The Top-Shelf Gospel

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 

    Many of you know how much I have grown to appreciate bourbon over the past year or so. I had tried bourbon years ago, and would drink it occasionally since I was a priest, but ever since I started the Kentucky Bourbon Trail last September as part of my 40th birthday celebrations, I have really gotten into bourbon as my liquor of choice (always enjoy responsibly!). In fact, this past week I was down in Kentucky again, finishing the Kentucky Craft Distillery tour. 

    Among bourbon connoisseurs there is one bourbon that always comes up. People usually have mixed reactions to it, but it is one of the most sought-after bourbons in the US, and likely the world. That bourbon brand is Pappy Van Winkle. I won’t go into all the reasons, but Pappy Van Winkle is very hard to find, and when you can find it, it’s expensive, whether by the pour or by the bottle. A couple of weeks ago a Catholic who has done quite well for himself invited me over to his house in Grand Ledge for a bourbon tasting, and he let me try a 3/4 oz. pour of Pappy Van Winkle, along with some other top shelf bourbons.          

As we talked (as alcohol has a propensity for encouraging talking), something he said struck me, especially in regard to today’s readings. He mentioned that he has been able to acquire some very good bourbons, but he doesn’t just keep them for himself. He wants to share them with others and let them experience something they couldn’t experience on their own. So he hosts small bourbon tasting parties, or donates some of the top shelf bourbon that he acquires to charitable auctions or fundraisers so that groups can benefit from the donations and individuals can have a chance to taste some good bourbon. 

    We might consider the Gospel like a top shelf bourbon (very top shelf). And by Gospel, I mean the entirety of what Christ has revealed through the Scriptures and His Mystical Body, the Church. It is precious, because it is the key to finding eternal life. But like a top shelf bourbon, there is the temptation to simply hold on to it once we have acquired it and let it sit on a shelf as an occasional talking point or a badge of honor that we have found it. But the Gospel is not meant to be kept to oneself. It is meant to be shared with others, so that, quoting Psalm 34, they can "taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” 

    So often, when we think about the apostles, or at least I know this is true in my own thinking, I imagine them walking around with Jesus for three years, seeing His miracles, hearing His teachings, watching Him pray, and the like. But our Gospel reminds us today that He sent them out to proclaim what they had experienced. Jesus didn’t have them get a special degree or certificate to prove they were ready (and in many ways they weren’t ready, as we also see in the Gospel accounts). But He sent them out to proclaim that the Kingdom of God was at hand, and to cast out demons and heal the sick. And they did. We don’t know exactly how long they were gone, but we can imagine they went out all over Judea telling others about Jesus and sharing His teachings with them, as they participated in Jesus’ work of freeing people from the dominion of Satan and curing their diseases and infirmities. So it probably took a little while. And perhaps this happened more than once in that three-year time period. Like Amos in our first reading, they didn’t have any special commission other than from God calling them to speak for Him. 

    God has chosen us, as St. Paul said in the second reading, not only to be His people, but to share with others “the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us.” We continue what started in the early Church: we receive the Gospel, and then we change our lives, and then we share the Gospel as God commissions us. We don’t keep it to ourselves, but we share it with others, whether in our homes, at work, on vacation, and even while on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Many of you do that in your families, sharing the importance of Christ in your marriage and with your kids or grandkids. Hopefully many of you provide a good example at work of what it means to be Catholic, and assist those going through hard times by praying with them and sharing how Christ helps us make it through any difficulty. Some are called to be priests or consecrated men and women who give up certain things or even everything to focus on our relationship with Christ. But the key is that we are sharing the Gospel by what we do and by what we say, and that we don’t simply keep it to ourselves. 

    The Gospel is infinitely more precious than even a 23-year Family Reserve bottle of Pappy Van Winkle. You don’t have to hunt for it or pay any money to acquire the Gospel. But it is not meant to sit on the shelf and get dusty. The new wine of the Gospel is meant to be shared with others so that they can enjoy its flavor and vitality. And, unlike liquor, the more we share it, the more of it we have for ourselves. So share the Gospel with others. Their life is not the same without it, and won’t be the same after they taste of the Gospel.

Vision and Ventilators

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
    We hear this familiar Gospel passage, and probably, if we are honest, we don’t like this parable too much.  Perhaps now, more than ever, we all want to get what is ours, what we are owed, and we want what we feel is just.  The idea that someone could work for one hour, and receive the same amount of money as a person who worked for an entire day seems ludicrous.  But Jesus never promises that everyone will get the same amount. 
    This really speaks to how much God values spreading the Gospel.  He is willing to pay someone a full day’s wages as long as they work hard, no matter how long they worked.  The obvious message is the relationship between those who were “faithful” Jews, and those who were making last-minute conversions.  It could also easily be extended to mean the Jews (who were called from of old) and the Gentiles, who were only joined to the olive tree of Israel after Christ broke down the barriers between Jew and Gentile by His Death and Resurrection. 

    And we even see this parable at work in a real situation in St. Dismas, the good thief, who was crucified with Jesus, but who prayed that he would be with Jesus in paradise.  “‘Amen, I say to you,’” said our Lord, “‘today you will be with me in Paradise.’”  We have no evidence that St. Dismas had followed Jesus at all during his lifetime, and the only thing we know about him before his death is that he was a criminal, often times described as a thief.  But hours after his statement of faith in Jesus, he would be in heaven. 
    Do we have the same drive for the spreading of the kingdom of God as did the landowner?  Are we willing to pay dearly so that the Gospel can be shared, even to the point of foolishness?  Or do we have other motivating factors for our actions, that we feel are more fair or equitable?
    Jeff and Mary Love, Karen Downs, Deacon Dave and I, recently attended the first of three meetings on helping parishes spread the Gospel.  The meetings are co-hosted by the Diocese of Lansing and the Catholic Leadership Institute.  We learned about parish vision, core values, and purpose statements.  For St. Pius X, it was all a bit awkward, as we know we are on a trajectory towards closing.  In talking privately with one of the facilitators, I spoke about the preference you expressed, to exist until we ran out of sufficient funds.  He asked the question that has been on my heart since you voiced your desire for St. Pius X: is this really what would advance the kingdom more?  Is this really the best path for spreading the Gospel, not just in Flint Township, but for Genesee County and the Diocese of Lansing?
    I know that your preference is based on your love of St. Pius X.  It is hard to let go of something so dear to us, especially when some of you helped to found St. Pius X with your family.  Change is never easy, especially the longer we live, and holding to the status quo requires the least amount of change.  But is it operating with the same drive that Jesus describes in the Gospel for spreading the kingdom and sharing the Gospel, such that resources are brought to bear on those who will do that work?

    To be sure, I understand the mindset of wanting to hold on for as long as possible, even when the end seems obvious.  In late March of 2020 we were at the very beginning of a virus about which we knew little.  Ventilators were in high demand and short supply.  Those with pre-existing conditions were especially vulnerable.  It was in that context that my grandfather, whom most called Jesse, contracted COVID from his nursing home.  He was taken to Sparrow Hospital for treatment.  For his kids and grandkids, including me, it was scary.  The mortality rate was rising quickly, and no one seemed to know how to treat COVID effectively.  My grandfather started out with a cough, needing a little bit of oxygen from a mask from time to time.  He had some good days, and things seemed to be holding steady.  We, of course, were not allowed to visit, except by Zoom.  As the days progressed, though, things got worse.  Eventually the occasional dose of oxygen from a mask became the nasal cannula, the thing they stick in your nostrils in order to deliver oxygen all the time.  We grandkids made a video holding up signs, telling him we loved him.  Around that same time that we showed the video, the nasal cannula was proving not enough, and he was going to need a ventilator.  My mom and her siblings had to decide what to do next. 
    My grandfather was 93.  He had been a strong man throughout his life.  His children, who loved him dearly, and most of whom could not see him, even if they traveled from being out-of-State, would not have a chance to say good-bye in person if they decided to withhold further care.  But, as hard as it was, they made the decision not to use the ventilator, as it was not always proving useful in treatment, especially for the elderly, and perhaps that ventilator could help a younger person who had a better chance of surviving the Coronavirus.  He died shortly after being removed from oxygen on 9 April 2020.
    Do I wish I could have been with my grandfather in his last moments, giving him the Sacrament of the Sick and the Apostolic Pardon?  Certainly.  Would I have done anything to keep him around longer and put him on the ventilator so that we could have, hopefully, a few more days?  No.  At the time, the what-ifs were frequent in my mind, but I know my mom and her brothers made the right decision.  It wasn’t easy, but it was for the greater good.  And I would like to believe, though I have no proof of this, that someone else who needed a ventilator benefited and maybe even had his life saved from the machine that my grandfather would have been using if that route of care had been chosen. 
    Our mission is to spread the Gospel.  I have been preaching that since I arrived in 2016.  We have groups who are active here in the parish, working hard to strengthen their faith, and I applaud those groups.  But I think, if we’re honest, we know where this is going.  From factors both in and outside of our control, our parish is dying. 
    So what is the best thing for us to do?  Is it to remain as long as we can, and just spend money to have the semblance of a parish so that we can pretend everything is ok and pretend that hundreds more people are going to start coming to St. Pius X in the next months or year?  Is that the calculation that the landowner makes for spreading the Gospel of the kingdom?  Or can those resources, both personal and financial, be better used by supporting other parishes in the area?  Could the ventilator we have chosen to use, which may prolong things but which will not cure things, be better used by someone else?
    We hear in our Gospel the paradigm that God uses for evaluating what is best: how can I get more workers for the vineyard to spread the Gospel?  Is that the paradigm that we are using as a parish as we continue our on pilgrimage to closing?  Or do we have another paradigm for how long we should exist?  I know what we all want.  But is what we want in line with the mission of any parish: to spread the Gospel as effectively as possible?  

Getting to Know Christ through the Lenten Gospels

Second Sunday of Lent
    Throughout Lent, we see overarching themes as we enter into this holy season.  Certainly we see mortification and the denial of the body as a way to focus on the higher, spiritual realities.  We are also, certainly, meditating on the Passion of our Lord, and preparing for His ultimate sacrifice which we celebrate during the Sacred Triduum.  And that Passion leads to the Resurrection, as we see in the Transfiguration today.  Our Lord had told the Apostles about His impending Passion, and then He takes Peter, James, and John, and leads them up Mount Tabor, and is transfigured before them, to show that what would happen after He suffered crucifixion. 

Church of the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor

    

    But all of the Gospels passages for this sacred time, both in the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form, also help us to understand who Jesus is.  The first two Sundays of Lent find the Gospel readings in both forms of the Roman Rite the same: the temptation of our Lord, and His Transfiguration.  After that, the Gospel selections take different paths.  In the Ordinary Form, since this is Year A in the Cycle of Sunday readings, we hear the long Gospels about the Samaritan woman at the well (3rd Sunday of Lent); the man born blind (4th Sunday of Lent); and the raising of Lazarus (5th Sunday of Lent).  In the Extraordinary Form, where we hear the same readings each year, the passages are: the casting out of demons, and the accusation that our Lord does so by the power of demons (3rd Sunday in Lent); the multiplication of the loaves from John 6 (4th Sunday in Lent); and our Lord telling the Pharisees that He is greater than Abraham (Passion Sunday).  No matter which Form of Mass we attend, the readings help us to know our Lord better as He reveals Himself.
    The identity of Christ is no small matter and is perfect for meditation during Lent.  The better we know Christ, we better know our salvation.  And, since we are members of Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, the better we know Christ, the better we understand what is in store for us if we stay faithful to Him.
    On the one hand we can talk about who our Lord is objectively, as in facts about Him.  The Gospels show us that He is the Son of God, who has been tempted like us, but has not sinned (first Sunday of Lent).  He is also co-equal with the Father, and sharing in His glory, the God to whom all the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah) point (second Sunday of Lent).  The Savior is the one who brings down the power and reign of Satan (third Sunday of Lent, EF), and does so by convicting us of sin so that we can be healed and receive the waters of Divine Mercy (third Sunday of Lent, OF).  Christ opens our eyes to recognize who He is (fourth Sunday of Lent, OF), and feeds us with miraculous bread, going beyond what any other prophet had done (fourth Sunday of Lent, EF).  Christ is the Resurrection and the Life, who grants eternal life to those who believe in Him (fifth Sunday of Lent), whose day Abraham rejoiced to see (Passion Sunday). 
    But knowing our Lord is more than simply knowing facts about Him.  Knowing Christ means taking all those facts that I just laid out, the facts that we hear from the Gospel, and making a choice about who He is to me.  Even the demons knew facts about Christ, and could probably confess more Trinitarian theology than any of us could.  But they do not have a relationship with Christ; they do not want Him involved in their lives; they do not love Him.
    Following Christ as a disciple means growing in our love of Him.  Lent offers us the opportunity to recommit ourselves to acting like He did in our daily lives.  Do we actively fight temptations and do our best not to give in to the lies of the devil?  Does our glory come from God, or do we seek to glorify ourselves with our own greatness, that does not even come close to shining as brightly as the glory that God desires for us?  How do we fill that thirst that we have for God?  Are we active in cooperating with Christ to tear down the kingdom of the prince of this world and build up the Kingdom of God?  Do we ourselves recognize the ways we want to close our eyes to God’s goodness, and help to open others’ eyes to the truth of the Gospel?  Do we feed on the Living Bread come down from heaven, or do we try to fill our stomachs with food that fails to satisfy and is never enough?  Are we willing to let Christ raise us to new life, or do we treat Him as just another moral teacher, a philosopher, who had some good teachings, but is like all other teachers and philosophers who came before Him?
    Our reading of the Gospels and our participation in this Mass is not simply about gathering facts and putting time in with God.  When we read the Sacred Scriptures, guided by the teachings of the Church, God wants us to understand how we are to find our happiness by putting the old Adam, the one who chose disobedience to God, to death, and rising to life with the new Adam, Christ, who was obedient even to the point of death, death on a cross.  As we worship God in the Mass, God does not only want our praise from our lips.  He gives us the Eucharist, the miraculous Bread from heaven, so that our lives can be transformed and we can have a foretaste within us of the glory to be revealed at the end of time.  God wants us to utilize His presence within us to be more like Him, and to share that presence of Christ when we interact with others.  When family members, friends, co-workers, and others interact with us, do they sense Christ and see, even in small ways, His glory shining through us?  Are they greeted with the love that any person would desire to receive from God, and then invited to participate in the truth that is also God? 
    We are still early in Lent.  There is still time to get to know God better, and to open ourselves to the grace of God which makes deep changes possible in our lives so that we live a life like Christ’s.  Don’t only give up stuff this Lent.  Don’t only know the facts about the great gift of salvation God gave us in dying for us.  Allow what Christ did to become the pattern of your own life, and grow in your friendship with Him. 

Becoming Rich Soil

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I would never say that I have a green thumb.  In fact, plants inside my room or house tend to die.  I once even killed a cactus that I had in college.  And yet, I love planting things.  Last October I planted a couple of small rose bushes and some mums; this past April I planted some of the left-over Easter plants along the sidewalk, and in May I planted some lily bulbs and a few peonies starters.  Some of them are doing well; others I haven’t seen make it through the dirt yet.

Today Jesus talks about being good soil to receive the seed of God’s Word.  We’ve heard this parable a lot, and I have to be honest, as a preacher, this is one of the hardest Gospels to preach on, because Jesus Himself explains what it means.  I have a kind of dread when this Gospel comes up, because I don’t want to be a boring preacher, and I’m especially afraid of that when this parable is the Gospel for the day.

But I thought that this year what would be helpful would be looking at the kinds of things that we can do to be good soil.  Again, Jesus’ point is obvious, we should be rich soil so that we can hear the Word of God, understand it, and then have it make a difference in our life.  But maybe we’re not rich soil yet; maybe we’re rocky ground, maybe we surrounded by thorns that want to choke the Word of God out.  So how do we change that?  How can we be rich soil?

There are a few things that can change our faith lives to be more receptive.  I won’t give an exhaustive list, but I’ll give a few basic ideas that almost anyone can do to help make them more receptive to God, and to grow in their relationship with Jesus.

The first basic thing we can do to change our lives to be more God-centered, to help in our relationship with Jesus, is to actually read the Word of God.  Other than at Mass, how much exposure do we have to the Word of God?  We have Bible studies from time to time that we offer through the parish.  But even if you can’t make those, read a chapter of the Gospels each day.  Start with Matthew, chapter one, and go through John, chapter twenty-one.  And when you finish that, read the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul’s letters, the other Catholic letters, and then finish up with Revelation.  One chapter per day won’t overwhelm you (hopefully), and most Bibles have footnotes in case there’s a passage you don’t understand.  If you want something more in-depth, you can also get a Catholic Study Bible, or get a Catechism and look up what the Church says about that passage.

Another basic thing we can do to change our lives to be God-centered, to help in our relationship with Jesus, is to pray the Rosary and/or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.  For some Catholics now, the only time they pray the Rosary is the night before a funeral.  But the Rosary is a beautiful prayer focused on the mysteries of the Lord’s life, beginning with His conception at the Annunciation, and ending with Him crowning His Blessed Mother as Queen of Heaven and Earth.  You don’t have to pray all 20 mysteries every day, but maybe try to pray one Rosary each week, especially together as a family.  Yes, the kids probably won’t like it; I didn’t when I was younger.  But it made a huge impression on me and gave me a way to pray.  You can even now use your smart phone to pray the Rosary.  During each Our Father, Hail Mary, or Glory Be, think about the mystery, joyous, luminous, sorrowful, or glorious, of Jesus’ life, Death, and Resurrection.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is another great prayer.  We have our Divine Mercy Apostolate that meets on a regular basis, but it’s also something you can do in your home.  And if you feel one Rosary is too long, try the chaplet.  It’s prayed using Rosary beads, but the prayers are shorter.  The Chaplet of Divine Mercy focuses on Jesus’ merciful love for us, shown especially in His sorrowful Passion.  You might have to look up the prayers the first few times you pray it, but it’s easy to memorize them.

Speaking of mercy, another great way to be God-centered and to deepen our relationship with Jesus is through regular confession.  You don’t have to be a horrible sinner to go to confession (though if you are a horrible sinner, you definitely need confessions!).  So-called devotional confession, where one confesses even simply venial sins on a regular basis is a great way to weed the garden of our hearts.  I hate weeding, usually because I let the weeds go a long time, and then it takes a long time to get them out of the ground.  But if I would weed regularly, there wouldn’t be as many weeds to pull (or, in my case, spray Round-Up on).  The same goes for our spiritual life: the longer we let our sins go, the more invasive they become.  Even venial sins add up and make it more likely to commit major (we call them grave or mortal) sins.  And if we go regularly, it’s easier to remember what we need God’s mercy for, and be strengthened to avoid those sins in the future.  We offer the Sacrament of Penance every Tuesday from 5:30-6:00 p.m, and every Saturday from 3:00-4:00 p.m., and by appointment if those times don’t work.  

None of these things is rocket science.  None are overly complicated.  And yet, if we try even just one or two of these simple things, I am confident we will find our spiritual lives changing for the better.  We will become, by the grace of God, rich soil, which is more receptive to His word, so that we can bear fruit “a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

"We're on a Mission from God"

 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

            Well, we all know that there’s a big game today.  To be honest, I’m not really a Giants or a Patriots fan.  I’ll cheer on the Giants tonight, mostly because I am a Payton Manning fan, and his younger brother, Eli, is playing for the Giants.  If I had my wish, the Detroit Lions would be playing this evening in the Super Bowl.  But, I suppose that if the Lions had played in the Super Bowl, and had won, then I would be coming back here, because we know that would be a sign that the end of the world was imminent.  

            But whether you’re a Giants fan or a Patriots fan, we all know that for each and every one of those athletes, their mind is on one thing and one thing alone: winning that game.  That is, as it were, their mission, and they’re probably hoping that they’re not on a Mission Impossible.

            What is our mission as Catholics?  As St. Thomas Aquinas parish and St. John Church and Student Center, we have a mission statement: “We are a Roman Catholic parish in a university community, joining students of all ages, joining people from all walks of life and from all corners of the world through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  As a Eucharistic people, we nurture spiritual growth through worship, evangelization, stewardship, education, service, justice, outreach and hospitality.”  This mission statement was crafted by members of our Parish Pastoral Council, which is a visionary board with the task of helping Fr. Mark with their advice of how the parish can fulfill that mission statement.

            But imagine being asked, “What is your mission?” on the street and trying to remember all of that.  It’s a great mission statement, but it would be hard to remember all of the wording.  Jesus, in today’s Gospel passage, give us His mission: “‘Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also.  For this purpose I have come.’”  Jesus’ mission is to preach.  And what is He preaching?  The Gospel, the Good News, of God’s love and Truth, made manifest in Jesus’ very Person. 

            This was also the mission of St. Paul.  We hear his words to the people of Corinth today in his first epistle: “If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it!”  Yes, it is a mission for Paul, but he also calls it an obligation.

            St. Paul has this obligation because he was called to be an apostle, one sent out by Jesus to preach Jesus, and Him crucified, as Paul says elsewhere, for the salvation of souls.  But what about us, who are not the bishops, the successors of the apostles?  What is our mission?  Well, if one part of the definition of the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, and we are members of that Mystical Body through baptism, then our mission is the same as Jesus’: to preach.  But we do not preach ourselves because we cannot save anyone.  Only Jesus saves.  So we preach Jesus: His Word, His Teaching, His saving Gospel.

            This was affirmed by Vatican II on the Apostolate of the Laity: “The Church was founded for the purpose of spreading the kingdom of Christ throughout the earth for the glory of God the Father, to enable all men to share in His saving redemption, and that through them the whole world might enter into a relationship with Christ.”  This is what the Church calls the apostolate, when each and every member, each in his or her own way according to the individual state in life, is acting towards that purpose.  “In the Church,” the document continues, “there is a diversity of ministry but a oneness of mission…[The Laity] exercise the apostolate in fact by their activity directed to the evangelization and sanctification of men and to the penetrating of the temporal order through the spirit of the Gospel.”  In other words, while our parish mission statement is certainly helpful, we can really pare it down to the final words of Jesus in the Gospel according to Matthew: “‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’”

            So how do we do that?  We know the what, now what’s the how?  To be honest, there are as many ways to spread the Gospel as there are people here.  We can do it through the way we act and talk at work, the way we relax, the media we promote, etc.  Each day God gives us new opportunities to share with people how important our relationship with Jesus is so that they want the joy and the love that we have found in Christ and His Church.  We are obliged, as was St. Paul, to make Christ known through our actions and through our words.  We can’t just choose one.  If all we do is act uprightly, that’s a good start, but we need to speak about Jesus to those who do not know Him at all, or those who do not know Him fully.  If all we do is speak about Jesus but do not let that influence our actions, then we need to show people by our deeds that the words we speak are not hollow, but change the way we live.

            One opportunity to preach the Gospel has been handed to us recently by the Federal Government.  The United States Department of Health and Human Services has declared that health benefit plans must include coverage for sterilization, contraception, and abortion-inducing drugs, without an exception for those religions that teach that such coverage is contrary to its faith.  The Catholic Church in the United States will never comply with this mandate.  This nation is built upon the three-legged stool of the First Amendment.  Our precious freedoms of religion, speech, and assembly underlie everything this nation is, and everything this nation has ever accomplished.  Religious liberty gives the freedom to preach the Truth.  And the truth is that pregnancy is not a disease.  Nor is the natural fertility of a woman a disease.  Through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Michigan Catholic Conference, the Diocese of Lansing is exploring a number of options, including litigation and Congressional reform.  As these efforts move forward, we Catholics should make clear to our elected officials the crucial importance of religious liberty, and we should pray daily for those who have the responsibility of making these decisions.

            By the laity taking an active role in politics, advising their representatives, regardless of political party, that we will not allow the Federal Government to infringe upon the conscience rights of citizens, we preach the Gospel.  By insisting that Christian people not be compelled to participate in immoral activity, we participate in the mission of Christ to stand up for the Truth. This is not a partisan issue.  This is our obligation, our mission, as members of the Body of Christ, to preach the Gospel, always and everywhere, even when it is difficult.

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.