Seeing our loved ones
(Acts 1.1-11; Eph 1.17-23 or Heb 9.24-28;10.19-23; Lk 24.46-63)
Recently we have viewed many airport reunions - parents and children, sweethearts and friends – marked by radiant faces, long embraces and sometimes, tears of joy. They are such a strong reminder of the old saying: absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Sometimes in our daily struggles, each of us may have thought how much easier it would be if Jesus still walked among us, if I could hear his words of love and encouragement. On this feast of his ascension into heaven, we need to grasp the seeming paradox that his ascension was not a departure but a way of being present in a deeper way.
It is fantastic to see our loved ones face to face. But through the power of the Spirit, Jesus can now reach into the deepest pockets of our awareness, our unconscious struggles and hidden fears. He asks us to stay in the city till we are clothed with power from on high. (Lk 24.4) That means that in the midst of my workaday life, through the power of his Spirit he can bestow on me joy, insight and inner strength, if only I attend to his presence and call within me.
Source: Ascension Sunday (year C)
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