Why are you standing there looking at the sky?

On May 14^th the Church commemorates the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, thus completing the ministry of Jesus here on earth. For three years he taught the love of God for all people. He reached out and healed those who were in pain, he called sinners back to relationship with God, and then finally, on Good Friday he died on the Cross at Calvary for all of us. Then he rose on Easter Sunday morning and then spent the next 40 days with his disciples teaching them further about the love of God and what God expects them to do in order to bring the good news of salvation to the world.

In the Acts of the Apostles Jesus promises the power of the Holy Spirit, “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Act1:8) Then right before their eyes He ascends to heaven in all His glory. I can imagine the look of awe and surprise on their faces as they watch Jesus ascend into heaven in all His glory. Their mouths must have been wide open as they were staring into the heavens looking for Jesus.

Then the angels appear and say, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? 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.” (Acts 1:11) In other words, “Don’t worry; you have work to do to bring the good news of Jesus to others.” Jesus had just promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit, which will occur on Pentecost. So they need to get ready to bring the News of Salvation to the ends of the earth.

We as Catholic Christians received the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day we received confirmation. As a result we are expected to be witnesses throughout New York and to the ends of the earth. We are to share the faith we have in the Risen Christ with all those we know and love. It’s a work that is constant and never ending. We do this by the regular practice of our faith and by being good and honest people in the workplace, and by being good and loving members in our families. We are to show the love of God to those in our lives by how we treat them. We are to treat them with love, respect and dignity.

This is how we are to follow the command of Jesus, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!