The Ascension of the Lord
Good-by. A word that we are all familiar with. Most of us have probably used that word when
perhaps you left home, went away to college.
“Good-by mom and dad.” Of course
mom and dad, probably more so mothers had tears in their eyes. They waved farewell, “Study hard. Call. Write.”
And of course when was the first time you called or wrote? Mom, dad, need money.
Good-by. We are leaving friends after a long
visit. We haven’t seen them for a while
and it’s so good to be with them. And we
say, “Good-by. Hope to see you
again. Drive safely. Have a great journey. Come back soon.”
I remember one of the first
times I had to say “Good-by.” I was
13-years-old, a freshman in high school, leaving to go away to the
seminary. Back in those days the high
school seminary. Jumping on a train and
taking the trip to Chicago. Leaving the
train station my face pressed to the car, there’s mom waving good-by and I’m
saying, “Good-by.” I probably cried
half-way to Chicago. Thank heavens my
mom and dad didn’t come up to visit that year because I probably would have
come home, being so homesick. In those
days we didn’t come home. We went the
day after Labor Day, didn’t come back home until June 10, so you stayed the
whole year in the seminary at that time.
So good-bye was really, I won’t see you again for 9 to 10 months.
And of course there’s the
ultimate good-by when someone dies. And
when you say “Farewell. Good-by” to
someone who is dying, who has died, you know that you won’t see them again
until the Resurrection. They are with
still in our hearts and our memory but physically they are gone from us.
And here we have now the
feast of the Ascension when Jesus says, “Good-by guys, it’s all up to you
now.” And Jesus leaves and yet Jesus is
still with us. A line in the gospel,
“You are witnesses of this.”
And what a powerful message
to go forth today for you, our Confirmation candidates. I’m sure that tomorrow night, I’m not sure
which bishop is going to be confirming you, but the bishop will lay hands upon
you and anoint you with chrism. And then
he will give to you the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit which are what? Let’s ask the sponsors. Can you name one gift of the Holy Spirit? Humility?
No, it’s a nice virtue but not one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Understanding. Fortitude.
Good judgement—but you’re a confirmation candidate. I want the sponsors to answer. Barb, you can’t count—you know them all—you
teach it. A
All right we’ve got three
down. No—you’re a staff member. Sponsors, you’re sponsoring these
people. Prudence-no. Reverence, knowledge, piety, wonder and
awe. You’re cheating because you used to
teach the course too.
Well, whatever they are, you
will get them, right? (laughter). Part of what that is going to do is empower
you to be witnesses to the presence of God in your midst. As Jesus says, “I’m leaving you, yet I’m not
leaving you because I’m giving you My Spirit.
Now when someone dies and
leaves us they don’t give us themselves.
We have their memories. We have
the love and affection they showered upon us but they don’t cut off their hand
and then give it to you. Jesus gives us
Himself. You and I will receive Jesus in
Holy Eucharist this morning. We will
receive the Risen Lord. Through our
baptism the Lord dwells within us. And
through the power of the Sacrament of Confirmation the Lord’s Spirit will be
dwelling within you as well. To help you
make decisions of right judgement.
A lot of you are making
decisions already about what college to go to.
You’ve got to make those decisions, weigh all the options. Once you leave home, and of course all of us
who have been there too know that when you leave home the first time, man those
wings come out, huh, and you’re on your own, nobody’s watching you. It’s almost a natural time when we seem to
fall away from going to church. And yet
you will be given the power of the Holy Spirit to say, “I will make the right
choice and keep coming to church every Sunday even though mom and dad are not
there to make sure I go.” You will be
given the courage because you will be meeting new people, going places and
other people will try to drag you in a different direction. Will you have the courage to stand up for
what your values are as a Christian and a follower of Jesus? Will you have that piety, that reverence for
you body, that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit, God dwelling within you? Don’t let anybody abuse you physically,
sexually, emotionally or spiritually.
You are a dwelling place of God.
You are somebody sacred. That’s
what reverence and piety are all about.
All these gifts are given to
you in abundance but you need to open up your heart, as all of us do to receive
the Spirit and let it come in. And it
isn’t just our confirmation candidates who are being empowered, everybody here
this morning is called to be a witness to the gospel, to the presence of the
Lord in your life.
We can do that in so many
powerful, beautiful ways. As our readings
remind us, Jesus doesn’t leave us. He’s
still with us.
After this feast of the
Ascension, the Easter candle will go back into the baptismal font, will no
longer be lit in the front of the church, as a reminder that you and I are the
living light of Christ. That you and I
are called now to be the presence of Christ in the world today, wherever we
go. You all know as well as I do how
much darkness there is out there. You
and I need to be bringing light, gentleness, hope, comfort, wisdom, understanding,
counsel, knowledge, piety, fear of the Lord wherever you will go from this day
forward. Do so boldly. Do so confidently. Do so with a great joy.
One of the last lines of the
gospel said, “They were filled with joy.”
Jesus had just left them. You’d
think they would have been crying in their soup. They went back to Jerusalem. They praised God and they were joyful because
they were empowered. You and I will be
empowered.
I am so happy and so proud
of you, or confirmation students. You’ll
be there tomorrow night with several students from other parishes. Walk tall people of St. Al’s. You’ve done your work. Your sponsors have been with you. Let people know where you are from, that you
are members of St. Alphonsus. You will
be ambassadors of St. Al’s from this day forward. We are proud of you and we will walk with you
on your journey of life wherever it takes you as a parish community. We thank you for your witness. Be faithful witnesses. Be joyful witnesses. Be proud to be who God has called you to
be.