Luke writes the Acts of the Apostles after he wrote his Gospel. He begins Acts with Jesus saying goodbye. The last thing Jesus does before Luke records his departure via Ascension is to empower the disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.”
Departures are a part of life. Many of us live across what is the departure of one season into the next. We experience regular departures of children going to school, parents going to work, families going on vacation and we say, ‘Goodbye.’ When we do this, in experiences we might consider routine and banal, it can prepare us to say ‘Goodbye’ in the unusual and poignant. Our child is moving away to college and moving away from us. Our work and its friendships, giving us meaning, are ending. Our parents are aging and they may not return from this last trip to hospital. We live with little unknowns and with big unknowns that surface when ‘Goodbye’ is said. We are reminded all of life is a risk. Within the risk that is life, we can be wise, receiving each Goodbye presented to us. What is usually the last thing we do when we say ‘Goodbye?’ Often times we give our loved one a hug. We remember our lives together. We have shared happiness and tragedy. We have spent days of calm silence in the comfort of each other’s presence and have spent anxious moments together in times of anxiety and worry. We touch and remember how much we have loved each other. We draw them close and stand as one body. And then, we let them go. We release our hold. Too, we let go of the temptation to live on in our loss more than to help them live on in our shared empowerment for love. It is the lesson of the Ascension. We leave to empower for love. It is the last thing we do because it has been the first thing we do and every middle thing we do and every in between thing we do while we are with those we love – we empower for love. In every moment we stay in another’s life, especially a young person’s life, we are showing them what to do in the ordinary and in the extraordinary; in the mundane and in the miraculous. The last thing we do is likely the first and every middle and in between thing we do because we have been loved by others who shown us the most important things to do. Parents have shown us, as have teachers and co-workers and friends. Witnessing every thing they do has left seeds of love and wisdom deep within our souls; seeds of courage and humility deep in our character. We ‘have received the power of the Holy Spirit and we are witnesses’ to loving each other in all the things we do.
“Wait. Did you hear that cry?”
“There’s nothing we can do mom. We’re almost there. We have to get to safety!”
“We have to help that boy.”
“If another wave catches us down here we will die. We have to climb that tree right now!”
“Where are you.” (shouting)
“Mom, look at you. You need help. We can’t risk it mom. Come on.”
“Listen. What if that boy were ‘your brother’? What if they needed help? You’d want someone to help them wouldn’t you? Even if it’s the last thing we do.” (Maria Belen, Lo Imposible)
Prayer: Beautiful Spirit, empower us to love our way through risks.
Question: What will be the last thing we do because it been our first, middle, and every in between thing we do?
May 21, 2022 Gospel Luke 24:46-53 Feast of the Ascension