Deacon Tom Writes,
Go, Make Disciples!
(Note – Most Dioceses in the U.S. transfer the Feast of the Ascension from Thursday to the following Sunday. With that in mind, my reflection today is for The Ascension of the Lord.)
It’s hard to believe that three months ago we had just begun Lent. Now, as the Easter season draws to a close, we have some perspective to reflect on where our spiritual journey has taken us over that brief but spiritually significant time span. This was not in any way an ordinary Lenten nor Easter Season, to say the least. The global Covid 19 pandemic has altered Lenten customs of Christians around the world. In a similar way, our Muslim and Jewish brothers and sisters have had to endure similar challenges during Ramadan and Passover. All peoples have experienced a departure from the norm in one-way or another. Yet, we are united in our suffering. No one has escaped the worry and fear that this terrible sickness has strewn about humanity. In a world more divided than ever, how ironic that such a terrible disease can unite us in a common cause to find a vaccine to protect us. In the midst of such overwhelming conditions, many have responded compassionately to those who are suffering because of the loss of loved ones, the terrible isolation from family and friends, economic loss and worry and the emotional stress caused by the uncertainty of what the future holds. What a tribute to the inherent goodness of so many people!
Our Lenten journey has undoubtedly been different in 2020 than in past years. Yet, I suspect we may still have been able to gain new insight into God’s incredible love for us even in this crisis. Perhaps we have a better sense now of what God is asking of us than we did back on Ash Wednesday. We may see people in a different light, such as the delivery person or mail carrier or food delivery staff that have kept us connected to family and friends and provided us with food and the daily necessities to which we have grown accustomed. Aren’t we appreciative more so now than in the past that those who pick up our trash and recycling have continued their efforts even though they put themselves and families at risk by doing so? Many did so out of sheer necessity, of course, but many others out of profound dedication to their professions to serve others... police, firefighters, medical professionals, service workers... more than we will ever know.
As we transition from Easter to Ordinary Time in our Liturgical year, we may not be too eager to resume our “normal” activities. We may, in fact, continue to self-isolate and restrict our movement allowing us an “extended” Easter mindset during which we can still work on our interior lives. With more quiet time we can look inward and change some of those habits and behaviors we need to change: our judging and criticizing attitudes, our negative thinking, our inertia for self- reflection, or our sense of superiority, and our propensity to put others down in order to fuel our own ego? Have we succeeded in elimination gossip from our lives?
Three months is not a long time when you think about it, especially if we are trying to measure such things as spiritual growth…. It just not a lot of time.
I suspect that three years isn’t a lot of time either, to make a lot of progress in the spiritual realm. And yet, that’s, at most, all the time that the Apostles’ had to grasp Our Lord’s revolutionary way of thinking about loving, forgiving, and serving one another… friend and enemy alike. The Apostles really were, when you think about it, on the fast track. Once Jesus was gone, that was it. It was all up to them to spread the Word throughout the world.
Imagine if we were the one who Jesus told, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” What would we do? How would we begin?
Well, the strange thing is, this command Jesus gave his hand picked “go-to” guys was meant for you and me also. Yes, we who hear the Word of God today are chosen to carry the message in our times. Jesus is telling us to go into the world and proclaim the Good News to everyone we meet along the way.
In his Apostolic Exhortation on Evangelization in the Modern World[1], (or as they say in Rome, Evangelii Nuntiandi- December 8, 1975 – the feast of the Immaculate Conception), Pope Paul VI wrote:
“Those who sincerely accept the Good News, through the power of this acceptance and of shared faith therefore gather together in Jesus' name in order to seek together the kingdom, build it up and live it. They make up a community which is in its turn evangelizing. The command to the Twelve to go out and proclaim the Good News is also valid for all Christians, though in a different way…. Moreover, the Good News of the kingdom which is coming and which has begun is meant for all people of all times. Those who have received the Good News and who have been gathered by it into the community of salvation can and must communicate and spread it”.
My brothers and sisters, there is a saying that goes, “Faith isn’t taught, it’s caught”. Jesus’ work of salvation has been accomplished. What remains is our participation in that work that calls us to spread the Good News, to be living witnesses of the faith that we profess, to do as St. Francis was fond of telling his followers….to go out and preach the gospel, and when necessary, use words. Could there possibly be any time more appropriate to give witness to our faith by our actions than now?
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
Image: Mural from the Church of the Ascension, NYC
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