Homily for Ascension Thursday - May 14, 2015

Homily for Ascension Thursday

May 14, 2015

Detachment

 

            There’s an intriguing scene in John’s Gospel right after the Resurrection. Mary Magdalene is at the empty tomb, overcome with grief, when Jesus visits her, disguised as the gardener. When she finally recognizes Him as Jesus, the Lord says something mysterious – “Don’t cling to Me.”

            My goodness, I would think we should want to cling to Jesus, right? Why would Jesus discourage her from holding on to Him? The reason is because He didn’t want her to rely upon physically seeing Jesus – she had to move from physically seeing Him to faith.

            There’s a virtue in the spiritual life called “detachment” which means enjoying the blessings of God, but not clinging to them. Today’s feast of the Ascension calls to mind detachment. The Apostles were very used to having Jesus with them – they had been with Him for three years, and now were delighted to see Him risen from the dead. But His physical presence was about to end. So they were left now only with faith – the only thing we can ever get attached to.

            And the same goes for us. God gives us many blessings in this life – family, friends, good food, a good reputation, wealth, physical health. We are meant to enjoy these blessings! But at a moment’s notice, it can all be taken away. We can get sick, our friends can move to another town, we could be falsely accused of something, we could have a misfortune and lose all of our money. What is the only thing that can never be taken away? Our faith in Jesus Christ. That alone is immoveable; that alone is our rock. The rest could disappear in a flash – only Jesus remains.

            I had the misfortune of going to four completely different schools by the time I was in eighth grade, and this is now my ninth parish assignment (counting my time as a seminarian, where we had assignments every summer!). And at each place, I would allow myself to get attached to the people, the places, the routines, the perks…only to have it torn away when I had to move again! God has been trying to teach me that the only thing I can really cling to is Him…but I’m a slow learner!

            Have you ever noticed how bees land so gently upon the flowers? They ease their way in, not prying open a closed flower, not trying to take the flower with them. They take the nectar, but then they move on, leaving the flower to continue to grow. Detachment is much like that – we go through our lives, receiving God’s blessings at every turn, but we don’t force them to stay with us; we can’t cling to them.

            We cling to God alone, to faith alone, because that’s all that we are truly able to possess on our own. It must’ve been bittersweet for the Apostles to be missing the Lord after His Ascension. He’s now no longer with them physically. But the one thing they could cling to is their faith.

            So don’t set your hearts on anything in this world. All passes. We must be detached enough to cling to the only thing that endures – faith, hope, and love.