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“Why
are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been
taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have
seen Him going into heaven.”
Acts of the Apostles 1:11
June 1, 2014
Ascension of the Lord and the 7th Sunday of Easter
Dear Friends,
Some
years ago, as it was Ascension Thursday, I asked a young woman theology
student what she would say if she were to preach on that day. She
replied, “The Ascension is God’s act of faith in us.” Yes, Jesus ascends
to the right hand of the Father, and now the work of evangelization is
entrusted to the apostles and to us. As the story in the Acts of the
Apostles relates, we are not to look up at the sky, nor look down or
look back. Rather we look ahead with confidence to the mission entrusted
to us—to carry on the work of Jesus Christ and to share the Good News
to the ends of the earth.
One
organization that continues the healing ministry of Jesus is CMMB, the
Catholic Medical Mission Board, bringing medicines and medical
assistance to the needy and vulnerable around the globe. Indeed, God has
entrusted this work to us, and we are privileged to share in the
healing mission of Jesus Christ.
Today,
the Lord Jesus, the King of glory, the conqueror of sin and death,
ascended to Heaven while the angels sang His praises. Christ, the
Mediator between God and man, judge of the world and Lord of all, has
passed beyond our sight, not to abandon us but to be our hope. Christ is
the beginning, the head of the Church; where He has gone, we hope to
follow. The joy of the resurrection and ascension renews the whole
world, while the choirs of Heaven sing forever to Your glory: Holy,
Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might…
Rev. Peter Schineller, S.J., CMMB Board of Directors
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