The Ascension of the Lord

Our readings for the solemnity of the Ascension are:

1. Acts 1: 1-11
2. Psalms 47: 2-3, 6-7, 8-9
3. Ephesians 1: 17-23
4. Luke 24: 46-53

• Looking for love in all the wrong places
• In Luke 24: 1-8 we see two unnamed women looking for Jesus in the tomb.  Now His disciples are staring after Jesus in the sky and again they are told by angels to look for Him elsewhere.
• Where do you look for Jesus in your life?  That could be a job where you feel particularly blessed, a friendship that has nurtured you for years, a ministry that you have been in for years, ...
• Are you still finding Him there?
• Do you think that He's maybe moved on?

• Who is running this show
• The world is full of people who tell you that life has no meaning beyond the immediate, the right here and right now.
• You know otherwise.  Why is that?
• What events, observations support your conclusions?
• Why is it so hard to prove that God rules the earth?

• One Bread one Body
• If we are all one body of Christ, why is Christianity split into so many factions?
• What makes for unity?  Is it all of us under one earthly leader, all of us subscribing to one theology, all of us doing everything exactly alike?
• What can we, as individuals, families, parishes do to achieve more unity?

• Finding power
• Jesus told his disciples to "hang tight" until He clothed them with power from above.
• Where is Jesus moving with power today?
• How can we prepare ourselves better to participate in those actions of Jesus'?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is Jesus moving in and through me today?
2. How does my faith give meaning to my life?
3. How am I reaching out and building bridges?
4. Where can God work through me more powerfully?

Hanging On

It's just too much.
We started off just fine.
Minding our own business,
making our way through life.

Then Jesus comes along
Turns it all upside down.
That old life no longer works.
And they kill him.

Just as we get the hang of grief
He comes back, even more than ever.
We do a little fishing.  Share some cold ones,
And now He's gone again.

Now He tells us that He's giving us power from above.
The problem is -
I don't know how that power from above
Will stand up to the power down here below.

When does this ever end?
Are we always going to be left behind?
Just one abandonment after another?
Or do things ever settle down?

And this power from above,
What do we do with it?
Start a new religion,
Declare a new country?

Overthrow the Romans?
Usher in some Golden Age?
None of us has ever led anything.
What makes Jesus think that we can do it now?

It was hard enough when we thought Him dead.
When we doubted Him.
Now it's even worse.
We're doubting ourselves.

Shalom!