Ascension: It's the mission

An annual ritual, a rite of passage, will start to take place soon. The annual ritual of kids leaving home. High School Graduations will take place and then these newly minted “Adults” will move on to college or to jobs, out of the house and into the world (a lot of them anyway). Parents have spent some 18 years preparing their kids, or trying to, for this next phase of life. Trying to teach them adulting skills; like taking responsibility for banking and money, cleaning and ironing clothes (always separate whites from colors), how to boil water so that at least the instant ramen will be cooked enough. The hope is that somehow this has all sunk in, in some way, shape or form. So that as they go out the front door and begin to leave, parents, you can quickly shut the door and lock it so that they can’t get back in. And our young adults will not starve nor freeze, and sleep on clean sheets.

As Parents, Teachers, extended family, we hope that lessons we have instilled are in there somewhere; and our young persons will recall all this and begin to live as adults. With all its joys and trials, and the hope that they are resilient persons.

Same goes for those who will be ordained in this spring season. When we finish seminary. We have a lot of knowledge in our heads, and we tend to think we know it all. But then we spend the first years of priesthood getting brutally reminded that we still need to grow.

When we go into the four Gospels, Jesus’ Ascension happens within days of the Resurrection, if there is any mention at all. Only Acts, which is Luke part 2, makes a comment about 40 days.

These gospels end with Jesus basically giving marching orders to the disciples to go and live out the Good news and by doing so make known to all the world the Good news. They have a mission.  

They have been prepared throughout their time with him to know and experience the Good News. They have watched him heal, forgive, welcome, teach, and feed. Then they experienced his betrayal, arrest and horrible death followed by his Resurrection. They have most of what they need. So Jesus sends them out.

And they do go out. As they experience the coming of the Holy Spirit, these men and women go out into the world and live out the Good News. They heal, they forgive, they teach, they welcome, they feed; they do amazing things to show the Good News.

Will they make mistakes, of course they will. They will argue about matters; they will be challenged; some will give up, some will want to give up; with faith in the Good News they persevere.

The core of that Good News is that in Jesus Christ, we know wholly and completely, we experience through Jesus Christ, that God loves us no matter what. Unconditionally God loves us; and God’s will is that we know this love, we experience this love and we share this love.  God sees our goodness and nothing, no sin, not even killing the Son of God can diminish God’s love for us. That is part of the message of the Resurrection.

Jesus, by healing, by forgiving, by welcoming, by feeding did this to show people God’s love for them, no matter the context of their lives.  

Jesus still does the same for us.

God loves us; God loves all no matter in what shape, form, context we were born into. It matters not our religion, our ethnicity, our politics, our sinfulness…The Good News of Jesus is that God’s love remains for us. 

I hope this has been instilled in us through our liturgy, through our sacraments, through our formation. This is why we continue our formation as Adults. This knowledge, this wisdom has been instilled.

I especially hope that our young persons, and most especially those going off to the world, have this somewhere in their minds and hearts. I trust the seeds of God’s love exist somewhere in there. It will be your strength when you feel defeated by the world. It will be that energy you need to do good things. It will be that consolation when homesickness happens. It will be that reminder that even if it all goes sideways, you, and any of us, can get through it.

This forms our mission. As we grow in this experience of God’s love, the more we can only be motivated to share it with others. We do this in our treating all with respect and kindness; with generosity and compassion.

This is why we feed the poor and hungry. This is why we call for the rights of workers. This is why we stand for the dignity of every human person, womb to tomb. This is why we resist the evil of racism, and the many phobias that are out there.

This is our strength to resist those who place conditions upon God’s love.

This is why we live as Jesus Christ; as his body in this world; experiencing God’s love in ourselves and sharing that love with others.

To be reminded of mission, to be reinforced in mission, we come to the Eucharist each week. We come and then are sent out to live the same love we have just experienced. We come and then are sent out in the name of Jesus to heal, forgive, be generous, compassionate, patient, humble; to feed those in need.

We are sent out with all we need to be as Jesus.