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!