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
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