As I was thinking and meditating on the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord to heaven, I discovered that at that moment, the empowering from Jesus Christ to his disciples, to his Church, was given. Now is the time for us disciples to contribute to the mission given to us by the Father to the Son. Now we are responsible for carrying out the saving action of God for humanity, since we have been granted the same Spirit of Jesus Christ, as well as the means by which the Grace of God acts in us and through us, the sacraments, in which we can all find divine life.
For a moment I thought of what that day of the Ascension of the Lord meant to the apostles, that day Jesus says goodbye, it is time to return to the Father, just as he had announced before. Let's think about how a relationship of several years shared allowed the apostles to cultivate the affection of friends with Jesus. Those short and wonderful three years of evangelizing mission united them, but the few days spent together with the Risen Christ offered them the possibility of better understanding the things that Jesus said and did before. This emotional bond of the apostles with the Lord Jesus is as real as it is deep. They have learned to look rightly at Jesus because they have learned to love him rightly.
If we remember the moment of the Ascension of the Lord (Acts 1, 1-11) while Jesus ascends to heaven, the apostles stare intently at the sky, although they could no longer see Jesus. That gaze directed upward is the gaze of the Church that today also fixes its gaze with the hope of the promised return of its Lord, it is the heart awaiting the return of the friend. And although it is our desire to be able to see our Lord once again, the Church knows very well that our occasional glance upward should not distract us from being able to observe, judge and act hand in hand with the Gospel in the face of the things that happen in the world in which we live. For this He chose us, leaving in us the possibility of offering the long-awaited fruits that speak of God and his salvation. Now is our turn, now is the time of the Church, now is also the time of salvation. Let's do it. Let us be hopeful.
Fr. Carlos Flores, OSA
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