Feast of the Ascension
Cycle B
There is always some confusion, and sometimes
controversy, around the date that we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension every
year. In our province we celebrate it on the Sunday following the Thursday that
falls 40 days after Easter. I don’t get too hung up on these things, I’m sure
God will work it all out. But this year I think it’s serendipitous that it
falls today, on Mother’s Day, because the Ascension is all about stewardship,
and what better stewards are there than mothers?
It seems that a mother’s work is never done. There are
countless things to do and people to take care of. Moms don’t get sick days.
Moms these days are juggling so many things, and yet, they don’t seem to
complain very much. At least that’s my experience. I don’t remember my mom ever
feeling sorry for herself or wishing that she weren’t a mom. It may have been
different for my mom because she had adopted me, and so maybe she was just
grateful that she was even able to be a mom at all.
But one thing I think all moms…and dads…have in common
is a natural instinct and desire to nurture and protect our children. It’s
really amazing that the first time you lay eyes on your child when it is born,
you instantly feel the strongest bond to another human being you ever have. You
just met this little person, and you feel you would die to protect her. God has
instilled in every parent a fierce desire to protect their children, and
parents don’t think twice about making every kind of sacrifice for the sake of their
children. Not out of some sense of duty but because of love. An intense love
that often seems irrational and yet so natural.
We naturally support what we love. Mothers know this
love so well.
We Christians see our roles as mothers and fathers as
being our vocations, what we are called to do by Christ. We see our stewardship
of the gift of our children as a holy task, our main purpose in life. I often
tell parents who are preparing to have their children baptized that their main
purpose in life is to help get their children, and each other, to heaven. We
did not create our children on our own, but with God’s direct intervention, and
so we see them as gifts, not possessions. We have been given them by God to do
something with, to grow and nurture and prepare, so that they can also live as
disciples of Christ.
The love of a mother is the same love we as church are
called to show to the world. We call her Mother Church for a reason. Jesus not
only told his disciples that he would not leave them orphans, he entrusted the
fate of the entire world to them. They were not to keep their faith to
themselves, they were to spread the good news to all the earth. Just as a
mother sees her children as gifts not possessions, so too must the disciples of
Christ treat all of creation. Just as a mother is fierce in the love she shows
her children, just as she will make any sacrifice for their benefit, so must we
the Church show love and make sacrifices for all humanity.
I have often contemplated the role of the church in my
life and in the great plan of creation. I believe that Jesus gave his church a
seemingly impossible task – to bring the entire world to salvation. And there
are so many facets to that task, physical, spiritual, intellectual, emotional,
that can seem so overwhelming. But it really all comes down to what St. Paul
tells us today:
I urge you to live in a
manner worthy of the calling
you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
To me that describes the family. All of us were born
into a family, and it is in the family unit that we first experience love. The
family is all about unity. The family is all about hope. The family is all
about bearing with one another through love. The love of the family unit
extends beyond to the Church, and from the Church to the world. We as
Christians see all humanity as our family, to be nurtured and grown and loved
and protected. We do not see ourselves as isolated but as interconnected. And
the same stewardship we have for our families extends to our parishes, our
dioceses, our nations, and to the world.
Jesus said to go and make disciples of all the
nations, but he didn’t say how to do it. He himself never ventured more than
100 miles from Nazareth. He started with his own family, then built a small
community of disciples. It is no coincidence that the first thing Jesus did
when he started his earthly ministry was to surround himself with friends. He
said his mother and brothers were not just blood kin but those who believed in
the good news.
That small community grew into the Church today. And
we are all his brothers and sisters because we have heard the good news and
have believed.
That is true stewardship. Seeing your family and
friends, your parish and your community, your nation and everyone in the world
as worthy of your support, your nurturing, and your protection. We understand
that stewardship is not something we do, it is who we are. You see, the Father
gave us to Jesus to steward. He taught the disciples and prayed for them and
healed them and fed them. In the end, He prayed to the Father, “When I was with them I kept them safe and
watched over them in your name that you have given me.” He also feeds us
spiritually and physically in the Eucharist. And his church continues to teach
and pray and heal and feed the entire world.
We are our brother’s keeper. We are called to imitate
Jesus in giving of our time, talent, treasure and testimony. The most important
thing about stewardship is not what
we do but that we do. God give us
what we need to steward one another. Paul says today,
But grace was given to
each of us
according to the measure of Christ's gift.
according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Sometimes we are called
to give the gift of our presence, other times of our abilities, still other
times of our pocketbooks. And we are always to do so in the knowledge of and
desire to spread the good news.
Many of the things a
mother does are instinctive and some are mundane, but the most valuable gifts
they give us are those given by choice. Mothers choose to be present to us.
Mothers choose to go without for our sakes. Mothers choose to love. Mothers
choose to give us hope in this life and for the next.
What a wonderful image
and model for the Christian life. Take some time today to thank your mother,
here or in heaven, for how she has prepared you for life. And take a moment to
contemplate how you can best choose to share that same type of stewardship with
the world.
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