Fr. Michael Williams

For forty days we have been celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The readings at Mass during Eastertide have told us of the Risen Lord’s appearing to the Apostles and disciples. Naturally, these followers of the Lord, often needed convincing that the Lord had truly risen from the dead. The angel had told the women at the tomb, ‘There is no need for you to be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus…He is not here, He is risen’. And to the unbelieving Thomas Jesus says, ‘Look here are my hands…Doubt no longer, but believe’.

Yet, after these forty days of appearing to His followers Jesus’ mission on earth is now complete. He has conquered sin and death; ‘He destroyed death, as straw is burnt up in a fire’ (St Athanasius). Jesus returns to His Heavenly Father with His mission complete. He came down from Heaven to defeat the devil, who is the author of sin and death; so Jesus has shown Himself to be the One, ‘far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named’.

The feast of the Ascension reminds us that the victorious Jesus returns to Heaven; the work that the Father gave Him to do is complete. And because of Our Lord’s victory the disciples of Jesus are no longer downcast; rather they are left ‘staring into the sky’; they are looking heavenwards; they are looking beyond themselves into eternity.

This is something that all the disciples of Jesus must do, because ‘where He has gone, we hope to follow’. Today’s feast reminds us that once the work God has given us to do in this world is complete, then it will be time for us to go to Him. Only God knows the date and time for this, so we should be ready and prepared.

Before God calls us into eternity however, we must witness to the Lord in this world: ‘to go out and proclaim the Good News to all creation’. By attending Mass we are witnessing to the Good News of the Resurrection that Jesus is alive and reigning today, but we must leave this place, and reveal the love of God to the people we encounter in our lives; we must ‘tell them about the Kingdom of God’, because too many people do not know about it: they have become too much engrossed in this world and all its empty promises, with no eye on eternity.

Jesus says certain signs will accompany His followers. In St Mark’s gospel today He speaks of ‘casting out devils and laying hands on the sick who will recover’. These signs are still manifested today. For example, I remember being asked by a woman to go to a house where her teenage son had done the Ouija board. Seriously strange and disturbing things were going on at that house. The parents were so distraught they were trying to sell the house and move. Their last resort was to get a priest in. It’s funny how people turn to God as the last option! Anyway after blessing the house the lady reported back to me -a few weeks later- that the disturbances had stopped and they were not moving anymore. That’s the power of the Church’s prayers and blessings.

Generally we are called to less dramatic signs however. We are simply called to manifest the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our families, and in our workplaces, and in our communities. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are these: ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and self-control’ (Gal 5). Whenever we bring these virtues into the world we are making the Kingdom of God present here and now and thus continuing the work of the Lord.

The work that the Father of Heaven gave to Jesus to do, when He was on this earth, is now complete; but the work that the Father has given us to do is not yet complete.

So let’s pray, that as we stare toward the heavens, we will reflect back to earth the love that fills the whole of heaven through our words and actions.