if we just make the time and effort
to switch off competing noise
Jesus says: The sheep that listen to me listen to my
voice – and a necessary and crucial step is silence.
Make time for silent prayer today – you might
be surprised to what the Lord has been trying to say!
Post script
· The measure of the strength of the faith of any country is the quantity
as well as the quality of priestly and religious vocations. God blesses
abundant faith with an abundance of vocations. It is in a sense an annual
recruiting drive of the Church, the sales pitch, the call to hear the voice of
God
· We pray too for those whom God may be calling even in our parish towards
a priestly or a religious vocation. We pray that young people especially those
in school or college may be open to where God may be leading them to serve Him
and others
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