May 12, 2024

 

Ascension Sunday (B)

To Have Wings to Fly and Feet to Walk

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

Blessed John Paul I, who reigned as Pope, but a brief 31 days in 1978, wrote that we “should have wings to fly toward God” but also “feet to walk graciously among men and women.” We might say, this is the invitation of today’s celebration because we lift our eyes to heaven—our hope and ultimate goal—but are also reminded that we should have our feet on the ground, to fulfill the mission the Lord entrusts to us. So let us look in these two directions.

As we set our gaze upon heaven, we realize that Jesus is “seated at the right hand of the Father.” This is a figurative way of saying that Jesus shares with the Father all authority, judgment, and power. Jesus does not distance himself from us or abandon us, but ever intercedes for us before the Father. He does so in his great love because he is a Savior who knows and understands us. He knows our struggles and temptations. He knows what it means to be rejected and to suffer. So, our prayers to the Lord should be imbued with confidence!

Our Lord does not ascend to heaven without entrusting his disciples with an extraordinary and extensive mission: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” This is not a task reserved exclusively to priests and religious but all the baptized. Not everyone, of course, is called to work in the foreign missions. (Some would love to see me off to a distant mission land!) For most of us, our mission is on the “domestic front:” our homes, our workplaces, with everyone we meet each day. There is certainly enough work in our own backyards where we find ever growing challenges: A culture that would be pleased to relegate religion to the periphery of life…the challenge of those who profess to be “spiritual but not religious.” A recent Pew Research Study found that today, about 28% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, describing themselves as atheists, agnostics, or nothing in particular.

Far too many of us would rather surrender to the culture rather than evangelizing it. It seems like a “mission impossible.” “What can I do?” we ask. Some would say, “The Church will just have to change and catch up with the culture.” But isn’t it rather wrong-headed to think that the world sets the agenda for the Church? Our task is to evangelize the world, not the other way around! How do we keep the light of faith bright in our world? Is it possible for the unaffiliated to become affiliated?

Here are a few questions to ponder:
 

• Do I convey to others that my life would be impoverished if I did not come to Mass each week?

 

• Do my conversations ever reveal that my decisions, our outlook on life are guided by the precepts of my faith?

 

• Do I ever share with others my positive experiences of Mass and Confession?

 

• Have I ever invited anyone to come to Mass with me?

 

• Do others notice the joy my faith gives me? Pope Francis has said, “We must meet the apathy of the world with the joy that comes from our relationship with God and the Church.”

Let us never become discouraged or fearful in this sacred task, for the Gospel assures us that the Lord worked with his disciples. We cannot do this without the Lord. In our mission may we have “wings to fly toward God” but also “feet to walk graciously among men and women.”