Gospel: Luke 24:46-53
Jesus said to his disciples: “Thus it is
written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these
things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in
the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out
as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he
parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then
returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple
praising God.
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Reflection:
There is a story about a father who was about
to leave for work in a faraway place. Before leaving he reminded his eleven
children not to forget to do their responsibilities that he assigned to them.
He also told them that if there would be any problem. They should communicate
with him immediately using facebook or skype. And he would be there for
them.
After forty days upon His resurrection and
after many appearances to His disciples. It is now mission accomplished for
Jesus. He will leave his apostles to ascend into heaven to be with God.
What does the ascension signify to the apostles?
This signifies that the responsibility to spread the gospel lies now in their
hands. So, they should not sit idly for in their hands lies the great
responsibility of propagating the faith.
Did the apostles succeed in spreading the faith? Yes they were all
successful. But it was not a walk in the park for them. They had to go through
difficulties yet amidst the difficulties they did their mission with aplomb.
The Ascension of Jesus reminds us as well
about our sacred responsibilities to spread the faith for we now are the modern-day disciples. In our broad shoulders now rest this great responsibility. Are
we up to this responsibility?
Sometimes we are afraid to embrace this
responsibility because of our limitations. For example, we may say, “How can I
evangelize when I am not a good speaker?” How can I evangelize when I have no
talent and resource for this kind of endeavor? But evangelization is not solely
limited through speaking, talent and resources.
We can also evangelize through our acts of
love, humility and kindness. Lest we forget, our actions speak more than our
words. We can now even evangelize using the internet by writing our thoughts
about Jesus and His gospels. Or simply by sharing the words of God and this is
also a good form of evangelization.
We think we can’t help Jesus spread the good
news because we are imprisoned by our limitations. Or perhaps we fear being
ostracized. The feeling of fear has no place in the environment of
evangelization, we have to be courageous. Why? Because God the Holy Spirit is
always there for us.
As Jesus ascends into heaven we are now given
the task to evangelize and spread the faith. Can you measure up to this task? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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