Memory He Leaves Us

Ascension Sunday

May 17, 2015

Mark 16:15-20

"Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.”

Separation is a painful reality that we need to embrace. When someone or something become part of our lives, sooner or later, they will be taken away from us. Our latest cellular phone is stolen, our favorite shirt is missing, or our house got burned. Yet, the pain is getting terribly worse when separation affects our beloved ones. Children will grow up, step out from the care of their parents, and stand on their own feet. Friends, co-workers, classmates will come but also go. Not surprising that one scientific research found out that only less than 10% of our best friends in Elementary and High School will remain close to us after our graduation. Even, those who vowed to be faithful to each other, for better and for worse, for richer or poor, cannot escaped this reality of separation.

Jesus also taught His disciples that the reality of separation is unavoidable, yet it is not the end of the world. As He went back to His Father’s side and had to leave His disciples on earth, He handed down to us a great mission. We are to go out to the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Yet, what is this Gospel all about? For ordinary Christians like us, the first thing that comes to our mind when we hear the word ‘Gospel’ is one of the four books in Bible, authored by either Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. And, why this book is called ‘Gospel’ or ‘Good News’? If we have a closer look on the four Gospels, we are aware that they all narrate the stories and memories of Jesus. Then, we can establish a simple connection here that the Good News is indeed the stories and memories of Jesus.

When Jesus was lifted up to heaven, He did not abandon their disciples with an empty hand. He gave them something very precious, that even they cannot but entrust it to all creatures. This is His Gospel, this is His stories and memories He has shared with the disciples. Yet, this is not far remote from our experience of separation. When someone are ought to depart from our lives, they craft memories in our hearts.  James Matthew Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, once said, “God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.”  When we are facing the winter of life because the people we love have to go, we find indeed a great comfort in the good memories that they wrote in our heart.

The high point of the Gospel is when Jesus broke the bread and passed the cup of wine, and told the disciples, “Do this in memory of me.” Jesus wants us to remember Him as someone who loves us to the end, to offer His entire body for us and to die and rise again for our salvation. Yet, Jesus does not only ask us to remember, but ‘to do it’. He desires that we become His living stories and memories. We are asked to love in radical ways, as He has done. We are invited to forgive our worst enemies as He has forgiven us. We are inspired to create beautiful memories in the hearts of others, as we move one with our lives.

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP