by Joseph Nangle, OFM
Pax Christi USA 2023 Teacher of Peace
[A cast on my hand makes it cumbersome to use the computer. So, these reflections will be short for the next two weeks.]
Whether celebrated on the traditional Ascension Thursday or the following Sunday, we are in the liturgical time of Jesus’ leave taking from earth and his return to the Father. A line from the first reading for May 12 catches our attention and relates to us 21 centuries later: “People of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return…” (Acts 1:11)
The departure of Jesus, then, can be clearly seen as eminently relevant not only for those who witnessed it, but for all who would hear their message resounding down the corridors of time. Because in that same beginning section of the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 1:8), Jesus says: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria – and to the ends of the earth” – surely a mandate directed to all who would receive the Good News of Jesus the Christ “until he comes again.”
A final consideration: The Ascension event breaks us out of the tendency to view the Gospel as a personal message meant exclusively for oneself, but as a gift that Jesus’ followers are called to share with “all nations.” We are the bearers in our time and place of the knowledge that hope for humanity rests in Jesus, the Risen Word Incarnate (Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter 1:18).
St. Francis of Assisi put it this way. He said to his sisters and brothers as he was about to pass away: “I have done what was mine to do; may you do what is yours.”
Joe Nangle OFM is a Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace and the 2023 Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace. As a member of the Assisi Community in Washington, D.C., he is dedicated to simple living and social change. Joe also serves as the Pastoral Associate for the Latino community at Our Lady Queen of Peace, Arlington, Virginia.
People of age sometimes wonder what is theirs to do. Their strength and endirance are compromised. Maybe what is left that they can do is random acts of kindness in love.