Waiting

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
    [In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen].  When it comes to difficult times for most people, any time a person has to wait probably ranks towards the top.  Maybe it’s a child waiting for summer break to begin in the last days of May and the first days of June (or maybe a teacher!).  Maybe it’s a mother, waiting for her child to be born.  Maybe it’s waiting in a doctor’s office or in the lobby of a dealership to get the oil changed.  Maybe it’s waiting on the phone for a customer service representative to try to resolve whatever issue you may be having.  For me, one of the frustrating things is that there is nothing I can do to speed up the time when I’m waiting.  I have no control.

    So as we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord, we’re now in a long waiting game.  And if you think you were on hold for a long time with that customer service representative, we’ve been waiting almost 2,000 years for Christ to return, as the angels promised He would.  We know that God keeps His promises, but we also know that He chooses the right time to accomplish His will.  After all, He waited unknown centuries from the fall of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, to fulfill His promise to send a redeemer to restore them to friendship with God.  But that waiting wasn’t just sitting on their hands, doing nothing.  He prepared His People so that they could be ready to welcome the long-awaited Messiah, who was also His Only-Begotten Son.  They waited through the Great Flood; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; slavery in Egypt and their return and conquest of the Promised Land; the judges and kings; the prophets who corrected them when they went astray; and even through foreign occupation of their land, first by the Babylonians, then by the Greeks, and then eventually by Romans.
    So, in this time, we also wait, as we have from the year AD 33.  And our waiting is really twofold: waiting to celebrate the promised gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and waiting for the Parousia, the return of Christ in glory.  
    While we wait to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we should be asking the Holy Spirit to dwell within us more deeply, especially through the Novena to the Holy Spirit.  These days between the Ascension and Pentecost was the first novena, the first nine-days of prayer for a particular petition.  Granted, in most dioceses that’s now shortened to seven days, but that’s another story.  Still, even though we have received the Holy Spirit, especially through the holy sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, we can never have too much of the Third Divine Person of the Blessed Trinity, the one who is our Advocate, who strengthens us with gifts like wisdom and courage, and who gives us the fruits of love, joy, and peace, among others.  While waiting at a doctor’s office or waiting on the phone can seem very passive, where you can’t do anything else, waiting for the Holy Spirit is more like waiting for summer break, or even giving birth to a child, where there are preparations and things to be done so that, when the day comes, we’re ready.  It would be very sad to go into labor, knowing that we hadn’t started or completed the baby’s room or crib, or bought the necessary supplies to help the child thrive and grow outside the womb.  But, when it comes to Pentecost, how often does this happen, that we are not quite ready to receive the Holy Spirit?
    But beyond Pentecost, we wait for Christ to return in glory.  And this, too, is not a passive waiting.  This wait should be active.  Because at the end of time, Christ will put all things “beneath his feet,” as St. Paul says in his epistle to the Ephesians.  What is not of Christ will be cast down; what is of Christ will be raised up.  In this waiting time, we have the opportunity to participate in that reign of Christ already, even though it’s not yet fully known.  We have the opportunity to cast down all that is not of God, and focus on making sure we devote all of our words, actions, and thoughts to God so that God will raise us up, and will not have to cast us down, whether in totality to Hell, or even just parts of us in Purgatory, the parts that have to be burned up like chaff, or like the dross that is burned off to purify gold.  
    We know that Christ will return, but we don’t know when that will happen.  So, the best plan of action is to make ourselves ready at all times, or at least as ready as we can be.  And it’s not just a matter of looking the part (I remember a sign that said, “God is coming back; look busy.”).  Making ourselves ready is only possible by cooperating with God’s grace, and letting that grace transform us from the inside out.  We are not promised more time.  We are only promised today; God only gives us “now” to turn away from sin and turn back to Him.  If we passively wait, presuming we have more time, the day of Christ’s return, or the day of our death, could catch us off guard, and then perhaps we will be cast down because we had not allowed Christ to configure us to Himself.
    Waiting is difficult.  And it’s especially difficult when we see evil grow and be celebrated and good struggle to survive and be persecuted.  We might feel tempted at times just to give up, like our wait will never end.  But, like summer break for children; like the day of birth for a pregnant woman; even like when we’re waiting in a doctor’s room: the time will come when our hope will be fulfilled and our joy, which no one will be able to take from us, will be complete in Christ [who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns for ever and ever.  Amen]

Living the Paschal Mystery

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
    [In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.]  Sometimes we use words in the Church that are very important, but whose meaning is not always clear.  For example, in December we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  But many Catholics think that it refers to the Annunciation, when Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Blessed Mother, while it really refers to our Blessed Mother’s conception without original sin.  Another phrase that is especially important today is Paschal Mystery. 

The place from which Jesus ascended in Jerusalem

    The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the Paschal Mystery as, “Christ’s work of redemption accomplished primarily by his Passion, death, Resurrection, and glorious Ascension.”  Today, as we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord, we celebrate the closing out of the Paschal Mystery.  Paschal means related to the Passover, and Mystery, in this sense, means the great work of God that is invisible, but which was manifested in visible ways (the suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord).  Christ’s Passover saved us from death and brought us from slavery in sin to freedom in the heaven, just as the Jewish Passover saved them from the angel of death wiping out the first born in Egypt by the blood of the unblemished lamb, and inaugurated their flight from Egypt, that place of slavery, into the Promised Land.
    But while the Jewish Passover happened some 3,450 years ago, and the fulfillment of that Passover in Christ happened some 2,000 years ago, God does not relegate the Paschal Mystery to the past.  No, we celebrate it each time we come to Mass, and especially each Sunday, the Lord’s Day, as we enter into the moments of our redemption in a mystical way, and participate, as it were, in our own redemption because we join ourselves to Christ’s Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension at each Mass.  We do not simply remember what Christ did for us; God through visible signs, allows us to join in what Christ did for us so that we can share the fruits of that Paschal Mystery, which is resurrection and glorification. 
    But as disciples of Christ, God calls us to live that Paschal Mystery each day of our life, and not just in the church building.  Each day we have the opportunity of living out in ourselves what Christ did once for all some 2,000 years ago.  This is what St. Paul means when he says in the first chapter of Colossians: “in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church.”  So how do we live each day in the Paschal Mystery?  How do we participate in Christ’s Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension?
    We participate in the Passion and death of the Lord in our daily lives through the sufferings that come to us.  We don’t have to seek out suffering.  It readily makes itself available to us.  Suffering, by itself, is a lack.  But suffering united to Christ’s becomes redemptive by participating in His Paschal Mystery.  We all have various sufferings each day.  Maybe we hate our job; maybe our family drives us up a wall; maybe our sports team lost; maybe gas is more expensive than we would like it to be; maybe we lack trust in our political leadership.  However we experience it, we suffer daily.  But when we unite it to Christ, when we suffer in obedience to the will of the Father and seek not to do our own will, but “the will of the one who sent me,” we participate in redemption, both of ourselves and of the whole world.  This is what the sisters meant when they would say, “Offer it up.”  Now, I know we can use that phrase to basically mean, “stop whining,” but in its truest sense, that phrase reminds us to live out the Paschal Mystery, to suffer (the passion) and die (the crucifixion) to what we want and offer that pain to the Father, who receives it as an offering of love. 
    We participate in the Resurrection when we see God change our suffering that we have offered to Him into new life.  This is when we offer up that bad driver and find that our heart actually grows in love and mercy for whoever he or she may be.  This is when someone at work commends us and maybe even gives us a raise when we think they don’t notice the work we do.  This is when the child who has brought you to the brink of insanity and tested your patience to its last limit runs up to you, smiles, and gives you a hug saying, “I love you, mommy.”  When we offer our sufferings to the Father through Christ the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit, God transforms them into something which gives new life, just as the Father transforms ordinary bread and wine into the Body and Blood of His Son through the power of the Holy Spirit when we offer them to Him. 
    Our participation in the Ascension is something finds its fulfillment when the end of our earthly ministry is over, just as it did the same for Christ at the end of His earthly ministry.  Christ’s Ascension is His glorification, because the Father raises Christ up into glory at His right hand.  For us, the fullness of the ascension happens when we have done everything we can to offer our lives to the Father, when He has given us new life through those sufferings united to Him, and when He welcomes us into glory in heaven.  Christ led the way for us, but He wants us to follow Him–in His suffering and death; in His resurrection; and lastly, in His Ascension.  God does not keep glory for Himself, but shares it with us, according to our nature.  What a joy to allow God to raise us up to the fullness of who we are meant to be, a reality which can only be completed in heaven. 
    But that’s our hope, a hope based in following Christ, not just in His teaching (but certainly those), but also in His Paschal Mystery.  May we rejoice in this Paschal Mystery each time we assemble for Mass, and especially on the Lord’s Day, but may we also live out that Paschal Mystery every day of our lives, suffering and dying with God, allowing God to raise us to new life, and waiting for God the Father to glorify us with His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever.  Amen.  

Why Wait?

Ascension of our Lord
    In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  Earlier in May I had gotten a couple tickets for me and Jacob, a friend of mine, to see the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.  I usually get to see this friend once or twice a year because of his (and my) busy schedules.  The entire week before I looked at my weather app each day, to see what it was supposed to be.  Would it rain? Would it be hot?  Would there be thunderstorms or sunshine?  Each day I’d check to see what the weather was forecasted to be, hoping that the game would be played and we could enjoy a game and each other’s company.  The day finally came, it was somewhere around 80 degrees and sunny when the first pitch was thrown, and we had a great time, except that the Tigers lost, 9-0. 

    In my reading of the Epistle today, I focused in on a phrase that St. Luke reported: “they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father.”  Why wait?  Why not send the Holy Spirit immediately?  Certainly, the apostles could have used it, as St. Mark notes that, even at this late stage in their discipleship with Christ, they still doubted.  Why did Christ make the Apostles wait nine days (as will we) for Pentecost and the celebration of the Holy Spirit?
    This is not to say that waiting meant sitting on their hands.  St. Luke reports that, after our Lord ascended, the apostles did was He commanded and returned to Jerusalem.  But then Peter proceeds to inform them of an impending election, to fill the spot of the betrayer, Judas.  Two candidates are put forward, they ask for the Lord’s help in choosing the correct one, and St. Matthias is chosen as the new twelfth Apostle.  Who knows what else happened, but we do know they remained in that Upper Room for much of the time, until Pentecost happened and the sending of the Holy Spirit.
    Waiting builds anticipation and heightens the senses.  It focuses one on what is upcoming.  My baseball game with Jacob had me attentive to details, hoping sure the event would happen and turn out well, and checking and praying for good weather on a twice-daily basis.  As children wait for Christmas, especially in the days between the end of classes and Christmas Day, there is an attentiveness and an excitement for celebrating Christ’s birth, but probably mostly for the gifts that they hope to receive. 
    When a couple gets engaged, we ask them to wait (usually nine months) before they get married.  This allows time for them to prepare, to make sure they understand the lifelong commitment they are entering into, and make sure that they truly will love each other with the sacrificial love that holy matrimony requires. 
    But then, once the day gets there, the celebration is all the more worth it and joyful.  Yes, it would have been nice to see the Tigers win, but I was really glad to spend time with Jacob and catch up since the last time we saw each other.  On Christmas morning, the kids are often the first ones up, with joyful readiness to tear off the wrapping paper with abandon and discover what presents they received.  And when the wedding day comes, the bride and groom are full of joy and happiness that all their waiting has come to an end, and they can celebrate being the couple, the one-flesh-union, that they had desired to be since their engagement.  Indeed, the emotions are often so high that there are tears of joy from both the woman and the man!
    That is the spirit in which we should wait for Pentecost, for our annual renewal of the gifts and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We, too, should wait over these nine days, this primordial novena, asking for the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts, minds, and souls with His sacred presence.  We know that the Apostles, having waited nine days, began to speak in tongues, and were so elated that most thought them drunk (I always chuckle at St. Peter’s speech to the crowds, asserting that the apostles aren’t drunk because it’s only nine o’clock in the morning; having lived in East Lansing, I can tell you that nine o’clock means nothing on a football Saturday morning or St. Patrick’s Day).  Yes, this joy that overflowed was the work of the Holy Spirit, but was it perhaps also made possible by their waiting, their anticipation which opened them up for more of a gift of the Holy Spirit?  The amount of gifts that they received from the Holy Spirit could have been at least correlated to, if not caused by, their preparation and waiting. 
    We, living in 2022, are still waiting.  We are not waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We have received Him at Baptism and Confirmation in particular, but we also see Him at work every time Mass is celebrated.  Still, we can always increase our ability to receive the Holy Spirit, which should be part of our waiting each year from the Ascension to Pentecost. 
    But we are waiting for the Lord to return “‘in the same way as [the Apostles and the Blessed Mother] saw him going into heaven.’”  Our anticipation should grow each day in longing for the Lord to return to us, to set all things right, and to usher in a new heaven and a new earth, where pain and sorrow, death and mourning are no more.  We have waited for almost 2,000 years, and each day we are closer to when Christ returns in glory.  It seems like too long, as it probably felt for the Apostles and the Blessed Mother.  But this waiting can heighten our desire for the Lord, our desire for heaven, if we cooperate with the same Holy Spirit, and do not grow drowsy from our wait.  Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and enkindle in us the fire of your love, you who are the gift of the Father and the Son, and are co-eternal God for ever and ever.  Amen.  

Gone and Yet Here

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

    If there’s one thing that has proliferated during our pandemic, it’s memes.  Memes, if you’re not familiar with the word, is a picture, often with a short phrase, that’s intended to be humorous.  One that came to mind today (which I saw in April but would have also been appropriate earlier this month!) was: Anyone else feel like life is being written by a 4th grader right now?  “And there was this virus, and everyone was scared.  And then the world ran out of toilet paper.  Yeah, and then there was no school for like a month, and then it snowed.”  If we bring it up to the present day we could also include murder hornets and, sadly, the recent floods in central Michigan and wildfires near Grayling.  It does certainly sound like a bad story!
    As we go through the main points of the Gospel, it may also sound a little like a disjointed story.  You can imagine trying to explain the Gospel to someone who has never heard it before: There’s a virgin, Mary, who conceives a Son.  But it’s not conceived with her husband, but by the Holy Spirit.  And Mary’s Son, Jesus, is also God’s Son, but he’s not half-God and half-human, he’s fully God and fully human.  And Jesus heals people and walks on water, and multiplies bread and fish for the hungry, but then He dies on the cross.  But then He comes back from the dead, not like a zombie, but in a glorified body which can pass through doors.  And He visits some people during 40 days after the Resurrection, but then ascends into heaven.  But He’s not really gone, because His Body is the Church. 
    Christianity holds in tension so many things: Mary who is mother and virgin; Jesus who is God and man; Jesus who truly dies, but is truly risen from the dead; and what we celebrate today, Jesus ascended into heaven, but did not leave us orphans without His presence.  He’s gone, but He’s still here.  After all, we heard it at the end of the Gospel today: “‘behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.’”
    So how is Jesus still present with us, if, as we heard in the Gospel, He ascended beyond our sight into the heavens?  There are two ways.  The first we’ll celebrate next Sunday on Pentecost.  When the Ascension was celebrated when it should be (on Ascension Thursday, 40 days after Easter), we could point to the first novena in the church.  This is where you can insert the bad joke, where a Franciscan, a Dominican, and a diocesan priest are all asked individually by a layman, “Is there a novena for a Ferrari?”  The Franciscan, when asked, answers, “What’s a Ferrari?”  The Dominican, when asked, likewise answers, “What’s a Ferrari?”  The diocesan priest, when asked, answers, “What’s a novena?” 
    A novena is 9 days of prayer, usually for an intention.  There are nine days between the Ascension and Pentecost, and the Blessed Mother, Apostles, and disciples were praying for those nine days to continue the work of Jesus, without really knowing what they should be doing.  And their prayers are answered by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, where all gathered in that upper room are empowered to preach the Gospel.
    The Holy Spirit continues Jesus’ presence in the world.  Through the Holy Spirit, the Good News is still preached, freedom from sin is still granted, the hungry are still fed, the sick are still healed, the dead are still raised.  All that Jesus did on earth continues through the work of the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes that happens directly by the Holy Spirit, but sometimes it happens by people empowered by the Holy Spirit, like the first Apostles and disciples, who continue that work through the Church.
    And the Church is the second way that Jesus’ presence is continued on earth.  The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, and is present in heaven with Christ at the right hand of the Father (what we call the Church Triumphant), is present in Purgatory, awaiting the time when they will be ready for heaven (what we call the Church Suffering), and is present here on earth, as St. Paul says, working out our salvation and trying to live the life of Jesus daily (what we call the Church Militant).  The Church continues the teaching of Jesus, frees people from sin through the Sacrament of Penance, feeds the hungry of body through food pantries, and feeds the hungry of soul through the Eucharist, heals the sick through the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, and prays for the resurrection of the dead in the funeral rites and Mass.  And in many more ways, the ministry of Jesus in Judea 2,000 years ago continues throughout the world.
    And that’s you and me.  Our call through baptism and confirmation is to continue the presence of Jesus in whatever way that we can.  People are no less hungry for Jesus than they were 2,000 years ago, and Jesus can satisfy their hunger through the Holy Spirit working through us as the Church. 
    Yes, there is that tension, that Jesus is both gone and present here on earth.  But His presence on earth is both the work of the Holy Spirit and us, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit.  This week, let’s make sure that our lives reveal that Jesus is alive and that, while He ascended into heaven, He is still working and active here on earth!

Watching for Jesus to Return Together

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

So, ad orientem.  You’ve noticed that there have been no differences thus far.  But as I wrote in my bulletin, we’re only doing this for this weekend.  Still, the differences you’ll see are only during the Eucharistic Prayer.  But why ad orientem?  Is this simply another crazy Fr. Anthony idea?  Is it old stuff for the sake of old stuff?

For probably at least 1800 years, the Church celebrated Mass this way, and as my bulletin article says, there are hints that it’s still pre-supposed, as one of the instructions on the Mass will say, “”The Priest, turned towards the people…”.  But we celebrated Mass this way for a reason.  And that reason coincides with what we celebrate today: the Ascension of the Lord.  The Apostles, the Blessed Mother, and the disciples see Jesus ascend into heaven.  The site of Jesus’ Ascension is on a hill to the east (ad orientem) of Jerusalem.  And ever since then, we’ve been waiting for him to return.  This year, we celebrate 1,986 years of waiting for Jesus to return as He promised.  The orientation (which comes from a word that means east-facing) of the Church since Jesus left was looking for his return.  Honestly, that’s hard to do, especially after 1,986 years.  Nowadays, we get frustrated in the ten seconds it takes Siri to give us an answer.  We can forget that our Lord is coming back, “‘in the same way as you have seen him going to heaven,’” as the angel said in our first reading.

So our Mass has always reminded us that we’re waiting on Jesus.  Scott Hahn, a noted Biblical scholar and writer, speaks about how Tertullian, who lived form 160-220, already writes about Christians (and at that time there was really only one type of Christians, Catholics) facing east during our worship.  St. Clement of Alexandria, St. Basil the Great, and St. Augustine also all speak of this practice.  One of the early house churches in Syria, dating from 233, is arranged so that priest and people faced east, with an altar against the east wall.  St. John of Damascus in the 7th century also speaks of this practice.  

Scripture itself talks about the importance of the east.  In addition to our first reading, we can also look to Malachi, who prophesies Christ as the “Sun of Righteousness” (and the sun rises in the east); to Zechariah in the Gospel according to Luke who refers to Jesus as “‘the dawn from on high’” (and dawn comes from the east); and Jesus’ own words in the Gospel according to Matthew, who says, “‘For just as lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.’”  

But all of these things point to the face that we’re waiting for Jesus to return from the sanctuary not made with hands, heaven itself, and restore not only Israel, but the new Israel, the Church.  And the way that we face reminds us in our worship of God to be ready for His return, to be like the wise virgins who are ready, or like the homeowner prepared at all times so that he is not robbed.  That’s why we’re doing this, for this weekend only.  

And there is something very unifying about this.  When I celebrate Mass facing you (as is common and allowed), it can seem like it’s a performance of sorts for you.  Your eyes probably naturally focus on me.  But if you notice, in order to highlight that we’re waiting for the Lord, I almost never look at you during the Eucharistic Prayer, unless I’m speaking to you.  I look towards the heaven, to God, whom I’m addressing most of the time during that holiest part of the Mass.  The common orientation can easily become a me versus you scenario.  When Mass is celebrated ad orientem, we are all united, facing the same direction, facing our Lord in the tabernacle and waiting for his return.  Yes, I’m still at the head of the assembly, leading us all to Jesus, but I’m also a part of you, not disconnected.

The common response is that my back is turned towards you.  But Pope Benedict XVI aptly wrote in his book The Spirit of the Liturgy, “The common turning toward the east was not ‘a celebration toward the wall’…it did not mean that the priest ‘had his back to the people’….  For just as the congregation in the synagogue looked together toward Jerusalem, so in the Christian liturgy the congregation looked together ‘toward the Lord’…They did not close themselves into a circle; they did not gaze at one another; but as the pilgrim People of God they set off for the Oriens, for the Christ who comes to meet us.”  Again, it all goes back to waiting for Jesus to return, to keeping our eyes fixed on him, to reminding us to be ready for the Second Coming.  

And this even remains uninterrupted in both Catholic and some Jewish cemeteries.  There is a large Jewish cemetery to the east of Jerusalem on the hill that leads up to the place of the Ascension.  It’s packed full, and it’s the prime cemetery, because the Jews also believe that the Messiah will come from the east of Jerusalem, and they want to be the first to greet him when he comes (of course, we know that He has already come, and will come again).  And in our own New Calvary Catholic Cemetery, and in every Catholic cemetery I’ve visited, when people are buried, they are facing the east, so that they can be ready to greet Jesus, the Dawn who comes from on high.  

But, as I mentioned, I have no plan to extend this practice here beyond this weekend.  And it’s not about turning back the clock, or about doing something traditional, and certainly not about turning my back on my people.  No, it’s about facing the Lord, being focused on him, and being ready for his return.  

We're Already in Heaven

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

One of the priests at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, who is now a bishop, once said about homilies, “If it’s not worth stealing, it’s not worth using.”  So allow me to steal a little material later on in today’s homily that will help us enter in to today’s celebration of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.  After all, we can be tempted to remain at a superficial level about today’s solemnity.  We know that Jesus ascended, body and soul into heaven.  But, the next question easily becomes: so what? or who cares?  In all reality, what difference does it make if Jesus is in heaven?  Those are fair questions.

The difference that it makes is that we are, in one sense, already in heaven.  No, this isn’t heaven right here in Flint.  You probably don’t doubt that.  But here’s the thing: St. Paul reminds us that Christ is the head of the Body, the Church.  Our human nature is united to the one Person of Jesus.  Jesus even says at the end of today’s Gospel: “Behold, I am with you always,” and He can say that because we are united to Him through Baptism.  In that sense, all of us who have been united to Christ in Baptism by being united to His Mystical Body, the Church, are already in heaven, at least potentially speaking.  The Ascension celebrates the fact that in Christ, human nature has been given an even better place than the Garden of Eden; we have been given heaven.  That’s a big deal.

Heaven is our inheritance because it’s the inheritance of Jesus, the Son of God, for his obedience to God.  Christ, as St. Paul says, was obedient, even to the point of death, death on a cross, and His obedience was what allowed Him to pass from death to life, and open that new life for us.  Heaven is the one million dollar inheritance that our rich ancestor leaves us.

But, we have to receive that gift.  Jesus does not force that inheritance upon us.  He reigns as King at the right hand of the Father, but does not force us to be a part of His kingdom.  We have to be open to that gift, and the way that we show that we are open to the gift is by the way we live our life.  Our obedience to Christ on earth does not earn us heaven.  We cannot earn it, any more than any other human could have earned it.  Only Christ could gain heaven for us.  And yet, we show that we want to receive our inheritance by the way we show that we’re disciples of Jesus in our words and deeds.

And this is where the stolen parts come in.  There is an ancient document from some time after Christ called the Letter to Diognetus.  Diognetus is one of those names that has fallen on hard times.  I don’t think you’ll find it in the top 500 of baby names.  But, the author of this letter beautifully writes:

[Christians] live in their own countries as though they were only passing through.  They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens.  Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign county.  […] They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh.  They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven.

The author of this letter reminds us that our homeland is not here.  We are only passing through this world.  It can be so tempting to live as if this is all there is.  We try to make our decisions to have as good as a life as we can on earth.  But do we pay attention to having a good life after we die?  Do we live so as to receive our inheritance?

And we should live this way because we try to live as if we’re in heaven.  It’s not easy, but if we want to live in heaven for ever, it helps to practice for it.  It’s like sports: to be ready for the game, we have to practice.  The more we live on earth like we’re in heaven, the more familiar heaven will hopefully be for us.  And the more familiar heaven is for us, the more that we show that heaven is what we want.

That’s why our way of life is (or should be) different as Catholics.  We may drink, but we don’t get drunk; we date and marry and have kids (well you do; I don’t), but our understanding of dating and marriage and children is not the world’s understanding; we work hard to make a living, but we don’t work as if making money is all there is to life.  We live differently because heaven is different.

And coming to Mass on Sundays is part of our practice.  Mass is a foretaste of heaven.  The Book of Revelation says that there is a fair amount of singing praise to the Lamb in heaven.  In heaven we spend our time worshipping God and being surrounded by His love.  We get a foretaste of that worship in the Mass, and we receive Love Himself in the Body and Blood of Jesus.  Mass helps to prepare us for heaven.  The less we come, the less we are prepared.  The less we are prepared, the less likely we are to actually be ready to go there.  

In Christ, our human nature is already in heaven.  That’s the joy of today’s celebration.  Our response is to try to be as ready as we can to be there with Jesus, not only in potential, but in actuality.  Prepare yourself for heaven.  Prepare yourself for the home Jesus has prepared for you.

Goodbye, Farewell, Amen

Ascension of the Lord

           I didn’t plan it this way, but it happened to work out that the Sunday Mass at which I say “farewell” to this community is also the Sunday that, as a Church, we celebrate Jesus saying “farewell” to His disciples and Mother as He ascends into heaven.  Of course, there are major differences: I won’t be leaving today’s Mass or reception on a cloud into the heavens, and I’m not going to ask you to wait for the next week in the upper room of a house, praying for the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

           

The rock from which, by tradition,
Jesus ascended into heaven just
outside Jerusalem

As Jesus leaves today, He doesn’t leave for good.  We heard about the two men, whom we traditionally think of as angels, telling the disciples, “‘Men of Galilee…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.’”  But, just as important are Jesus own words recorded at the end of today’s Gospel: “‘And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.’”  Jesus, even as He leaves His disciples in such a way that they will no longer see His glorified body, promises that He is not abandoning them.  He promises to be with them always.  That is why, of course, they also pray for 9 days, awaiting the promised Paraclete, the Advocate, who will fill them with power from on high, the Holy Spirit, Who is Christ’s presence for all ages, and teaches them things that they could not understand while Jesus was on earth.  Jesus doesn’t abandon His flock, His People, His Church, but remains with them always.

            We see that through the Holy Spirit working through Bishop Boyea as he made decisions about where priests would be in the coming year.  Bishop Boyea needed Fr. Dave Hudgins to study canon law, and to learn how to be Christ’s presence on the Tribunal, and he is sending me to Adrian, to be Christ’s presence there.  And he is sending you another priest to take my place, to be Christ’s presence here, as well as another priest to take Fr. Jim’s place.  In some ways I’m sure those priests are similar.  In other ways I know they will be different.  I’ve already been told that I need to tell Fr. Dan Westermann that he will be expected to attend as many sports games as possible, and announce STA basketball games.  We’ll see what he can do.  But Jesus supplies the priests that this parish will need to grow as disciples, and Jesus will remain with you through them.

            Jesus also gives a mandate, a command, as He ascends into heaven: “‘Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…[and] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.’”  Jesus commands His disciples to tell others about Him and teach them to observe His commands because He has given us the way (not one way, the way) to happiness, which prepares us even on earth for the eternal joys of heaven.  Jesus does not want His presence to be limited to those who physically saw Him while He preached on earth.  Jesus wants His presence to be spread all around the world, and, after Pentecost, we see the disciples do precisely that: they spread out and preach the Gospel to modern-day Syria, Iraq, Iran, India, Egypt, Turkey, Macedonia, Greece, Italy, perhaps even Spain, and so many places in-between.  Filled with Jesus’ presence, they are compelled to tell others about Jesus and live and preach His way of life to others.

            People have sometimes asked me how I was able to be everywhere: sports, band concerts, plays, classrooms, parish meetings, etc.  I just tried to be a father, and I emulated the sacrifices so many of you parents have made and are making to be at your children’s events.  The only difference was that I have a lot more children than any one family here!!  But in trying to go to everything, if only just for a little bit, I was trying to show you that, while Jesus of course cares that you go to Mass each Sunday and holyday and that you go to confession regularly, Jesus also cares about the things you do outside this church building: the games you play, the events you’re engaged in, the clubs and organizations to which you belong.  Jesus cares about it all, and He wants you to spread His presence to all those events in which you participate.  To the extent that you could see Jesus caring when I showed up, give praise to God.  To the extent that my presence didn’t communicate Jesus’ presence, I apologize.  And I’m sorry I could not do more.

            We don’t really hear about it in Scripture, but we know that Jesus laughed from time to time.  We know that Jesus wept at the death of His friend Lazarus.  We read in Scripture that Jesus consoled sinners and extended His mercy to them.  He spoke difficult words and set a high bar for what it means to follow Him.  He called all to deeper conversion and a fuller life through a deeper relationship with God.  I have laughed with you.  I have wept with you at funerals.  I have been the vessel of God’s mercy more times than I can count.  I have spoken difficult words, and reminded all of us that to be a disciple means to daily carry our cross with Jesus.  I have tried to encourage all of us to get to know Jesus better and love Him more.  Thank you for all of those times.  Thank God that I was able to try to be His presence in those times.  And while we say farewell today and in the coming days, the most important thing is that the Father remains with you; Jesus remains with you; the Holy Spirit remains with you, because Jesus promised, “‘behold, I am with you always.’”

An Optimistic Nation

Ascension of the Lord

            When it comes to the feelings of parishioners, there are very few, if any across-the-board statistics that apply to every individual.  It is dangerous to make assumptions for people, especially in a homily, because it might not be true, and you can lose that person’s attention for the rest of the homily.  But, I feel very safe in saying that every person here wants to go to heaven.  Good.  No one got up and left.  No one is offended to be in a group of people that want to enter paradise.

            What we celebrate today is the fact that it’s possible.  Yes, Jesus opened the pearly gates when He rose from the dead, but Jesus today takes His seat at the right hand of the Father, and what gives us hope is that, if we are members of His Body, then we, too, will be there some day.  While it’s a bit dated, a 2005 poll by ABC News stated that 89% of Americans believe in heaven, and of those who believe in heaven, 85% of them think they will be going there.  We certainly cannot be condemned as a pessimistic nation. 

            But it’s much easier to take the position of the disciples that we heard about in the first reading.  It’s much easier to gawk up in the sky and think, “Wow!!  That was really cool!!” and just remain there.  It took an angel to get the disciples to go back to the Upper Room and pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit which would empower them to do what Jesus commanded: “‘be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”  While I may not be a perfect angel, allow me to communicate a similar message: pray for the gift of the Spirit!!

            Because the only way to go where Jesus has gone before, is to pattern our life on His.  Yes, we all want to get to heaven, but do we know how to get there?  The way is quite simple: Jesus.  Jesus didn’t say, “‘I am the way,’” to give bumper sticker manufacturers a job.  He said it because it was true: the only way to heaven, to the Father, is through Jesus.  If we truly want to go to heaven, then we must pattern our lives on His.  What does that look like?  Jesus tells us in our Gospel: suffering, death, and resurrection; and preaching of repentance.

            If we want to go to heaven, then our life is meant to be full of sufferings, deaths, and resurrections.  These are the times where we say, “It’s not about me,” and we do something that we know we should want to do, and then we actually find we enjoy it.  Imagine that: doing what we should do often comes with a feeling of accomplishment.  Huh.  Fr. Michal Judge probably had some trepidation about going into the Twin Towers on 9/11.  But, as the building collapsed, I’m quite sure he didn’t think, “I wish I would have concentrated more on myself.”  And standing before the judgment seat of God, I’m very sure he didn’t think that.  Or the volunteers who give of their time and talent to bring food to the hungry, while it may be painful sometimes, I’m quite sure they don’t regret living out the corporal work of mercy to feed the hungry.  We have to die to thinking of ourselves as the most important, which is painful, and then rise to new life where it is God, Others, Me.  After all, Jesus called His disciples to be His witnesses, which, in Greek, could also be translated His martyrs.

            If we want to go to heaven, then our life is meant to be a witness to repentance.  Now, in our culture, we don’t like to use the word repentance, because if you are repenting, it means you did something wrong, and no one does anything wrong in our culture.  But, the life of Jesus was a life of preaching repentance.  Jesus didn’t say, “You’re great, just keep up the good work!”  He said, “Repent, and believe in the Gospel!”  When we preach repentance, we preach to ourselves, to remind ourselves that we need to be formed constantly into disciples, and at the same time we preach to others that same message.  We don’t preach, “You’re doing pretty well,” because that’s not the message of Jesus.  Jesus didn’t preach mediocrity; He preached perfection, the fulfillment of who we are as human persons created in the image and likeness of God.  We preach new life, not old life with a few alterations.  But new life makes demands, and that’s where we get squeamish.  Who are we to make demands?  We, of ourselves, can demand nothing.  But Jesus demands that we model our life on His in totality, not just for one hour on Sundays.  And, out of love for others, and wanting to see ourselves and them in heaven, we, by the grace of God, change our lives, and ask others to do the same.  Mercy is only sweet when someone has done something wrong.  Mercy means nothing if there is nothing wrong.  So if we wish to receive mercy and be merciful, we have to acknowledge the evil that we do, and then do our best to begin a new life, and call others to the same.

            But none of this is possible without prayer.  Just as the disciples prayed for nine days in the Upper Room (the first novena), so we should be praying, not just for nine days, but every day, for the gift of the Holy Spirit who gives us courage to suffer, die, and rise, who forms us according to the mind of God, who gives us the words to use when we preach Christ and not ourselves.  Take these days until Pentecost and pray for an increase of the Spirit.  If you are open, God will not disappoint.  And then, by the grace of God, living a life after the pattern of Jesus, you will have firm hope, not just a flimsy wish, that in Christ, you can be seated at the right hand of the Father.  

Endings and Beginnings

Ascension of the Lord

            The way that something ends can be very important.  In what little free time I have, I enjoy reading Grisham novels.  But, to be honest, it’s a love-hate relationship.  I love reading the books, until I get to the end because, in my opinion, the man doesn’t know how to end a book.  It’s always so abrupt and dissatisfying.

Or, we could look at our high school students who have graduated, or any high school students who have been or will be taking exams.  While the rest of the semester is important, finals week either caps a successful semester, maybe saves someone from having to retake a class with a last-minute display of real knowledge, or puts the nail in the coffin to a horrible class.

Rock from which Jesus ascended into heaven
(Jerusalem)

            What we celebrate today is the is the completion of the Paschal Mystery.  This main Mystery of our Faith, what makes us unique as Christians, began Holy Thursday, as we celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, continued on Good Friday as we solemnly recalled Jesus’ death on the cross, and then continued on further as we celebrated the rising of Christ from the dead.  But our celebration of that Mystery did not end on Easter Sunday, or even after the Octave of Easter.  No, today’s solemnity, that of the Ascension, when Christ, 40 days after He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven (even though we celebrate it a few days later) is also part of this Mystery.  And this part reminds us that, after our resurrection from the dead, after we have been judged, if we are found faithful to God, we can expect our glorified bodies to rise from their tombs and be reunited with our souls in heaven.  Where Christ has gone, we, too, hope to go someday.

            That is why today is such a great celebration.  Not only have sin and death been conquered by Christ’s dying on the cross and rising to new life; not only do we get to have eternal life after death; but our human nature has been taken up into heaven and, united with Jesus’ divine nature, sits at the right hand of the Father, “far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,” as St. Paul says in our second reading.  Human nature has been taken up into the heavens where it enjoys the fullness of the reign of God, and by our faithful stewardship of the gifts that God has given to us: the most precious gift of faith, hope, and love and the gifts of time, talent, and treasure, we can share in that reign.

            But, while this day marks the completion of the Paschal Mystery, it also marks a new beginning, as all endings do.  When we finish elementary school we begin middle school; when we finish middle school we begin high school; when we finish high school we begin college or a job; when we end single life we begin married life, ordained ministry, or consecrated life; when we end this life on earth, we begin a new life, hopefully in heaven.  So when Christ completes His Paschal Mystery, it begins a new part of the work of Christ, the work of the rest of His Body, the Church.

            Because as Jesus was about to ascend into the heavens, He commands them, “‘Go…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 you.’”  As Jesus’ physical presence in His glorified body ends here on earth, His work continues through the members of His Body, the Church, through all generations.  He gives us the mandate to preach the Gospel and bring people under the obedience of Christ, obeying all His commands.

            We generally don’t think of Christ as commanding, but as we look through the Gospels, we see a few that come up again and again: “‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’”; “‘Sin no more’”; “‘Love one another’”; and today we hear, “‘make disciples of all nations.’”  This is the work that Jesus Christ expects us to do while we are on earth.  This is part of the work that His Body continues, part of His ministry to all people. 

            The temptation, of course, is to be like the disciples at the ascension, and not really get this mandate.  They keep looking up, even after Jesus was taken from their sight, and so God sends to angels to say, “‘Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?’”  They wonder why the disciples are not returning to the upper room to pray for the Holy Spirit so that they can be Jesus’ messengers themselves.  While we may not look up in the sky, we might be tempted to think, ‘Wow!  That was a great homily!  What a powerful Mass.  I never realized that Christ has commanded me to preach the Gospel!’ and then leave our practice of the faith in this building, just like the disciples standing on the mountain.  But Jesus doesn’t tell us to bask in the glow of the Spirit while we’re in Church for an hour, and then return our faith to the bookracks before we exit the building.  He gives us the mandate to take that faith out into the world and use it in our interactions with family, friends, co-workers, and all those we meet, bearing witness in word and deed to the joy and the hope we have in Christ.

            It is good to realize how important this completion of the Paschal Mystery is, and to rejoice in the fact that our natures, and even our bodies, one day, can be united with God in heaven.  But this completion leads us to a new beginning, the beginning of our ministry in the Holy Name of Jesus as we make disciples of all nations and lead then to the saving waters of Baptism.