Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, is Emmanuel, God-with-us.  He is with us always, until the end.

The first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew proclaims that Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us.  And the last chapter narrates that Jesus assures his disciples that he is with them always, till the age ends.  One can say, yes, that the beginning is the end.

And we do not only meet Emmanuel at the start and at the end.  Galilee figures also at the start and at the end.  It was there that Jesus and the disciples got to know one another and his public ministry started.  And it is there also that he now seems to take leave of them and end his public ministry.

But it just seems that the risen Christ does so.  For, in fact, he does not expressly take leave of them.  What he clearly does is to give them a great mission.  That of making disciples of all nations.  Of baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  And of teaching them to keep all that he has commanded.

And it does not bother Jesus that the disciples doubt.  After all, what is crucial in the carrying out of the mission is his full power.  And his being Emmanuel also, his being with his missionaries always, until the end of the age.

So then, it is not about farewell but of presence.  It all has to do, not with ending Jesus’ mission, but with continuing and furthering it.  And this calls for a return to the beginning, to Jesus’ school in Galilee, where to learn to be friends with him.  Where to commit to him, to his teaching by words and deeds.  To pledge to follow him in seeking first the kingdom of God and his justice, and being the Good News to the poor.

Lord Jesus, invite to come to you and see, so that our life may be hidden in you and full of you (SV.EN I:276).  And so that you may give us your Spirit of wisdom, and become men and women of your school in Galilee.  We shall thus get to be to others what you are to us, that is to say, Emmanuel, God-with-us, and to love to the end, to the giving up our bodies and shedding our blood, and to rise. 

21 May 2023
Ascension of the Lord (A)
Acts 1, 1-11; Eph 1, 17-23; Mt 28, 16-20