I would like to present a guest blogger for my blog-site, Arlene B. Muller.
Arlene B. Muller, OSF, is a Professed Secular Franciscan, lector & Extraordinary Minister at St. Pancras Church, Member of St. Margaret's Choir and Itinerant Speech/language Therapist. This blog is a reprint from Arlene from the Ascension Day 2019.
The scripture readings for the Ascension of the Lord can be found at http://cms.usccb.org/bible/readings/052120-ascension.cfm
I must confess that I feel a little sad on Ascension Thursday. For JESUS it
is a totally glorious event because His mission on earth has been completed
& He is returning to His home in heaven & the glory He has enjoyed with
the Father & the Holy Spirit since the world began of which He emptied
Himself & laid aside during His earthly mission of 33 years. But like the
disciples who stood looking up, feeling somewhat lost & bewildered, I would
tend to wish that the Risen LORD JESUS could remain with us in His glorified
body so I could see Him with my human eyes, hear His actual voice speaking His
words with my human ears, and to touch Him, as St. John describes in His first
letter. I know that His Ascension is one of the Glorious Mysteries, but in my
human weakness I feel a little sad that a face to face encounter with Our LORD
JESUS will not be my experience until I hopefully meet Him either at my death or
His return. Does anyone else share this
feeling?
Of course, this is just the reaction of my human
emotions, but learning Scripture, especially the Scripture readings of the past
few weeks, learning the teachings of the Church, coming into a personal
relationship with JESUS CHRIST & receiving the sacraments, especially
Baptism, Confirmation & the Eucharist (the Real Presence of the Body, Blood,
Soul & Divinity of JESUS we can receive at every Mass), cause me to realize
that because JESUS CHRIST not only suffered, died & rose from the dead but
also ascended into heaven, the LORD is actually with us now in a more deeply
intimate way--His life is WITHIN us--& He can work in the lives of millions
of people at the same time in a way that was not possible when He was limited to
walking in a specific geographical area.
In the last discourses in St. John's Gospel that we
have been reading over the past few weeks JESUS has assured us that it was
necessary for Him to leave so that He could send us the Holy Spirit to be with
us, in us and upon us and enable us through the mission of the Church to do even
greater things than He did in His earthly ministry.
Many disciples, both men and women, along with Mary, the Blessed Mother of
JESUS who was the first to experience the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in her
virginal conception of JESUS, obeyed the command of JESUS to wait & pray
together for about 9 or 10 days until the Holy Spirit came. What was it like to
watch, wait, & pray with expectation of what JESUS called His Father's
promise, the descent of the Holy Spirit upon each of them! I imagine the
presence of Mary gave them some comfort & bolstered their faith. Though some
may have felt lost & bewildered, they knew from experience (especially of
the Resurrection) that JESUS is faithful to His Word, & they were not
disappointed, because the Holy Spirit came & that has made all the
difference! In their waiting I am sure they found comfort & confidence in
JESUS' final words in St. Matthew's Gospel, the same words that can give us
comfort & confidence in our times of trial & confusion: "Behold, I am
with you always, until the end if the age."
So as we celebrate the feast of the Ascension let us remember & trust
that although JESUS ascended into heaven He will never leave us or forsake us,
no matter how difficult our life circumstances may be, and let us be grateful
for the gift of the Holy Spirit that us the very life of God living within
us.
