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Monday, May 27, 2019

Reflection for Sunday June 2, The Ascension of the Lord: Luke 24:46-53


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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