Daily Reflection
May 5th, 2005
by

Bert Thelen, S.J.

St. John's Church
Click here for a photo of and information on this writer.

Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Acts 18:1-8
Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4
John 16:16-20

As we approach the celebration of the Lord's Ascension and Pentecost Sunday, it seems like the Scripture readings almost prepare us for "Ordinary Time," the time when the celebration of Christ's being raised from the dead fades from our vivid awareness and focus into the background of the struggles of our lives. Yes, Jesus goes away, but as the "Alleluia" verse reminds us, he will not leave us orphans, but will come back to us, and then our hearts will rejoice!

Even as we have felt called the past six weeks to rejoice in the glorious presence of the Risen Christ in our midst, now we are called to rejoice in his temporary absence because that means that our grieving will be turned into rejoicing. I think it would benefit all of us today to pray about the mysterious "coming and going" of Jesus in our lives, as well as the promise of one day -- after our deaths -- certainly possessing the joy that no one can take away from us.

During the last few years of the life of my sister, Paula (who died last summer), she would ask me if it was OK to pray to die. (She was undergoing severe, almost weekly, devastation from Parkinson's disease.) She knew she wasn't going to get any better, she felt increasingly like a burden on her family, and she was not afraid to die. It was comforting for her to hear that there was nothing wrong with praying to die, so long as she did not do anything to hasten her death. It was my impression, in the time I spent with her, that the promise of a life after death not only filled her with hope but gave her patience in her dying. Shortly after her death, her twin sister, Claudia, (who was in a hospital recovering from surgery) experienced her presence full of health, life, and hope. Experiences like these, though rare enough, are reminders to us that this life is but a short journey into eternity and that the best is yet to come. It would be good to recall the signs of this fulfilment of the promises of eternal joy that we have witnessed or reflected on or read about if, for no other reason, that they will help us capture the consolation Jesus is sharing with his disciples about "going to the Father."

Finally, to connect all this with the missionary activity of Paul in Corinth, we can ask ourselves how well we are doing in sharing our hope, the Good News, with all the people to whom we are sent each day by the Lord. For it is through all of us that "the Lord has revealed to the nations His saving power." Let the "Alleluia" of our own Easter experiences echo to the ends of the earth! 

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