Mother's Day / Ascension of the Lord

05-12-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Aruldoss

Dear People of God,

Happy Mother’s Day to all our beloved Mothers! On this day, let us remember and pray for our mothers both living and deceased who dedicated their lives for us.

On this 7th Sunday of Easter, we celebrate Christ’s Ascension into heaven. He has completed his mission by fulfilling his father’s will. So, as a good son, He has returned to render a full account of his work to his father. As Christ’s disciple, we rejoice because we celebrate the final victory of Jesus over Satan and this world. This is a sign of hope that we, too, shall overcome all the forces of sickness, poverty, humiliation, injustice, and oppression that try to subdue us in this world.

In our first reading, Luke gives us a summary of the life of Jesus up to the point of his dramatic ascension into heaven. There are two messages of hope for us here. The first is the promise of the Holy Spirit: “…You will receive the Holy Spirit…and you shall be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.” This means that Christ is not leaving us as orphans. Instead, he remains with us through the Holy Spirit “till the end of time.” Therefore, the ascension of Christ does not mean his absence from us. Rather it means his continuous presence through the Holy Spirit.

The second is the promise of his second coming (Parousia). So, today we celebrate because Christ has gone to prepare a place for us in his kingdom. We also celebrate the hope that he shall return to take us to be with him one day.

Today’s Gospel reminds us of the mandate of our Christian calling: “Go out into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation…” Christ himself evangelized through his words, works, sufferings, and complete offering of himself. Now he calls us to do the same because the same spirit that sustained and resurrected him is with us.

Indeed, we cannot afford to fail Christ in this call. So, as we rejoice today that Christ has ascended into heaven, we must work to fulfill his mandate to us in the hope of his second coming to take us with him. This is what will merit us to be eternally with him. Have a Happy and Blessed Sunday!