17/05/2015
Do It Again, by Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD
The story is told about a little boy who would not stop crying because he thought he had swallowed a coin. The father, remembering the magic trick his own father did when he himself was a child, put a coin on the palm of his hand, and then pulled out the coin from the boy’s ear! The boy, elated, looked at the coin with unbelieving eyes, and forthwith put it in his mouth and swallowed it. And with glee he told his Dad: “Do it again!”
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Today is Ascension Sunday. In today’s Gospel (Mark 16, 15-20), Jesus told His disciples before He was taken up to heaven to go into the world and preach the Gospel to all creation. In other words, He told His disciples to do again what He had done. They were to continue the mission He had started and carry out the vision He had shown and shared with them. What have you done, what are you doing, to help spread the good news? Are you sharing God’s message of love and hope? Are you doing some legwork for God, or is your life all about you, your agenda and yourself?
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The last mandate of our Lord is all about communicating the good news to all creation. Today is also World Communication Sunday. We are reminded to use whatever means are available to effectively communicate the love of God to a world that is so full of suffering, misery and hopelessness. May we be reminded that more than gadgets, more than words and messages, it is our actual and real presence and love that bring forth the reality of God’s love.
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Can you imagine if the Lord left the disciples a mission without empowering them? It would have been like leaving to them cell phones without “load” or without an available signal. The Lord gave them the powers they would need to be able to communicate the Gospel. Not only that, He also gave them the assurance and the signs they would need to carry out their mission. As it were, when God gives us the “mission,” He will also give us the necessary “ammunition.”
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Life without a mission: Is that the life you are living? Do you see life as a vacation, or an endless time for accumulation? Such a life is empty, vain and shallow. What are you doing the rest of your life? More achievements? More fame? More wealth? May we spend the rest of our lives, the best of our lives? Please remember that what matters most in the end is that we lived our lives as givers, not as takers.
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Speaking of preaching the word of God, I must say that some of the best preachers I have encountered are those who preach with the heart and the necessary witness in their very lives. In other words, those who really listen and pray are the ones who truly spread the good news because they themselves embody the good news.
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I don’t know what you are going through right now, but let the Ascension remind us that the only way to go is up. Never allow yourself to think that you are on the way down, and that life is headed downward. May the Risen Lord give us the grace to be on the “Ascension mode.” All roads, no matter how rough or difficult, will lead us to our own Ascension, which will eventually lead us to Jesus who now sits at the right hand of the Father, and who awaits us with His glory and power.
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This early, with an eye to 2016, a lot of people are already preparing to “ascend” into power. Please pray that the Lord will “cast the mighty from their thrones and lift up the lowly” (Magnificat). We pray, too, that whoever will ascend into the mountain of power will realize that they are being given the opportunity to do again what our Lord has done, and that is to serve others. May they give hope, joy and love to our people, especially to the “little ones” of our country and our land.
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If you want to ascend, you must know how to descend. The key to ascension is humility—i.e., letting go, and letting God. We still have a lot to learn about humility, “hiddenness” and fading away. Reminds me of that gospel episode when Jesus told His disciples not to become like the Pharisees who would choose the best seats, or who loved to be acknowledged or recognized. May the Lord, not us, be recognized.
The story is told about a little boy who would not stop crying because he thought he had swallowed a coin. The father, remembering the magic trick his own father did when he himself was a child, put a coin on the palm of his hand, and then pulled out the coin from the boy’s ear! The boy, elated, loo…
