One of my favorite movies is “Forrest Gump” and this scene from the movie came to mind as I reflected on today’s Gospel passage on the Ascension of the Lord. After Jenny, who was the love of his life, left him, Forrest decided to go for a “little run” and, you know what, he ended up running for “3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours”. Along the way, he gave people hope and inspired others, who were down on their luck, with brilliant business ideas. He even had a small band of people accompany him on his run across the country many times over. Then, one day, in the middle of the desert, Forrest stopped, turned to the group of people who had followed him, and said to them: “I'm pretty tired... I think I'll go home now.” And as he walked through the crowd, one of them exclaimed aloud: “Now what are we supposed to do?”
Interestingly enough, I believe something similar happened in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. While the apostles were “looking intently at the sky” as Jesus ascended into heaven, we hear the angels of the Lord ask them: “why are you standing there looking at the sky?” Well, I think we can all imagine the apostles wondering to themselves: “Now what are we supposed to do?” After all, they had spent three years with Jesus, journeying with him, learning from him, and being inspired by him, and now he has gone home to his Father in heaven. I am sure we have all had one of those “now what are we supposed to do?” moments at various points in our own lives.
For me personally, I had my “now what are we supposed to do?” moment this past Wednesday evening. It happened after I had found out about the school shooting at Robb Elementary School, in Uvalde, Texas, that extinguished the lives of 19 innocent children and 2 adults. I was kneeling right over there before Mass, praying for the repose of their souls, for consolation for the families and the community, and for God’s mercy on the perpetrator, whose soul was consumed by darkness. Most of all, in the aftermath of yet another devastating tragedy in our country, I was praying for answers from our Father in heaven. I know with all my heart that God loves each and every one of His children here on earth so dearly which was why I had a hard time understanding why? After Mass that evening, I shared with my Exodus90 brothers how much I was struggling with what had happened and how I demanded answers from God to my questions: “Why would you permit this atrocity to happen? What good can possibly come from such evil? We live in a time when many people choose not to believe that You even exist, why give them yet another reason not to believe in You, Lord?”
I truly believe God responded to my prayer later that night during Evening Prayer because this antiphon struck me - “Do not let your hearts be troubled; have faith in me” - followed by this reading from Psalm 62. As I read it to you, I would invite you all to allow these words from Psalm 62 to penetrate your heart:
“In God alone be at rest, my soul; for my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock, my stronghold, my fortress; I stand firm. In God is my safety and glory, the rock of my strength. Take refuge in God, all you people. Trust him at all times. Pour out your hearts before him for God is our refuge. . . For God has said only one thing; only two do I know: that to God alone belongs power and to you, Lord, love; and that you repay each man according to his deeds.”
I am not going to lie, except for the "you repay each man according to his deeds", it was not the answer that I wanted. I was like: “Really, God? This is your answer? Are you kidding me?” However, as I continued to pray with Psalm 62, these words from Scripture pierced me and consoled my heart - “Jesus wept” (John 11:35, Luke 19:41, Hebrews 5:7-9). In that moment, I had a brief glimpse into the heart of the Father that was broken as much as I was hurting. I also realized that while it was not the answer that I was searching for, it was the answer that I needed at that moment. God knew exactly what I needed because in the face of evil and darkness in this world, God reminded me of something that I had forgotten as I tried desperately to make sense of what had happened. God reminded me of the goodness and love that flows forth from Him who is goodness, love, and mercy. Moreover, God reminded me that the darkness that is so pervasive in this world cannot and will never overcome the light of Christ that burns within us unless we permit that flame to be snuffed out.
My sisters and brothers in Christ, this is the message that we can take to heart as we reflect on what the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into heaven means to us. That in the midst of a world fallen into darkness, when we feel so helpless, so desperate, so vulnerable, and so angry even, we must remind ourselves and others that only we - and not any external forces or influences - can allow the light of Christ to go dim in our hearts. That in those moments when we are wondering to ourselves - “Now what are we supposed to do?” - we must remind ourselves and others that, through sacramental grace, Jesus prepares and strengthens us to weather the tempests in our lives by remaining steadfast in our faith and trust in our Father in heaven. Indeed, our Lord prepares us now, as he prepared the apostles then, to withstand the trials and tribulations of this world with unceasing faith in Him, unfailing hope in his promises, and trust in his unconditional love for us. And although he has ascended into Heaven, Christ has not abandoned us, rather he is interceding for us as the eternal High Priest, seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. And, just as he had promised the apostles, saying “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you”, God sends his Spirit to dwell with us. Above all, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gives of himself to us in the Eucharist - his Body and Blood. We only need to recall the Sunday Gospel readings this Easter season to know this to be true.
Think about it. On the Sunday of Divine Mercy, Jesus appeared to the disciples in the upper and said to them: “Peace be with you. . . do not be unbelieving, but believe,” granting us his peace and helping us to believe in his glorious Resurrection. On the Third Sunday of Easter, our Lord appeared to the disciples on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias and, after having heard Peter’s confession and profession of love for him, Christ called on Peter (as he calls on us now) to “Follow me.” Then, on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Jesus made us this promise and we all know in our hearts that our Lord keeps his promises, so our hope is in his promise: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” Jesus followed that with the Great Commandment, on the Fifth Sunday of Easter, saying: “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” Finally, as we heard last week, on the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Christ promises to send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to be with us and, as he did in the upper room after his Resurrection, Jesus grants us his peace, promising us: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” I have no doubt in my mind that Christ blessed me with supernatural peace that consoled and comforted me and kept me from losing faith when I easily could have lost myself to despair.
After Jesus had blessed the apostles with his peace, they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.” However, the joy is not over what happened but a joy in the belief and knowledge that Jesus is with us to help us move forward with hope, peace, and, above all, love. A joy that gives us a renewed sense of purpose to do what we can to effect change in our society. My sisters and brothers in Christ, that was what Jesus called his apostles to do and, in fact, that was what they did as we all know. Our Lord calls on us to do the same, to be his “witnesses. . . to the ends of the earth.” Here at St. Albert the Great, we only need to look to the Prayer Blanket Ministry for inspiration because, in response to the tragedy in Robb Elementary, they sprung into action and sent thirty-three (33) prayer blankets to Uvalde for those most in need of faith, hope, and love. Therefore, the next time we wonder to ourselves - “Now what are we supposed to do?” - turn to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in prayer and believe that He will send his Spirit to guide our discernment but, most of all, to grant us his peace in our hearts and move us to act in faith and bring hope to others out of love for God and for our fellow sojourners in life.
