Sunday Gospel Reflection, June 1, 2025: He was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight...

He was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight…
How has your encounter with Christ changed you? 

    Imagine the disciples astonishment at seeing their risen Lord! As we see in the Acts of the Apostles, some of them continued to have misguided questions about Jesus’ ultimate mission on earth, even after he rose from the dead! Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? they ask him. In essence, they are asking, Who are you? How are we to understand who you are? But Jesus’ response is mysterious: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. At least they must understand his final request, as we hear in both Acts and Luke: You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 

    Jesus’ Ascension – as he blessed them he parted from them, and was taken up to heaven – frees the disciples to go and tell the good news; his last moments with them have given them the blessing of an encounter with Christ where change happens, though they might not yet understand its full import. But, as Psalm 47 reminds us, when God’s rule has begun, our job is to proclaim it with praise: God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord! 

    In any period of uncertainty or unknowing, we feel betwixt and between. We want answers but have to wait in the tension until they come. But, as Paul reminds the Ephesians, a Spirit of wisdom and revelation will result in knowledge of Christ, knowledge in the sense of intimacy, knowing him as we know someone we love. Such knowledge will allow us to recognize his love for us and come to share in it. Our ongoing struggle is to see with our hearts rather than our heads; we still want wisdom, and we rely on dogma to define it, but we need to allow it to be revealed as Christ’s invitation to delve more deeply into his love. May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened, filled with light, so that we can truly see his ongoing presence with us, for we are his Body, and are called to be so in all fullness, revealing Christ’s love to our world.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com